Rapper Eminem Banned By British Students
L O N D O N, Feb. 1 -- The student union at an English university has banned American rapper Eminem's songs on campus, calling him anti-gay and misogynistic.
The University of Sheffield student union board banned all Eminem music from the school radio station and from campus disco nights.
The ban includes the wearing of Eminem T-shirts to school-sponsored events.
"Eminem's misogynistic and hate-filled language is intimidating and extremely threatening," say the Union's Women's Officer, Rachel Agnew, "We are trying to build a union for all our students. Women and homosexuals should have the right to go out in the union without having to face these sorts of attitudes."
"This is outrageous. We will not abide by this ban," says Ben Dobson manager of the school's SURE FM radio station. "We would be the only radio station in Britain playing hip-hop who wasn't playing Eminem."
The union's board released a statement claiming Eminem's lyrics "blatantly promote hatred towards women and homosexuals." The ban was also extended to prohibit the university's newspaper from writing music or concert reviews on the popular but controversial rapper.
School Paper Opposes Ban
"They have no right to do this," says Alice Tarleton, editor of the school newspaper The Steel Press. "This is censorship, it's against our constitution, against freedom of the press and we will not honor the ban."
Emenim, the shock rapper from Detriot, is known to court controversy -- brandishing a chainsaw, taking drugs, and even faking his own electrocution onstage.
Eminem's controversies include being sued by his wife and mother, an arrest for pulling a gun at a nightclub, his wife's suicide attempt and an impending divorce. His singles have been boycotted by the members of GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) and his lyrics being cited in a Senate hearing on violence in the entertainment industry.
His lyrics have prompted American homosexual organizations to organize a "Rally Against Hate" outside the Grammy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles in February.
