In a posting that appeared on their website Friday, the L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center condemned the Grammy nomination for Buju Banton, a “notoriously anti-gay performer whose music promotes the violent murder of LGBT people:”
Throughout his career, Banton has performed music that promotes a culture of violence against lesbian and gay people; he sings in “Boom, Bye Bye” that “faggots get up and run” when he comes, that “they have to die,” and that he will shoot them in the head or “burn them up bad.”
Banton is completely unrepentant, refuses to stop performing the song, and recently said, “There is no end to the war between me and faggots.”
“It’s an affront to LGBT people, and to all fair-minded people around the world, that Buju Banton was nominated,” says Center Chief Public Affairs Officer Jim Key. “We certainly hope the members of the Recording Academy will not bestow the prestigious honor of a Grammy on someone whose music promotes murder.”
– L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center.
