The war of words between the dance hall scene and the gay community continues to be fought in France, where a reggae festival in Paris has been cancelled because of opposition to one of its stars, Sizzla.
Gay rights groups accuse Sizzla, and several of his contemporaries, of using their music to incite violence against homosexuals. Proactive opposition to those artists by the likes of British gay rights organisation OutRage has led to the cancellation of a string of reggae gigs in both Europe and America in the last two years. A temporary truce was reached last year when a number of UK labels who release these artists' music pledged to not release any more homophobic songs, to not re-release any previously recorded homophobic tracks, and to encourage their artists to avoid making homophobic remarks when performing live. In return OutRage agreed to stop trying to block high profile reggae artists from performing in the UK.
However not all gay rights groups have accepted the labels' pledges, pointing out the artists themselves were not party to the deal and, with the exception of Beenie Man (who released a very non-committal statement about his homophobic lyrics at the insistence of his label Virgin Records), none of the artists have publicly withdrawn past statements.
Opposition remains strongest in France, where stricter defamation laws give gay rights groups the option to threaten litigation against venues that host gigs where homophobic songs are performed. As a result six of eight planned Sizzla gigs have now been cancelled, and the whole Garrance Reggae festival, where Sizzla was due to perform, has been called off because organisers said the growing level of protests meant their was a serious "risk of public disorder", according to the event's organisers.