Anatomy of a Facebook protest

by: Chris Bilton

December 15, 2009 9:00 AM

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How one comment led to a Beenie Man concert cancellation

The King of Dancehall, Beenie Man, was scheduled to play Kool Haus this past weekend — until a single Facebook comment triggered a deluge of complaints that alerted the promoters to the Jamaican singer’s homophobic lyrical content and his recent concert in Uganda, where his song about killing gay men served as veritable anthem of hate for that country’s pending anti-gay legislation.

Just 42 hours after posting a comment on the events page for concert promoters INK Entertainment (club owner Charles Khabouth’s entertainment empire, which also includes Sky Lounge, Tattoo Rock Parlour and Ultra Supper Club), Justin Stayshyn — frequent Tweeter and former member of queer-positive indie-pop ensemble The Hidden Cameras — was relieved to read that the company had decided not to let Beenie Man play in their venue. The key to this protest’s success, however, was not so much the magic of social media — or even the recent popularity of online whinging — but the tone of Stayshyn’s discourse.

Stayshyn claims he had been trying to get in touch with someone at INK since last Monday (Dec. 7) so that he could tactfully explain why they should reconsider Beenie Man’s appearance. He prefaced his calls, and an email outlining Beenie Man’s involvement in Uganda, with a reassurance that his complaints weren't intended to be malicious. “I just wanted to start a dialogue,” he says.

This certainly isn’t the first time that Beenie Man’s presence has stirred outrage. His songs include such hate-filled sentiments as cutting the throats of all gay men (“Mi Nah Wallah”) and hinging lesbians (“Han Up Deh”). Back in September, LGBT right group Egale Canada wanted him barred from Canada to prevent an Ottawa concert from happening. And just last week, Pepsi freaked out over their sponsorship of Beenie Man's Ugandan concert, saying in a press release, “We are appalled by the performer’s lyrics and find them repugnant. Our bottling partner in Uganda was not aware of the performer’s views and never would have sponsored the concert with this knowledge.”

But when Stayshyn learned that Beenie Man was coming to town this time around, the Ugandan factor made for an even more pressing argument. “Promoters have been able to get around his lyrics before by making him sign something saying that he won’t sing the [offending] songs. But this was more compelling in terms of globalizing the concern since there is a direct connection between the violence in his lyrics and [the situation in Uganda]. He was going there and promoting anti-gay sentiment.” Though the content of Stayshyn's initial Facebook comment was certainly incendiary, he made sure INK knew it was intended to educate and inform.

Stayshyn admits that he was shocked by how quickly the comments accumulated on the Facebook page in response to his post. What’s impressive is that most of the commenters maintain a non-hysterical conduct. Rather than chastise, they plead with the Kool Haus to reconsider, with the common theme being that everyone likes the venue and would hate to have to boycott all of INK’s establishments over this.

The kicker is that Kool Haus and the rest of the INK Empire are generally gay-positive and notable pillars of the local club community. To which Stayshyn adds, “I didn’t perceive any maliciousness” on their part. In an email exchange with EYE WEEKLY, INK’s publicist says that they “will not comment except to say that we are strong supporters of equal rights and will continue to support the gay community.”

But INK's quick response to Stayshyn's original Facebook comment indicates that the promoters were taking the protest seriously. Stayshyn’s post went up just after 6pm on Dec. 8, and by noon on Dec. 10 there was a message on INK's Facebook page, saying: “Regarding the Beenie Man concert, INK is in the process of cancelling the show. We will make a formal statement shortly.” And then a few hours later they did just that.

This isn’t the first time that Stayshyn was able to use social media to convince a club owner that booking anti-gay dancehall artists isn’t a great idea. Fab editor Matt Thomas’ Facebook group Murder Music Coming to Toronto, Not On Our Watch (which takes its name from the UK-based Stop Murder Music campaign) quickly convinced CiRCA to cancel Elephant Man’s summer gig once he and Stayshyn (who’s listed as an admin on the page) got the word out. On the other hand, an earlier attempt to pull Elephant Man from a Downsview Park performance wasn’t successful until MP John Baird stepped in.

While Stayshyn says that social media is effective as part of a campaign, an angry wall of people only goes so far towards finding a solution. He adds: “There still has to be room for dialogue.”

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Anatomy of a Facebook protest

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