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Underground > Conversation >

Dancehall Fans Against Homophobia

12:35 / 31.01.05

I'm involved in a campaign called Dancehall Fans Against Homophobia and I thought this would be if interest to many people sharing the Temple forum, given their likely tastes and predelictions, and given the recent discussion of issues such as cultural appropriation. It's a petition-based campaign that rejects homophobic lyrics, but which rejects the recent attacks on dancehall and reggae by an over-zealous and ill-informed media. DFAH also opposes government attempts to ban and suppress reggae music.

The campaign has ten basic principlesl if you agree with them, perhaps you would consider signing the online petition at http://www.dfah.org/petition.htm.

1) We are fans and supporters of reggae, dancehall and Jamaican music in all its forms.

2) We are opposed to homophobia and homophobic lyrics.

3) We call on record companies to desist from releasing homophobic records and to encourage their artists to perform lyrics dealing with other issues.

4) We will no longer buy records with homophobic lyrics.

5) We call on soundsystems to desist from playing homophobic records, or from making homophobic comments on the mic at dances.

6) We will no longer support homophobic soundsystems.

7) We reject the demonisation of reggae and its fans by parts of the media.

8) We are opposed to state bans on artists.

9) We recognise the long history of homophobia in Jamaica and that there can be no "quick fix". We propose that the way forward lies in dialogue and not in gesture politics.

10) We would like to open up a dialogue between reggae fans, artists, labels owners, soundsystem operators and the reggae community worldwide.

That petition page once again: http://www.dfah.org/petition.htm

Thanks,

paul.meme / 2stepfan

17:19 / 31.01.05

Uhm? Pardon me 2step, but in what way is this magick related? Maybe this thread would be much more beneficial to you if posted in the Convo.

ONLY NICE THINGS

17:47 / 31.01.05

There's a duplicate in Music, so I assume it was a mistaken post. It sounds like a good cause, and it will get more readers in the Convo, so I'll move to have it booted over. If there's a magical reason I'm not getting, somebody PM me or mention it in thread so the mods can see it.

18:45 / 31.01.05

Apologies if this is perceived as too OT, but I'm a fairly regular here and thought it would be of interest to a number of people, and I thought theymight not pick it up in other fora.

Personally I see reggae as a whole as luminsescently magical in and of itself so I saw no conflict (or offence) in discussing it here, but I understand if others do not share that view. I personally see the current issue of homophobia in dancehall and what I and others in DFAH see as an ineffective scapegoating response as something of a magical battle. It's a conflict which is amenable to magical action. Signing an online petition would be but one manifestation of that and discussion of the ethics and practicality of pursuing such an aim is one which I would welcome within this thread. In the context of the rich and varied discussion of cultural appropriation which has been a feature of Temple over the last year, I thought this issue might be valuable in exercising our thought processes and abilities.

However I have no wish to irritate or offend and if there is no desire here to treat the issue in this way, I am happy to withdraw.

paul.meme / 2stepfan

19:40 / 31.01.05

Oh 2step, it is not offensive in the slightest. I, like Haus, thought I was missing something. I thought perhaps there was a sigil-charging or maybe a ritual orgy you forgot to mention. (There isn't, is there?) Otherwise, I thought it would be served better in the Convo.

I do agree with you though, that reggae and various other music genres have a definate magickalness about them. Reggae is especially spiritual as well.

20:30 / 31.01.05

Thanks, Makkitotosimew. In retrospect I think I should have framed the post in a more inclusive and relevant way. For, a sigil or other group online working that would pursue the aim of healing dancehall of homophobia while protecting it from being scapegoated and treated as the sole cause of Jamaican homophobia would indeed be a more appropriate topic of discussion within this thread.

With the permission of the community here, I would request that, if anyone is interested, they contribute their views as to the appropriateness and effectiveness of such an aim to magical action. An element of ethics may be involved -- is it the right thing to do? For it's a knotty philosophical question, particularly with regard to the competing claims of protecting the rights of homosexuals (while possibly harming another community?) versus protecting the dancehall community from vilification (while possibly lending protection, at some level, to homophobes?).

If there was a groundswell of approval for a group magical operation to effect the aims of DFAH, I would be enthusiastic about facilitating that. However, if there was a powerfully-articulated argument that magic would not be an appropriate mechanism to deploy, or that the intention was flawed, then I would be extremely interested in reading that discussion.

However if the feeling is that there is no appetite for such a discussion, I am still quite happy to withdraw

.

ONLY NICE THINGS

21:05 / 31.01.05

I'd suggest leaving this here, and linking to it in a new thread on the use of magic against homohobia and censorship in and against dancehall in the Temple. Thus, lots of people get to see it, and the discussion is open to magical nad non-magical people.

Good sense?

08:06 / 01.02.05

That is a wonderful idea, Haus. You up to that 2step?

09:41 / 02.02.05

Thanks people, that's an elegant solution.

Our Lady Has Left the Building

21:00 / 02.02.05

As this thread has got rather bogged down I'd suggest that if anyone is interested in this topic they continue it here.