'Queer Femist Punk Rock & Rage duo' Pk Sus are an important part of the leage of punk rock: & s hidn gay history -says Ged Babey
Contents:
SMELLS LIKE QUEER SPIR: HOW '90S PUNKS PANSY DIVISN BLAZED A TRAIL AS ONE OF ROCK'S FIRST OPENLY GAY BANDS
"We loved rock mic before we even realized we were gay," says ontman Jon Goli. "It seemed like there were a lot of people wag for somethg like to happen." * gay punks *
Pansy Divisn, "Fem a Black Leather Jacket" Fun-lovg Bay Area gay rock mastays Pansy Divisn brought homopunk to the mass when the group toured wh Green Day the 1990s. And not to religate old wounds, but BBC also reportedly banned Shelley’s solo sgle “Homosapien" 1981 for s blatant referenc to gay sex.
Along wh Big Boys, The Dicks were one of At’s flagship punk bands the 1980s and one of the few ntenrs the genre wh an openly gay volist. The band members, all openly gay, specifilly sought to unteract stereotyp, but that didn’t stop their sexual orientatn om beg a hot-button issue the mic muny.
From “gay” to “poofter” to “fairy” - the words ed by others to fe gay people n say a great al more about them than . * gay punks *
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. 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 .
Queerre was a movement of radil gay punks who sparked an explosn of mic, lerature, film, and art that changed the face of punk rock and gay activism alike. * gay punks *
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. ” 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.
* gay punks *
Swappg out punk moralist clichés for LGBT issu, the them unrlg the group’s mic give voice to both fury and hope for gay punks. But while “punk” and “queerns” seem like ntradictns, punk was (and is) very much queer: Whether ’s Tom Robson Band proudly clarg they’re “Glad To Be Gay, ” The Buzzcks’ bisexual sger Pete Shelley askg if you have “Ever Fallen In Love (Wh Someone You Shouldn’t’ve?
The exhibn explor everythg om punk’s tersectn wh the sex dtry, gay leather culture’s fluence on punk fashn, the ep impact of queer culture on punk’s roots, and more. It seemed to evolve to somethg that was more specifilly geared toward queer offshoots of punk, like homore or Derek Jarman’s films. As the volist and bass player for the semal proggy metal-tged hard rock band Kg’s X, Doug Pnick me out 1998, durg an terview wh the Christian magaze, an irony due to the spirual and upliftg nature of the mic and lyrics which attracted many Christian fans who were agast homosexualy.
But spe this vlent past, he has been an open homosexual wh no reluctance or remorse, and 2010 even won Gay Person of the Year Bergen, Norway.