Dancehall act Beenie Man has struck a deal with gay pressure group OutRage and will be returning to London to perform this week. Last year the pressure group, who object to the genre's use of homophobic lyrics, mounted a sizable campaign against several Jamaican artists including Beenie Man, Sizzla and Elephant
Man, and succeeded in getting their gigs banned. They were also banned from appearing at the MOBO awards after the **Metropolitan
Police** launched an investigation into the lyrics, which are considered to incite violence against gay men.
Beenie
Man claims that he never intended to incite violence at all, and that his lyrics were misconstrued. He told the BBC: "Jamaican people are taking our lyrics and translating them to people in the wrong way... a batty man is a child molester, anyone in Jamaica can tell you the same thing." Whether or not it's okay to incite violence against paedophiles seems not to be entering the debate.
In any case, OutRage has dropped the campaign after Beenie Man agreed not to release tracks containing lyrics denigrating gays or lesbians, making it a happy day for non-homophobic dancehall lovers of the UK. Spokesman Peter Tatchell said "We've suspended the campaign as an act of faith, and we hope all the artists will respect the deal and move forward and produce positive music without prejudice."