Deborah Heath says Buju Banton's songs "promote love and respect" (Letters, July 12). According to Amnesty International and the Jamaican press, however, he was charged with an armed attack on six gay men as recently as January.

In a two-hour interview broadcast in April, he was defiantly proud of writing, performing and profiting by sales of his "murder music".

And, a month ago, he was offered a platform in the local gay press to clear up, once and for all, the alleged "misunderstanding" that, despite the words he has written and continues to perform, he does not in fact advocate burning, shooting and pouring acid on gay men. He chose silence.

While gay Jamaicans are granted asylum here having escaped murder threats and sustained violence, I don't see he has anything to sing about except not being locked up in a British jail for a very long time.

If Deborah is "ashamed to live in Brighton" as she suggests, perhaps she might swap places with a lesbian in Jamaica and see if that changes her "metaphorical" tune.

As a member of Brighton's LGBT community, my freedom to walk home late at night free from the threat of violence is cancelled on a daily basis. I've been waiting about 30 years for an apology and refund for my "inconvenience", but it's never arrived.

-Arthur Law, Brighton