The campaign against allegedly homophobic dance hall stars, which is being run by gay rights groups like OutRage, scored something of a triumph this morning when organisers of the MOBO Awards announced they had withdrawn the nominations for Elephant Man and Vybz Kartel, who were both up for best reggae single.
MOBO organisers have previously resisted calls by the likes of OutRage to ban the artists who, gay rights campaigners say, have incited violence against the gay community through their lyrics. However this morning MOBO said they had insisted both artists issue a written statement apologising for past homophobic lyrics. When they refused MOBO decided to withdraw their nominations.
A spokesman for the MOBO Academy told reporters: "The last thing MOBO want to do is encourage prejudice. MOBO have not yet received written apologies as previously promised. We have therefore alerted the MOBO Academy to this situation and a decision has been taken to withdraw the nominations for Elephant Man and Vybz Kartel. The MOBO Awards... do not condone music that clearly incites violence to gay and lesbian people nor do they advocate censorship of artistic expression."
OutRage! spokesman Brett Lock welcomed the decision, telling reporters: "The singers' refusal to apologise is indicative of their unrepentant violent homophobia. We applaud the decision of the MOBOs to drop these artists. Incitement to murder should never be rewarded."
With fellow dance hall star Beenie Man exiled from an MTV VMA show last month because of protests by Miami based gay rights groups, it is interesting to see where campaigners will turn their attention next, although major record labels who release these artists' music are likely to be primary targets. What the artists in question can do in order to satisfy the campaigners also remains to be seen.