I was disappointed but not surprised that Sulianet Ortiz called reggae the most “socially conscious music” (“Get up! Stand up! Roots reggae rocks,” Feb. 23).

Although I agree that, “love, peace and Black pride” are socially positive messages, an important minority group that is too often overlooked was left out of her article — the LGBT community.

Although I am in no way condemning all reggae/dancehall music, some of its lyrics deviate from the peaceful messages found in reggae’s roots.

For example, in a concert at the beginning of last year, performers like Capleton and Sizzla sang about killing and beating homosexuals. According to Amnesty International, they specifically said, “kill dem, battybwoys haffi dead, gun shots pon dem who wants to see dem dead put up his hand,” which translates to, “Kill them, gay men have got to die, gun shots in their head whoever wants to see them dead put up your hand.”

Because of the extreme homophobic atmosphere encouraged in lyrics like this, homosexuals are forced to live in fear of abuse, both verbal and physical. In Jamaica, the founder of J-FLAG, the only LGBT group in the country, was murdered in June 2004 and numerous assaults on members of the LGBT community have been reported.

A group within Amnesty International called OUTfront is running a campaign about this issue.

Please go to the Amnesty Web site for elaboration of the examples that I mentioned and further information about abuses because of sexual orientation and actions you can take to help.

Rachel Smith

President

ISU Amnesty International