Homophobic references?

[Swiss Nauruan Wailer]

I've heard about this lately... in a discussion about homophobia in Jamaica and dancehall musicians promoting it, somebody said Bob Marley never did this, and got the reply to listen carefully to the lyrics of "Who The Cap Fit"...

indeedly, one could say the line "man to man is so unjust" is a clear proof of Marley promoting homophobia... there is also an interview of Marley in 1980 with the HUMO magazine, just days before he collapsed, where he stated to "fight against sodomy"... but does it refer to sexual intercourse of men, with animals, anal sex, fornication in general, or a biblical reference to the city of Sodom...?

another story I've read once is when Marley once was at the same place as the pop musician Prince he wanted to meet him, but when he heard how Prince would act on stage (lascive, escapading, somehow pseudo homosexual) he immediately left the location and never wanted to meet him at all... and the last thing I've read once is that roger steffens seems to have said that Marley would occasionally have joined in anti-gay feelings and movements...
Copyright?: BOBMARLEYMAGAZINE FORUM http://www.bobmarleymagazine.com/forum_bmwm/showthread.php?t=2959

what do you people think about these allegations? once more these are not my personal views, but things I have read and heard...

[heelalo]

I think Bob didn't like gays and that's understandable when you grow up in a society as the jamaican, when you read and follow the Bible,...
So this allegations are probably true.
But of course, he didn't spread a hatred message against gays as some other 'artists' do now. I think he rather chose not to speak too much about it.

[Blaise90]

uh ohhh. this could be a very long topic with me in the discussion.

Bob didnt hate gays period. he may have disliked them , but he grew up in jamaica, what did you expect? soooooooooo many quotes give contradiction the the opinion that bob was homophobic. just to name a few:

"WHO THE CAP FIT LET THEM WEAR IT"!!! who someone is let them be it!

"leave judgment to god"

"every man has the right to decide his own destiny, and in this judgment
there is no partiality"

"the road of life is rocky and you may stumble to so while you point your fingers someone els is judging you"

"i am what i am because i was born into what i am" -he was born in jamaica at a time when gays where pointlaessly looked at a basically the devil.

so go ahead all of you conservitive christians, old timer rastas, evangelicals etc. and try to prove me wrong with bible quotes. it wont work because the bible is written by men.

[Classic]

"Man to man, is so unjust....ya don't know, who to trust"

It can't be argued that that's a homophobic reference. In its original context, it implies that dealing with other people is risky as all hell because someone's always trying to step on you in some way. The song is about trust and lack thereof.

I agree with heelalo 100%. I don't think he made anti-gay references, though he probably disliked homosexuals and was all for the oppression of them. Quite ironic.

[bestjamaica]

I don't think so... Bob was against racism so it may include homophoby way of racism... I really don't think so.

[MGH]

I'm sorry but anyone who said the line "man to man is so unjust" is an anti-gay statement is a fool. (not calling you a fool Swiss)Bob was clearly saying that people act unjustly towards one another.

[ice]

I agree with MGH - I've never considered these specific lines to relate to homophobic relations...

[marco]

Originally Posted by MGH

I'm sorry but anyone who said the line "man to man is so unjust" is an anti-gay statement is a fool. (not calling you a fool Swiss)Bob was clearly saying that people act unjustly towards one another.

oh yes, this is the meaning
Bob didn't like the gays way of life but he was not homophobic, simply he didn't care about gay, lesbian, bisex etc etc, he care about rastafari and poor people