Hypocrisy on homophobia

The Metropolitan Police is colluding with 'murder music' singers who incite the killing of lesbian and gay people

The Metropolitan Police is hypocritical on hate crimes. It allows homophobic singers to perform in London, but not racist ones. Racist artists are banned on the grounds that they are a threat to public order and good community relations. This is a case of double standards.
Why are homophobic artists given the green light to perform, even when they are on record inciting the murder of lesbian and gay people?
Inciting murder is a serious criminal offence. A Muslim cleric, Abdullah el-Faisal, was jailed for seven years in 2003 for inciting the murder of Hindus, Americans and Jews. Yet the police today give their approval for anti-gay "murder music" singers to hold concerts in London.
The latest example of this collusion is police endorsement of a concert by Jamaican "murder music" singer Bounty Killer. He is scheduled to perform at the Stratford Rex venue in East London next Sunday.
New Scotland Yard has given the go-ahead for this concert, despite Bounty Killer's encouragement of the killing of lesbian and gay people and despite Bounty Killer's refusal to sign the Reggae Compassionate Act (RCA), whereby singers promise to not incite homophobic violence.
The Met has previously said that "murder music" singers will not be allowed to perform unless they sign the RCA.
Officers have broken their promise. They are taking the side of a singer who has promoted and celebrated the murder of gay people, and who is defying the RCA.
The police do, however, stress that Bounty Killer will not be permitted to perform songs that incite homophobic violence. Big deal.
A white racist singer who advocated killing black people would not be allowed to perform in London, even if he agreed to not incite the killing of black people at his concert. The police would argue that any stage performance by a white racist singer would risk public disorder and damage community cohesion. They would ban him, full stop. They have adopted this zero tolerance policy towards white racist bands like Skrewdriver.
Yet when it comes to straight homophobic singers who urge the murder of gay people, the police take a softer stance. They have agreed to let the concert go ahead, despite their professed commitment to oppose homophobic hate crimes. It's bare-faced hypocrisy.
In March this year, police in Bradford and Birmingham stopped Bounty Killer's concerts, saying that they would have undermined good community relations. That same month the Met Police authorised his London concert to proceed. If other police forces can take a stand against homophobia, why can't the Metropolitan Police?
Why don't the government and police stop Bounty Killer from entering the UK? He has committed the criminal offence of incitement to murder. If a white singer advocated the killing of black people he would not be allowed into the country. The police commissioner would demand his exclusion. The home secretary would deny him a visa. Why the double standards?
The police apparently take the view that racism is worse than homophobia and that different standards should apply. This is completely outrageous.
Government and police hypocrisy is particularly glaring when we consider the exclusion from Britain of the American Black Muslim, Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam. I don't agree with Mr Farrakhan's politics or religion, but he has not urged his followers to kill anyone. So, why is he banned from Britain, while singers who incite the murder of gay people are not banned?
The apathetic gay community seems prepared to let the Met walk all over us. Black people would riot if the Met was colluding with racist performers. Most gay people instead hold up the white flag of surrender. They think we don't deserve the same protection as our black brothers and sisters.
Much of our queer community is riddled with internalised homophobia, including gay rights organisations – many of which apparently agree with the police that inciting racist violence is worse than inciting homophobic violence.
The campaign to cancel Bounty Killer's concert is supported by the Jamaican gay rights movement, J-Flag, and the Caribbean-wide C-Flag coalition of black gay and straight human rights organisations. They are demanding an end to "murder music" in the Caribbean and worldwide, on the grounds that the release and performance of such songs invariably results in a corresponding rise in queer-bashing violence.
We have no problem with reggae or dancehall music – only with singers who abuse the genre to incite violence against lesbian and gay people. There are many great reggae and dancehall stars who do not stoop to murder music. We salute them.
There is no need for singers to spout violent anti-gay hatred. They choose to do so. It is wilful and malicious incitement of homophobic violence and therefore they must expect to suffer a backlash.
The Stop Murder Music campaign against Bounty Killer and other "kill gays" singers is in solidarity with black lesbian and gay people in Jamaica and the Caribbean who suffer nightmarish levels of homophobic violence. We are acting at their request and in support of their right to live their lives free from threats and violence.
Free speech does not include the right to incite the murder of other human beings. Such violent incitements close down free speech because the victims are intimidated into silence and invisibility.
We see this intimidation in Jamaica, where lesbian and gay people cannot participate in public debates. To do so would open themselves to homophobic murder, as was the tragic fate of the Jamaican gay and HIV campaigners Brian Williamson and Steve Harvey, who were respectively stabbed and shot to death. Free speech yes, but not when it involves incitements to violence and murder.