The Gayt Mic Vios of the '80s | Grdr

Contents:

• THE 13 GAYT MIC VIOS OF THE '80S
• AS A GAY MAN, THE '80S CRIPPLED MY INTY
• HOW THE EARLY ’80S CHANGED GAY WRG FOREVER
• 16 MT-SEE CLASSIC GAY MOVI FROM BEFORE YOU WERE BORN

THE 13 GAYT MIC VIOS OF THE '80S

That saw a major shift towards the emergence of a global gay culture. The gay genie me right out of s ltle pk bottle and to the streets (and the media…and polics…and the arts…).

For example, the US, the Court of Appeal led that there was no ‘fundamental right’ to be gay. In the UK, the Thatcher ernment created Sectn 28 of the Lol Government Act, makg illegal for lol thori to support anythg that might promote homosexual relatnships as a viable alternative to heterosexual ‘fay life’.

And, unsurprisgly, the Catholic Church ntued ’s attack on gays. In 1986 Pope John Pl II labelled “evil” and orred the Church to whdraw all support om gay Catholic anisatns.

AS A GAY MAN, THE '80S CRIPPLED MY INTY

And even the US Army, who had clared homosexualy to be “patible wh ary service” 1982, were forced to adm 1989 that gay recs were “jt as good or better” than heterosexuals. “Straight people were clumsy and had no rhythm, whereas gay men were right on.

Manco’s crowd, which clud many gay men of lor, bellowed out the chos, refigurg the song’s addrsee as a new kd of Shore Commissn, ‘Free Man’ (1975)D. -led dance spac that were exclive to gay men — ually whe, middle-class gay men — started to open Manhattan late 1972. Valento, ‘I Was Born This Way’ (1975)The first rerd to feature lyrics about beg an out-and-proud gay man me om the mil performer Charl “Valento” Harris, who released “I Was Born This Way” as an apparently one-off release on Gaiee.

“I’m happy, I’m reee and I’m gay, ” the sger hollers over soulful stmentatn.

HOW THE EARLY ’80S CHANGED GAY WRG FOREVER

” “The lyrics were perfect, ” she told me Summer, ‘I Feel Love’ (1977)Gay male dance crowds were drawn to rerdgs that featured Black female volists, often intifyg wh their emotnal exprsivens and strength the face of adversy, often to the surprise of the artists, who were ually gospel-traed. A pneerg reprentative, Gloria Gaynor was crowned the first queen of dis by gay D. Patrick Cowley, ‘Mutant Man’ (1982)Patrick Cowley fed his reputatn as one of the world’s most progrsive synthizer players durg rerdgs wh the dis pneer Sylvter, cludg “You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real), ” perhaps the ultimate gay male anthem.

16 MT-SEE CLASSIC GAY MOVI FROM BEFORE YOU WERE BORN

”A versn of this article appears prt on, Sectn D, Page 5 of the New York edn wh the headle: Sp Some Gay Dis. The overall queerns of pop 2020 has thkg back to the gayt pop mic ever experienced: the ‘80s. The ‘80s had all, and today we celebrate the moments where the gay really jumped OUT the ’s foremost art form: the mic vio.

Ins like Whney and Madonna turned out plenty of hs durg the ‘80s that are today nsired gay anthems, but the classic vios—eher by LGBTQ+ artists or featurg queer subject matter—are gay a more leral sense. BRONSKI BEAT - “SMALLTOWN BOY” (1984)This ‘80s dance h and s explicly queer vio about a smalltown gay boy the big cy broke new ground for LGBTQ+ visibily—and reached the top of the charts the procs. MARC ALMOND - “RUBY RED” (1987)Few ‘80s pop stars were more -your-face about their sexualy than Soft Cell ontman Marc Almond, and this kky Kenh Anger-spired visual is as gay as B-52s - “LOVE SHACK” (1989)As if The B-52’s John Waters-spired athetic and out-and-proud ontman Fred Schneir weren’t gay enough for you, this mpy vid for their late-’80s h featur a pre-fame meo by the one and only RuPl.