THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

Banton's huge hit Boom Bye Bye advocates shooting gay men, dumping acid on them and setting them alight.

Under the Reggae Compassionate Act, written by reggae promoters working with activists from the international Stop Murder Music campaign, the four performers will not release new anti-gay songs, perform their earlier gay-bashing material or make homophobic public statements.

The document states, 'There's no space in the music community for hatred and prejudice, including no place for racism, violence, sexism or homophobia.'

'I really hope that [ Banton's ] actions are genuine and it is not just because international pressure is hurting his pocket,' commented Carl Edmonson of the Jamaican Forum for Lesbians, All-Sexuals and Gays.

The Stop Murder Music campaign, headed by British gay leader Peter Tatchell, has provoked cancellations in several countries of concerts by the four singers and fellow gay-bashing dancehall singers Elephant Man, TOK, Bounty Killa and Vybz Kartel, who have not signed the agreement. Some of the singers also have lost sponsorship deals because of the campaign's initiatives.

Meanwhile, The Jamaica Observer newspaper reported July 22 that Beenie Man is denying he signed the agreement.

'Mi neva sign it, yuh hear sah,' the singer reportedly told the paper. 'I do music. Dancehall mi do, I can't promise nuh man dat.'

But Tatchell provided this column a copy of a signed document, which can be seen on the Web at tinyurl.com/yo63db. Beenie Man's real name is Moses Davis.

In the Observer interview, Beenie Man also said he feels gay sex is wrong but that gays don't deserve death.

'We don't need to kill dem,' he said. 'We just need fi tell the people dem the right ting because I not supporting a gay lifestyle because it's not wholesome to me.'

Samples of some of the dancehall singers' gay-bashing lyrics are on Tatchell's Web site at tinyurl.com/2xax3b.