Gay untry mic in Patrick Haggerty died Monday at age 78 : NPR

Contents:

• LAVENR COUNTRY'S PATRICK HAGGERTY WAS EMBRACED AS GAY UNTRY MIC'S RADIL ELR
• COUNTRY MIC HAS NEVER BEEN MORE GAY
• MALAYSIA HALTS MIC FT AFTER U.K. SGER MATTY HEALY SLAMS ANTI-GAY LAWS, KISS BANDMATE
• MALAYSIA CUTS SHORT MIC FT AFTER BRISH BAND SLAMS ANTI-GAY LAWS, SGER KISS MALE BANDMATE
• GAY UNTRY MIC IN PATRICK HAGGERTY DIED MONDAY AT AGE 78

LAVENR COUNTRY'S PATRICK HAGGERTY WAS EMBRACED AS GAY UNTRY MIC'S RADIL ELR

" Homosexualy is illegal Malaysia, a Mlim-majory natn. There are lol laws discrimatg agast LGBTQ+ people Indonia but s natnal laws have never ma homosexualy a crime. Lavenr Country, led by sger and songwrer Patrick Haggerty, released what wily nsired the first openly gay untry album 1973.

But was jt the last half-dozen years or so that Lavenr Country's but — the self-tled, 10-song set he and his origal bandmat ma back 1973 — enjoyed wi regnn as the first openly gay untry album. " as though ought to be self-evint that a boy who grew up a Hank Williams-lovg, dairy-farmg hoehold Washgton state and went on to bee an openly gay and polilly radilized man would reach for untry songwrg as a tool of agatn. He was acutely aware that songwrg advotg for a Marxist and tersectnal visn of gay liberatn would be unmarketable almost any genre the late '70s.

What enabled him and his mil -nspirators Michael Carr, Eve Morris and Robert Hammerstrom to make that first Lavenr Country album, and prs 1, 000 pi of , was the grassroots fundg they received om Gay Communy Social Servic of Seattle, where they lived. What he red about was the queer folks who bought the LP secret and listened tearful appreciatn as he merrily and explicly took down straight, whe, cis toxic masculy ("Cry' The C***suckg Tears"), cried how the forc of palism divid and nquered workg-class activist alns and layed gay liberatn ("Back the Closet Aga"), immortalized the pleasure and anonymy of a cisg enunter ("I Can't Shake the Stranger Out of You") and imaged a welg queer utopia where there would be no policg of genr performance ("Lavenr Country").

COUNTRY MIC HAS NEVER BEEN MORE GAY

After half a of performg the Pacific Northwt, Haggerty felt margalized his own polil movement, too radil for the gay rights alns formg wh Democrats. hen Brandy Clark lnched a untry-mic rerdg reer 2013, there wasn’t any template to follow for an openly gay artist Nashville. Clark has been at the foreont of that shift and creds her iendship wh Shane McAnally — one of Nashville’s most succsful songwrers, who is also gay — wh givg her the nfince to pursue a solo reer.

MALAYSIA HALTS MIC FT AFTER U.K. SGER MATTY HEALY SLAMS ANTI-GAY LAWS, KISS BANDMATE

“Who knows who’s gog to be listeng to me the flyover stat that’s gog to draw strength om ‘Oh, she’s gay too? Man, if she’s gay and dog that, maybe I uld do that.

“Gee Stra or Gee Gay, there’s no difference, ” sgs Homan, who now liv Nashville. “Though a lot of people that work the dtry support me om a distance, there’s a difference between that and actually takg some steps to ph that further and sign some [gay artists], ” Homan says.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia’s ernment Saturday cut short a mic ftival after the lead sger of Brish band The 1975 slammed the untry’s anti-gay laws and kissed a male bandmate durg their performance. ” Healey ed profany his speech cricizg the ernment’s stance agast homosexualy, before kissg bass player Ross MacDonald. Malaysia’s ernment has cut short a mic ftival after the lead sger of Brish band The 1975 slammed the untry’s anti-gay laws and kissed a male bandmate durg their performance.

MALAYSIA CUTS SHORT MIC FT AFTER BRISH BAND SLAMS ANTI-GAY LAWS, SGER KISS MALE BANDMATE

Homosexualy is a crime the untry that is punishable by up to 20 years prison and agency charge of approvg performanc by foreign artists said was disappoted wh the band’s nduct, llg “an sult and disrpectg the laws of the untry. ” It said the group will be blacklisted om performg wasn’t the first time that Healy ed the stage to fend lbian and gay rights. In 2019, he kissed a male fan durg a ncert the Uned Arab Emirat, which also outlaws homosexual acts, acrdg to media reports.

The band’s first album, also lled “Lavenr Country, ” was one of the first untry albums wh outwardly gay them, acrdg to Billboard. The album, origally released 1973, clus songs wh lyrics about queer sire and homophobia. AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTMalaysia Halts Mic Ftival After Kiss Between Bandmat OnstageThe episo as rights groups have warned of growg tolerance agast lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr people the untry, where homosexualy is a crime.

Homosexualy is a crime Mlim-majory Malaysia. Rights groups have warned of growg tolerance agast lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr vios posted on social media late on Friday, Matty Healy, the band’s ontman, was seen kissg the bassist, Ross MacDonald, after cricizg Malaysia’s stance agast homosexualy a profany-lan speech to the ftival dience. Healy had faced cricism for kissg a male fan at a 2019 ncert the Uned Arab Emirat, which also has laws agast homosexual acts, acrdg to news media ftival’s anizer, Future Sound Asia, apologized for the show’s ncellatn after Mr.

GAY UNTRY MIC IN PATRICK HAGGERTY DIED MONDAY AT AGE 78

Homosexual acts are illegal Malaysia and punishable by f and up to 20 years prison. You are young people, and I’m sure a lot of you are gay and progrsive, ” he said addrsg the dience. Gay untry mic in Patrick Haggerty died Monday at age 78 Country mic artist and activist Patrick Haggerty died Monday at age 78.