By Sr. Correspondent, Antoine Craigwell

(New York, NY) - As pressure mounts against Jamaican reggae singers who promote homophobic violence against gays and lesbians, one more artist has been barred from performing in Canada.
Jamaican reggae singer Sizzla Kalonji, who supposedly said no to gay rights, had his upcoming show at the Paramount Concert Theatre in Toronto, Canada cancelled by the authorities at the Canadian Embassy in Jamaica.

According to a blog-styled Website, OutAroad.com, Sizzla and his management team's visa applications were denied because the entertainer refused to sign documents agreeing not to perform or use lyrics that are anti-gay or promotes violence against gays and lesbians. Other artists, such as Beenie Man and Canadian "2G" Sanusi were slated to perform in a dancehall/reggae show titled, "Knock Out Knight" at the Toronto club, Fusion Nightclub.

 

 

But conflicting reports from the Website stated that the cancellation of Sizzla's performance left many fans angry with the promoters for giving in to the accusations from the gay community. The Website however claimed that Sizzla had apologized to his fans and that while he was approved to perform in Canada, the visa denials were due to some inefficiency and lateness in submitting paperwork to the Embassy.

The site goes on to state that Sizzla is all about being positive, unity and has called for an end to the violence. But, while many of the comments on the page were written in Jamaican patois, several spewed hatred and virulence, and at least one agreed that Sizzla should be banned.

One comment from Vanessa Duncan, posted on Apr 10, said, she agreed with the fans, and asked what happened to the rights of Jamaicans.

"Why should these people have rights over us? If they want to talk about violence then all's well and good. But the Canadian Embassy can not say that Sizzla or any other Jamaica artist has caused an increase in crime or killing in the "shit stick" community. I blame the Jamaican Government and the so called Churches around the world. They do not stand by righteousness," said Duncan.

Another comment from a contributor, also on Apr 10, who used the initials "Jp" said, "It's about time that the artist have united against this most daunting fight. Many people know the power these constituents of Fags have in the world "now a days." Jamaica should set the example not to allow the "batty man ting" in our country, and implore the world to stand by the word of the Most High God."

Contradicting the other contributors, Sandokhan wrote, "I fully support the ban. As long as artistes like Sizzla and the others continue to promote hate and violence toward any part of any society, they should be banned if not gagged. We wouldn't tolerate white supremacy groups coming here to make money singing about killing Black people, or anti-rastafarian groups singing about shooting dreads - why then should Canada, or any other country, put up with ignorant, backwards lyrics targeting a portion of their population? Wake up and face reality people, homosexuality has always been here, and will always be here - there's nothing we can do about it. What people do in the privacy of their own homes is none of your business - the sooner you come to terms with that, the sooner artistes like Sizzla can use their talent to create music that uplifts us as a race. Sorry I didn't write all this in patois, hope it's still understandable to all a 'unu.'"

 

In a related story, the Jamaican Gleaner, one of the country's newspapers, carried a story on Apr 16 from Dr. Marcus Day, director of the Saint-Lucia based Caribbean Drug Abuse Research Institute where he called, in a letter, on the country's Police Commissioner Ausbert Regis, to ban Sizzla from performing on the island nation because of the artist's violent anti-gay lyrics. In his letter, he spoke out against the violence seemingly exported and supported by the Jamaican government, and its importation to St. Lucia.

"This guy should not be allowed to enter St. Lucia as far as I am concerned. These guys who sing this kind of crap should learn that if they want to do that in Jamaica and the Jamaica Government does not want to do anything about it, that's fine; but when they come out in the real world where people are supposed to be civilized then that stuff doesn't cut," Day told a news conference.
Sizzla joins the ranks of infamy with other artists such as Buju Banton, Beenie Man and Bounty Killa, who claim not to bow down to a lifestyle that is unacceptable by God.