Queer nation - Tobago music fans warn Elton
Next month's Plymouth Jazz Festival in Tobago features a headline appearance by Elton John. Not all islanders approve. Breakfast TV show Rise & Shine this week had a phone-in about Elton. Presenters refused to condemn a caller who thought Elton should be subjected to earthly hellfire for his "poisonous" lifestyle, while another asked, "Is it your understanding that he is planning a hideous nude gay orgy on stage or in private during his visit?". Callers complaining about the homophobia were told on air, "Opinions are like noses, everyone has one".
Now a Tobago lawyer has unearthed a section of the Trinidad and Tobago immigration code which bans self-professed homosexuals from entering the country, and a Church crusade is underway to try and make the government enforce it. Music fans on the island are hoping Elton manages to get through this gauntlet of hate...they say they'd rather LL Cool J was banned from the jazz festival instead.
SHOCK!! HORROR!! Elton John is gay!! So bloody what!?!
I'm truly amazed by the response of so many people in Trinidad & Tobago to this 'news'. The amount of media coverage this story has taken up over here is insane. As a Londoner living in T&T, it is crazy to me that a gay man could create such uproar and mass outrage. I never imagined so many people over here were still so closed minded and unwilling to accept another's personal choice and preference.Do you all realise that it is 2007?
Putting all of this homophobic nonsense aside; Elton John married his partner, of nearly 20 years,in a civil ceremony in the UK in 2005. Civil partnerships are a legally recognised union between two people of the same sex. This is commonplace and perfectly legal in the 'modern' world. So there's no need to panic people. Elton is not about to be looking for his next 'victim'. He's in a committed relationship. Which, I'm sure can't be said for many of his bible- bashing critics from T&T aka 'Horn Central'. He's not going round trying to poison peoples minds. He just wants to come here, hang out in the sun, sing some tunes and get his cheque.
You're seriously talking about banning the man that penned classics like "Your Song", "Benny and the Jets", "Tiny Dancer", "Crocodile Rock", "Daniel", "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and the "Circle of Life" from Disney's The Lion King. So let me ask you something, how many people of T&T refused to take their kids to see The Lion King, on the grounds that the soundtrack was penned by a gay man? Not many I'm sure.
Stop being such a bunch of hypocrites and open your minds to the world around you.