What is "batty boy"

n. (context Caribbean slang also British derogatory English) A homosexual man.

In Jamaican English and creole, a batty boy (also batty bwoy, batty man and chi chi bwoy/man) is pejorative term for a gay, bisexual, or effeminate.

In 2006 Time Magazine claimed that Jamaica was the worst place in the Americas for LGBT people and one of the most homophobic places in the world. Sex between men is punishable with up to ten years in jail.

Certain Jamaican music, which features hostility to homosexuals, such as in a T.O.K. song "Chi Chi Man" which threatens to burn fire on gays and those in their company, employs the term 'batty boy' to disparage LGBT people. One notorious song, "Boom Bye Bye" written by dancehall musician Buju Banton, advocates violence against batty boys, including shooting them in the head and setting them on fire: "Boom bye bye, in a batty bwoy head/ Rude boy nah promote no nasty man, dem hafi dead."

Post- World War II Jamaican immigrants brought the term 'batty boy' to the United Kingdom. Contemporary usage has been boosted partly by British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, and his portrayal of the character Ali G. The term is also used in North America.

In the episode "Who I Am" of the Fox television show Empire, character Black Rambo calls Jamal Lyon 'batty boy' twice.