Deal to ban 'homophobic' reggae

The BBC reports that: "The reggae industry is to refuse to release or stage concerts featuring homophobic songs under a global deal struck with gay rights groups." - this is good news. It is a truce, in that past performances will be forgiven and forgotten, with the reggae industry committing to prevent performance or release in future of songs with homophobic content. This whole agreement has come about because of the commercial damage suffered by various reggae performers whose concerts were affected by cancellations, bans or protests, resulting in record sales falling.

As Brett Lock of OutRage! said: "The main players in the dancehall reggae industry will attempt to regulate the industry themselves to ensure that there aren't any violently homophobic or gay-bashing lyrics in the future. As a gesture of good faith, the Stop Murder Music coalition has agreed to suspend our aggressive campaigning against murder music. So we shall not be picketing concerts or calling for prosecutions to give the industry the space to regulate and reform itself."

I hope that the reggae industry lives up to its commitment - this will allow everybody, including gay campaigners and reggae musicians themselves, to get on with their lives peacefully. That's what I would like to see.

(I was put onto this story by an article in The Advocate)