Beenie Man has been forced to cancel a London concert after he was warned by police that his lyrics could be an incitement to violence against homosexuals.
By Jack MalvernBeenie Man, whose real name is Anthony Moses Davies, was questioned by police about his song lyrics, which discuss murdering gay men and women. His act was pulled last night by the Ocean Club in Hackney amid fears that his songs would incite the audience to attack gays.
Chief Inspector Clive Driscoll, of Scotland Yard?s Racial and Violent Crime Task Force, intercepted Davies at Heathrow on Wednesday for an informal discussion after he was alerted to the lyrics by the gay rights lobby.
A Scotland Yard spokeswoman said police were responding to a complaint that Davies might ?perform songs containing some lyrics that are incitement to homophobic murder and violence?. It is against the law to solicit another person to commit a crime even if that person does not act upon the instruction. Lord Falconer of Thoroton, when he was Home Office Minister, told the House of Lords that crimes motivated by hate were punishable with long sentences under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.
?To solicit or incite another to commit a crime (through, for example, homophobic song lyrics) is indictable under common law,? he said. ?A crime would not actually need to be committed to convict people of incitement to violence against homosexuals.?
Brett Lock, a campaigner for the gay rights group Outrage!, said that the police acted after he provided officers with a dossier of homophobic lyrics.
?We had been speaking to the police for nine months about this man, among others,? he said. ?We believe the police told him he could be prosecuted for incitement if he sung any of his homophobic lyrics and also that they spoke to Ocean nightclub and told them they could be liable if he does.?
Ocean said in a statement that it had chosen to cancel the concert, the second of Beenie Man?s European tour, as a result of police advice. Nadine Stewart, a spokeswoman, said: ?Due to concerns for public safety and following discussions with the Metropolitan Police, Ocean has cancelled (yesterday?s) Beenie Man concert.?
He had been due to play in Bristol on Tuesday but the concert was also cancelled. The Bristol Academy declined to comment on a reason for the cancellation.
The singer is not the first to pull out of a tour after protests from gay rights groups. Bounty Killer ? real name Rodney Price ? cancelled British concerts after protests orchestrated by the gay rights lobby, although he claimed it was because he had missed his flight.
Jamaica has a history of entrenched homophobia which flared up earlier this month when Ben Williamson, the island?s most prominent gay rights campaigner, was murdered.
The island still has an anti-sodomy law. J-Flag, the Jamaica-based gay rights campaign group, claims that dozends of gay men and women have fled to Britain, Canada and America because they have been persecuted for their sexuality.
