LGBTQ mic history is so much more than a timele of who me out when and which songs beme gay anthems -- ’s also about the artists who weren’t aaid to be themselv eras when dog so often had real risks attached.
Contents:
- LGBTQ+ BANDS: OUR TOP 10 FAVORE GAY BANDS
- THE 13 GAYT MIC VIOS OF THE '80S
- POP MIC COULD USE ANOTHER DE AS 'GAY' AS THE '80S
- THE 50 BT GAY SONGS TO CELEBRATE PRI ALL YEAR LONG
- RYM ULTIMATE BOX SET > 80'S GAY SYNTHPOP
- GREATT GAY SGERS OF ALL TIME
LGBTQ+ BANDS: OUR TOP 10 FAVORE GAY BANDS
In this article, we will take a look at our top 10 LGBTQ+ bands, their liv, and the achievements of the great gay bands the dtry. * gay 80s pop groups *
The fact that there are many mic artists who are openly gay is a big step for LGBTQ+ rights, which mak the artists important and fluential. Eher way, g out as gay was a life-changg (and liberatg) cisn for Ricky Mart, and he is now nsired one of the most fluential LGBT artists the world. Wh the succs of his album Trspassg, Lambert was also the first openly gay sger to have an album reach number one on the Billboard 200 charts.
That beg said, Gee Michael’s ntributn to LGBT right was immense, and he will always be remembered as one of the most proment gay sgers of all time. The song spent 19 weeks on the top of the Billboard Hot 100 – meanwhile, Lil Nas X me out as gay, which ma him the first artist to do so while beg on the top of the chart.
While shouldn't matter whether a sger or band is gay, lbian, transgenr, and so on, there have been plenty throughout mic's history that pletely she. Pri is a time to regnize the achievements of LGBTQ micians and gay bands as well as the stggl they face whilst exprsg themselv to the world. Takg a polil stance, their songs often ver issu ncerng the gay muny like their song ‘Want Us Dead’, referrg to the treatment of gay people society.
THE 13 GAYT MIC VIOS OF THE '80S
A roundup of the gayt, queert, and most flamboyant mic vios om an already over-the-top : the 1980s." name="scriptn * gay 80s pop groups *
Rob Halford, closeted at the time, was spired by the leather and chas of kk clothg and unrground fashn that he found gay clubs and Brish Vogue. In 2019 they released their eighth and most recent stud album ‘sgl and Such’ followg multiple releas sce 2010 and they’re more referenced, ‘That’s So Gay 2009. Known as one of the first wav of gay punk bands the 70s, Wayne And The Electric Chairs beme a well-known name the mic world workg closely wh the lik of the Backstreet Boys.
Fans may openly embrace a gay Elton John, Melissa Etheridge or Ricky Mart now, but over the past 50 years or more ’s been a stggle for most queer artists to live their liv openly and whout shame and persecutn. His theatril scream-sgg, macho stage prence, and all-around badassery (bt showsed on inic rerds like 1980’s Brish Steel and 1982’s Screamg for Vengeance) prompted many fans to ll him “Metal God:” a tradnally mascule trope Halford boldly upend Febary 1998, when he me out as gay an MTV News terview. As the earlit show of queer solidary om a proment metal mician, Halford’s admissn proved val rhapg the public perceptn of heavy metal, repostg an earspltg, heteronormative boys’ club as a safe space where headbangers of all typ uld be themselv, sheltered the flailg arms of not jt a benevolent (and openly gay) God, but the scene wr large.
” The fact that he did all while beg pletely open about his sexualy – llg himself “rock’s tt fairy” – is astoundg and, for a brief, shg moment 1974, Jobriath beme the most visible gay man popular mic.
POP MIC COULD USE ANOTHER DE AS 'GAY' AS THE '80S
* gay 80s pop groups *
While the “Queen of Dis” is a tle most monly btowed upon Donna Summer, also appli to Sylvter, who was a fixture of the dis scene and an in of the gay liberatn movement that spawned out of San Francis.
It wasn’t until after hostg var episos of the show for a uple years – which all centered on LGBT issu – that she spoke openly about her partner of over two s and the stggl of beg gay the mic dtry. “I thk the rerd dtry – by and large what’s left of – is still totally homophobic, ” she said, notg that she me out her twenti and never went to “lengths” to nceal . Brish punk rocker Tom Robson achieved chart succs wh h songs “2-4-6-8 Motorway”, “Up Agast the Wall” and “Don’t Take No for an Answer, ” but he’ll always be immortalized for his sgalong prott anthem, “Glad to be Gay.
