Performer banned in Reidsville for anti-gay remark
REIDSVILLE — When Douglas Astin heard Matt Boswell use a derogatory term for gays during a replay of his performance at the city’s annual Fall Festival, he got angry.
Astin e-mailed the local television station, asking them to edit out that portion of the performance. The city of Reidsville took a tougher stance, banning Boswell from performing at any future city-sponsored events.
Matt Boswell & the Hillbilly Blues Band was one of the featured performers at the Fall Festival held Oct. 10.
City Manager Kelly Almond made the decision this week after receiving a copy of the e-mail Astin sent to WGSR-TV.
“There is no excuse for this type of language at a city event,” Almond said in a memo dated Monday and sent to the mayor and City Council members. “Although we do respect rights to free speech, we don’t have to pay for them or have them at our events.”
When the group performed a Merle Haggard song, “Are the Good Times Really Over,” Boswell ad-libbed at the end of it with “some of the things I don’t like about the world today.”
Among them, according to a video of the performance posted on YouTube: “You can’t get married, you stupid gays and queers, so why don’t you go somewhere else?”
Boswell twice this week declined to comment for this story through Deb Sterling, the organizer of another event at which he appeared.
Almond said Wednesday that he attended the Fall Festival but did not hear Boswell’s performance. He asked Tammy Spencer, the city’s marketing director, and Diana Moran, coordinator of the Reidsville Downtown Corp., to view the television station’s tape of the event. Almond decided to ban Boswell after Spencer and Moran confirmed the tape did include the language Astin complained about.
Reidsville City Council members said they stand behind Almond’s decision and applauded his quick response.
“If he became aware of that and didn’t do something, then I would say that would be a problem,” Councilwoman Joan Zdanski said.
Zdanski said she appreciates freedom of speech but said it carries with it responsibility. Councilman W. Clark Turner agreed with her.
“If he (Boswell) wants to stand on the street corner and say that, that’s one thing,” Turner said. “But to say it in a city-sponsored event — that is altogether a different thing.”
Boswell is a country, bluegrass and Southern rock performer who lives in southwestern Virginia, according to his MySpace page. He has upcoming shows in Eden, Greensboro and Winston-Salem.
Boswell performed Saturday in Eden at a fundraiser for the Rockingham County Animal Shelter. Sterling, the event organizer, said there were no problems with his show.
“He didn’t say anything controversial or do anything controversial at all,” Sterling said.
She has partnered with Boswell on fundraisers for four years and said he’s always been generous with his time and talent.
Contact Jonnelle Davis at 627-4881, Ext. 126, or jonnelle.davis@news-record.com.
Accompanying Photos
Photo Caption: Matt Boswell
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