A concert by a controversial reggae star has been cancelled at a Birmingham nightclub following claims that he incites violence against homosexuals.
By Sarah ProbertSizzla Kalonji was due to appear at the White Pearl Club in Upper Trinity Street, Aston, tonight. But yesterday the club told The Birmingham Post that organisers had cancelled Sizzla's appearance.
The move followed a plea from gay rights campaign group OutRage! to cancel the concert amid fears that Sizzla could provoke violence against homosexuals in the city.
Brett Lock, of OutRage! and coorganiser of the Stop Murder Music campaign, said: "We are delighted that the performance won't be going ahead and the decision to cancel should be applauded.
"I don't think anyone in the UK would provide a platform inciting people to beat up or kill black or Jewish people and anyone who incites the killing of gay and lesbians should be denied a stage as well."
Sizzla Kalonji is among eight artists whose material is being examined by the Crown Prosecution Service amid claims their lyrics incite violence against homosexuals.
OutRage! complained to police about the content and the police have asked the CPS to consider whether performance or promotion of the material might amount to a criminal offence.
Peter Tatchell, of OutRage!, said: "Securing the cancellation of Sizzla's concert is very important. It will help pressure Sizzla and other anti-gay Jamaican singers to abandon their incitements."
A reggae concert in London's Victoria Park, billed as the biggest in the UK and headlined by Sizzla and another controversial star, Vybz Kartel, was cancelled last week following an OutRage! campaign. Sizzla's hit Pump Up has the line 'Shot battybwoy, my big gun boom'. Battybwoy is a Jamaican insult similar to poof, queer and faggot.
