Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Spain: Jews may not be welcome at Rototom, but homophobes are

Hopefully someone will ask Filippo Giunta, the Italian in charge of the festival and who has a very high opinion of himself, about his double standards and his position on gay rights.  Does he ask Jamaican rappers to sign a declaration indicating that they uphold LGBT's rights and militate for them.  According to Wikipedia: "Jamaica has been described by some human rights groups as the most homophobic place on Earth because of the high level of violent crime directed at LGBT people. The United States Department of State said that in 2012, "homophobia was widespread in the country".  And by the way,  Matisyahu was replaced by Jamaican musician Etana.  Was she asked by Filippo Giunta where she stands on LGBT rights in her country?  Or is this type of coertion only reserved and applied to Jews?

Mirabelle @ Israelly Cool writes:
 

As I’ve been discussing, Jewish singer Matisyahu was banned from the Rototom Sunsplash reggae music festival in Spain after the organizers demanded that he issue a declaration in favor of Palestinian statehood. The festival organizers, however, appear to be hosting an artist called Capleton, who has been cited by Jamaica Anti-Homophobia Stand, GLAAD, and the Southern Poverty Law Center for his lyrics espousing violence against gays and lesbians.

CapletonLast month, two Canadian radio stations pulled their sponsorship of an upcoming Edmonton reggae festival over the participation of Capleton and two other artists, due to lyrics that “encourage violence against the LGBTQ community,” according to CBC News. In May of 2014, the group Jamaica Anti-Homophobia Stand (JAHS) in New York City protested Capleton’s performance at the BB King Blues Club & Grill, stating:
Jamaican reggae performer Capleton is known for his songs that call for LGBT people to be killed and makes comments from the stage calling for LGBT people to be killed. Capleton signed the Reggae Compasionate Act agreement (an agreement to not promote hatred and violence) in the middle of 2007 and broke the agreement on 12/24/07.
In 2010, several of his performances in the US were cancelled after GLAAD, the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center, called on promoters to take action. GLAAD wrote that “Capleton continues to perform songs with virulently anti-gay lyrics that promote committing violent acts against the LGBT people, including murder.”  Read more.

No comments :

Post a Comment