Judas Prit's Rob Halford on beg metal’s first gay in | Lour

Contents:

• GAY METAL MIC
• “IN THOSE DAYS, YOU DIDN’T TALK ABOUT THOSE KD OF THGS”. ROB HALFORD'S REACTN TO BEG METAL’S FIRST GAY IN
• WHY AREN'T THERE MORE OPENLY GAY HEAVY METAL MICIANS? TESTAMENT'S ALEX SKOLNICK WEIGHS IN
• WHY THE ONLY OPENLY GAY HEAVY METAL SUPERSTAR, JUDAS PRIT'S ROB HALFORD, HID HIS SEXUALY
• CANNED CKTAIL ‘GAY WATER’ AIMS TO SH ON BUD LIGHT’S DYLAN MULVANEY DISASTER
• KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY

GAY METAL MIC

In episo 18 of 50 Years of Heavy Metal, we're breakg down 100 years of LGBTQA+ reprentatn openly gay the 1920s wasn’t jt rare, was legimately dangero, but gay culture began to blossom the Roarg ‘20s, pecially throughout New York Cy’s club scene Harlem, Greenwich Village and Tim Square. Jumpg forward to the 1950s, blu mician Billy Wright was one of the few openly gay micians of his era, and he’s creded wh helpg Ltle Richard velop his flamboyant look. So rock and roll wasn’t jt created by one gay man Ltle Richard, was created by two black, gay men om the south.

" But the words were later rewrten by an outsi lyricist and Ltle Richard’s o to life as a gay man was lost on the cuttg room floor. Now I thk of beg openly gay as a polil statement, somethg that some small way furthers the gay rights movement...

“IN THOSE DAYS, YOU DIDN’T TALK ABOUT THOSE KD OF THGS”. ROB HALFORD'S REACTN TO BEG METAL’S FIRST GAY IN

Kids who are to hard rock and who may be alg wh the possibily of beg gay themselv don't see a lot of posive role mols. Back November, the Hell Bent for Metal podst (HBFM) put out their first episo, lled Gay Satanic Love Songs. If you’re worried that they played their tmp rd too early, this was followed by an edn entled BDSM Gear and Black Metal, and another named Horny German Werewolv.It quickly beme clear what you were gettg: ’s gay, ’s about heavy metal, and ’s very, very funny.

WHY AREN'T THERE MORE OPENLY GAY HEAVY METAL MICIANS? TESTAMENT'S ALEX SKOLNICK WEIGHS IN

As a gay rock fan, HBFM founr and -host Tom Dare’s hope was to be visible to other LGBTQ+ lovers of heavy mic, and to offer a queer perspective that he felt was missg om a scene that is still affected by homophobia.In one episo, they discs July by Swedish band Katatonia, a song whose genr-ntral lyrics chime more wh him than the ual heteronormative love songs. “Before I started , I knew there were other gay metal fans out there, but I didn’t know who – I knew about three other people,” he says. After namg Judas Prit sger Rob Halford, metal’s most obv and inic gay star (“He’s not jt gay, he’s ‘I like wearg assls chaps’-gay”, says Dare), most fans would probably stggle to name a send.Hence the podst, a flashpot for fans to fd one another.

“It’s horrible!” But he felt there was no choice but to react to , an episo bluntly named Inter Metal’s Homophobia Problem, rerd followg the announcement of the but album by Man on Man, found by Fah No More’s gay keyboardist Roddy Bottum.“To have someone om a band like Fah No More gog, ‘I’m gonna do a rerd about how I like fuckg my boyiend’ – for the gay muny that’s, like, ‘Y!

WHY THE ONLY OPENLY GAY HEAVY METAL SUPERSTAR, JUDAS PRIT'S ROB HALFORD, HID HIS SEXUALY

“We’ve had all the years of Mötley Crüe and that bollocks, now we fally have somethg that we n look at and not thk: ‘That’s not for .’”Fah No More keyboardist Roddy Bottum, whose new band Man on Man has sparked a homophobic reactn Photograph: Olly Curtis/Future/Rex/ShutterstockBut beyond that gay muny, the sight of two men embracg one another the vio for Man on Man’s sgle 1983 provoked a different reactn. The bt way to start chippg away at that stuff is to have a voice that’s sayg: we’re part of metal, too.” And, really, what’s not metal about Horny German Werewolv or Gay Satanic Love Songs?

The former ontman of the Norwegian black metal band Goroth has ma jarrg headl over the years for a variety of reasons, but when he me out as homosexual 2008, tmped everythg else the black metal muny. This 1980s hardre punk band led the charge for the Texas punk movement, and more importantly, that charge was led by an openly gay ontman.

Fah No More’s openly gay keyboardist Roddy Bottum wrote a song om their perhaps bt-known rerd Angel Dt lled ‘Be Aggrsive’ which tailed male-on-male sex acts.

CANNED CKTAIL ‘GAY WATER’ AIMS TO SH ON BUD LIGHT’S DYLAN MULVANEY DISASTER

Shortly after Cynic guarist Pl Masvidal me out as gay 2014, alongsi the band’s dmmer Sean Reert, he received a letter om a fan who revealed that Masvidal’s g out had ma him rethk his homophobia. It led him to qutn how bad beg gay uld be if that was how his favoure guar player intified. When Mache Head put out their fourth rerd Supercharger, Slayer’s Kerry Kg sulted ontman Robb Flynn’s vols g a homophobic slur.

KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY

Greg Puciato, ontman of The Dillger Espe Plan, is a notably vol advote for LGBT rights and has cricised particular homophobia metal. Misogyny and homophobia share some DNA based on the stereotype of gay men appearg emasculated and therefore lser. Puciato mak a pellg pot, then, that the homophobia metal is tied to what some see as hypermasculy.

In turn, those attus would later sour and warp to some homophobic sub-genr, as lser purveyors of metal dabbled outright hate speech. For Pri Month, I'd like you all to know that the entire reason heavy metal adopted the leather and chas look was bee then-closeted gay man and Judas Prit ontman Rob Halford troduced the style based on what was vogue at Brish gay clubs the 70s. Key to that project was Helot Revolt, a hair metal avant-gar group led by the openly gay Jack Dubowsky.