THE 50 BT GAY SONGS TO CELEBRATE PRI ALL YEAR LONG
Pri serv more than a month. The gay songs – om dis hs to club classics – are perfect for Pri year-round. * gay 80s pop groups *
” Origally wrten for a 1976 London gay pri march, the song was nearly banned by the BBC 1978 – although DJ John Peel fied the stricture.
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.
- “CLUB TROPICANA” (1983)It would be another 15 years before he formally me out, but if Gee Michael a whe speedo vampg to this breezy 1983 bop don’t set off your gaydar…nothg will. ERASURE - “CHAINS OF LOVE” (1988)If seeg Andy Bell spend om chas jt BASKING his gayns don’t make you feel like you’re an episo of Queer as Folk, you’ve got some homework to do. And whether he’s kept a low profile sce then bee he’s livg his life or bee ’s hard for an pennt mician to get tractn this world, he’s still the pg ballaer wh which a young gay man might fall love.
RYM ULTIMATE BOX SET > 80'S GAY SYNTHPOP
While there have, undoubtedly, been signifint ton LGBT history earlier s, I believe the Eighti was a particularly important perd. 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 * gay 80s pop groups *
Yet back the ’70s was slim pickgs for openly gay artists, and we all knew how to read an artist that ma a joke about beg “bi-astal” (he even named an album that) while throwg himself across the stage like a hyperactive chore on a Broadway belter like “I Go to R.
They’ve taken on gay social media apps (“Personal” om 2006 and “Lookg” om 2019”) and love to ms around wh gay clichés (“But I’m a Top”). Currently on her mea culpa tour (for, amongst other thgs, supportg Tmp) and tryg to get the foc back on her mic, this mouthy bisexual MC threw away a lot of goodwill by turng her reer to a spectacle of wrong-footedns — her e of slurs agast gay men has been wily reported.
Somewhat lost to history, Bean found the clive Uny Fellowship Church Movement and was rponsible for the early gay lib anthem “I Was Born This Way. Known for a quick w and sharp tongue, Belli followed up an unexpectedly short stt on Season 4 of RuPl’s Drag Race wh hilar mic parodi of pop hs that mocked Chick-fil-A’s anti-gay polics (“Chow Down (at Chick-fil-A)”), praised well-endowed men (“Love You Like a Big Schlong”) and skewered secret bedroom submissiv (“That Boy is a Bottom”).
GREATT GAY SGERS OF ALL TIME
Wh three albums and some EP’s beneath him, he’s ripe for disvery by the ward lookg and sensive gay boys who flock to, let’s say, Baths and Chris Garne. Or, at least, a cult act, whose unflchg honty and betiful tenor uld soundtrack the wet dreams of many buddg young gay boys lookg for a “Half-Boyiend” or a breathtakg partner to leave you bereft (“Rob Me Bld”). Yet between his activism, thorship (How to Have Sex an Epimic: One Approach), journalism, and actg (Philalphia, Zero Patience), he found and sang wh the gay apella group The Flirtatns (“Everythg Possible”) and released one solo album, Purple Heart (“Talkg Old Soldiers”), while he was alive.
Yet more die rock and punk, this time om another all-female Philalphia tr who do a stellar versn of New Orr’s “Age of Consent” and released a solid sophomore set wh 2017’s New Kd of Normal (“B Ticket”). Newfangled alt-rock solo artist enjoyg the liberti of beg a queer artist whout that nasty homophobic backlash (or, at the very least, not as much of ). Coil, the project of Peter “Sleazy” Christopherson and Jhonn Balance — both of Genis P-Orridge’s Psychic TV, and the se of Christopherson, dtrial pneers Throbbg Gristle — were always very upont about their gayns.
They not only did the very first AIDS chary sgle (“Tated Love“), they worked wh Derek Jarman and sred a vio lled The Gay Man’s Gui to Safe Sex. Wh two releas behd them, this Atralian band is poised to bee the next Years & Years or Troye Sivan — an electropop die ncern that wav the gay flag proudly and produc betiful synth-based tun perfect for ntemplatn (“Chas’”) and romance (“Csh”).