Black Gay Bloggers Declare Victory in Fight Against Music Industry's LIFEBeat Concert

On Monday, a group of 27 black gay bloggers -- including activist and former White House staffer Keith Boykin -- launched a successful protest against LIFEBeat, a music industry AIDS organization. They say LIFEBeat’s decision to invite reggae artists Beenie Man and TOK, whose lyrics are frequently homophobic, to its HIV-AIDS fundraiser was an affront to gays and lesbians.

Forty-eight hours later, Yesterday, LIFEBeat canceled the concert which was scheduled for July 18. According to LIFEBeat, the event, organized as a benefit to teach youth about the dangers of HIV and AIDS, was called off because of the threat of violence. Emil Wilbekin, former editor-in-chief of Vibe Magazine and an openly gay member of LIFEBeat's board, says he supported the group's decision to invite the artists because they are musicians who speak to segments of the youth population the group was trying to reach.

“While we support the mission of LIFEbeat to educate our youth about the dangers of HIV/AIDS, we cannot support the use of blatantly homophobic recording artists to achieve that mission,” Boykin said. “In fact, to provide a forum for these musicians actually contradicts the mission of LIFEbeat in that the artists promote homophobia that contributes to AIDS.”

In a press release, Boykin wrote, “In Beenie Man’s song “Han Up Deh,” he sings, “Hang chi chi gal wid a long piece of rope. According to Boykin, the term “chi chi” is a Jamaican reference to homosexuality.

The term is often used to refer to 'chi chi men' but can also refer to lesbians (chi chi women or chi chi girls). Loosely translated, he says, the lyrics mean, “Hang lesbians with a long piece of rope.” Similarly, in TOK’s 'Chi Chi Man,' they encourage the burning and killing of gay men.

Jasmyne Cannick, a blogger and lesbian activist in Los Angeles, added, “It has only been a little over two years since Brian Williamson, a Jamaican gay activist and founder of Jamaica’s gay civil rights group J-FLAG was found murdered, his body mutilated by multiple knife wounds, simply because he was gay.”

Another Beenie Man appearance in the U.K was canceled last week after gay activists protested organizers.

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