Buju Banton’s "Boom Bye Bye" beme a smash h 1992 wh lyrics advotg for the murr and torture of gay men. We asked five queer Caribbeans to unpack the song’s legacy and impact on their liv.
Contents:
- GAY WATER, A NEW NNED CKTAIL, WANTS TO BE THE ANTI-BUD LIGHT
- ‘I JT WANT SOMETHG THAT’S GAY AND HAPPY’: L.G.B.T.Q. ROMANCE IS BOOMG
- UNRSTANDG THE 'GAYBY BOOM'
- THE GAYBY BOOM IS HERE TO STAY
- AM I GAY?
GAY WATER, A NEW NNED CKTAIL, WANTS TO BE THE ANTI-BUD LIGHT
* boom gay *
In a sea of nned cktails, Gay Water wants to stand out. In other words, where Bud Light has buckled unr prsure as bigotry grows agast the LGBTQ+ muny, Gay Water’s creator Spencer Hodson wants his new boozy brand to be the anthis of that. “The key issue that Bud Light tapped to was the fact that they didn’t unrstand their re dience and know enough about them,” Hodson, a gay man, told CNN about the ntroversy that began when the Anhser-Bch beer brand sent fluencer Dylan Mulvaney a n of beer.
‘I JT WANT SOMETHG THAT’S GAY AND HAPPY’: L.G.B.T.Q. ROMANCE IS BOOMG
Lnchg Thursday is a brightly lored nned vodka and soda beverage lled Gay Water that proudly displays who ’s for, stead of backg off om support for the LGBTQ+ muny like Bud Light did. * boom gay *
Gay Water, however, is out and proud. The nned cktail is named after a lloquialism given to the popular mixed drk (vodka and soda) orred at bars by the gay muny.
“Puttg a product wh the word gay the tle is reprentatn self,” which he hop reclaims the word om the negativy ’s sometim associated wh. He thought of creatg Gay Water about a year ago while on a vatn wh his iend that had got a job wh the beverage dtry. The two chatted about the limed amount of gay people wh , and wh Hodson burnt out om his tradnal day job tech, started the nned cktail.
UNRSTANDG THE 'GAYBY BOOM'
Fueled by patronage om Laguna Beach artists, vatners om Hollywood and beyond, as well as mar, the Boom Boom Room was a center of gay nightlife Orange County. * boom gay *
Hodson built up a strong social media followg on TikTok and Instagram durg Covid-19 and is g some of the money om that (as well as om iends and fay) to help fund Gay Water.
“Gay is an umbrella term and the ia behd the brand is to be as clive as possible, which means we want alli, we want straight people to be part of this muny we’re buildg.”.
THE GAYBY BOOM IS HERE TO STAY
For now, Gay Water is sold largely onle (wh a few retailers) and four sugar-ee flavors — watermelon, lime, peach and grapeu — at lnch. Gay Water might not have the ep pockets pared to s petors, like Whe Claw, but “even at small sle, pani of many siz are havg succs makg spir-based seltzers and premixed cktails,” Bryan Roth, an analyst for Feel Goods Company and edor of the alhol beverage newsletter, Sightl+, told CNN. “There’s lots of space the spir-based seltzer tegory which Gay Water n play, pecially if the brand n offer a cultural or emotnal nnectn that will feel more excg than the prospect of another peapple-flavored vodka seltzer om natnal or ternatnal rporatns,” Roth said.
AM I GAY?
Of urse, other drks e the word “gay,” too, cludg Gay Beer and So Gay Rosé, Hodson noted, which are also tryg to reach the queer muny and offer them an alternative the straight-domated space. ', 'Am I Gay? One of the most popular was Buju Banton’s 1992 sgle “Boom Bye Bye, ” a track that followed a tradn of Jamain songs that poe vlence agast queer people — and one that beme lodged the memori of queer Caribbeans, makg clear that homophobia was alive and well our hom and muni.
Origally wrten when he was jt 15 years old, “Boom Bye Bye” fds Banton llg for the murr and torture of “batty boys, ” a Jamain patois slur for gay men (whom the star nflat wh pedophil).
Though Banton would go on to break Bob Marley’s rerd for the most number one songs Jamai, the artist attracted protts om LGBTQ+ advot throughout his reer, leadg him to sign a 2007 pledge lled the Reggae Compassnate Act where he and other proment reggae artists agreed to stop performg songs wh homophobic lyrics.