Thaindian News

By Gina Gomez
Los Angeles, Feb 1, (THAINDIAN NEWS) The Jamaican reggae singer Buju Banton whose real name is Mark Anthony Myrie was nominated in the “Best Raggae Album” category for “Rasta Got Soul” in Grammy Awards held on Sunday, Jan 31. The United States groups of gays were thoroughly disappointed and asked the organizers to denounce him as a nominee. This was the fourth time that the singer was nominated for Grammy.

However, he could not attend the ceremony as he is in a jail in Florida- on charges of drug distribution. The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) along with the Los Angeels Gay and Lesbian Center and various other groups brought out a full page advertisement in a newspaper to protest against the honor that is given to Mark Anthony Myrie, popularly known as Buju Banton. The advertisement is in the form of a letter. It stated that nominating him “honors his extraordinary hateful work.”

According to reports, lot of tickets for his concerts were canceled last year following the protests from gay groups. The gay community got furious after his release “Boom Bye Bye”, in the year 1998. The video showed burning, pouring acids on faces and shooting in the head of gay people.

Mark Anthony Myrie aka Buju Banton has protested that he has not performed the number live for several years. Video footage provides evidence that he signed for singing the song in a 2006 concert. In 2007, he signed in the “Reggae Compassionate Act” that promised not to spread homophobia. Even in 2001, gay community protested against the performance and Grammy nomination of the rapper Eminem, whose lyrics supposedly had homophobic elements. Later, singer Elton John shared the stage with Eminem and sang in order to pacify the gay community.