Of course, queer artists don’t have to appease stereotypes by singing about promiscuity, but Floyd still saw fit to do so on songs such as “Saturday Night at the Bookstore,” which is about an anonymous hookup at a bookstore glory hole. In The Dicks’ case, vocalist Gary Floyd achieved a reputation as a “Texas punk mad man” with more flamboyance but equal tenacity as Gibby Haynes of Butthole Surfers, Bobby Soxx of Stick Men With Ray Guns and David Yow of Scratch Acid and Jesus Lizard. The DicksĪlong with Big Boys, The Dicks were one of Austin’s flagship punk bands in the 1980s and one of the few contenders in the genre with an openly gay vocalist. Nervous Gender is just one short chapter of Phranc’s prolific career, but it was with this cacophonous outfit that she honed her stage persona and became one of punk music’s earliest open lesbians. The latter’s androgyny defined the band’s image as they played punk and industrial shows in L.A., but Phranc departed from the band two years later. Nervous Gender formed in Los Angeles in 1978 after founding member Edward Stapleton listened to electronic punk bands like Suicide and The Screamers and asked then-fresh city transplant Phranc (born Susan Gottlieb) to join. The following year, the same label released another one of the band’s singles, “Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve),” which more boldly alluded to the late Pete Shelley’s bisexuality and has since been described by BBC as a “pansexual punk anthem.”Īnd not to relitigate old wounds, but BBC also reportedly banned Shelley’s solo single “Homosapien" in 1981 for its blatant references to gay sex. Here are just 10 of many bands to thank for that.īritish stalwarts the Buzzcocks were one of the first punk bands to sign to a major label, and “Orgasm Addict,” a song about sex addiction, was the first single they released on United Artists. The subculture surrounding punk music isn’t perfect, but strides have been made to give queer people a strong voice in it.
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While it's true that punk subcultures were generally more humane toward queer people, punks who labeled themselves as such still put a target on their backs by doing so and made a hell of a statement in being who they are. Whether you buy into the schmaltzy notion that punk rock is an “attitude” or ascribe to the more pragmatic conclusion that it is nothing more than just a music genre and subculture, the fact remains that progressive politics have predominantly been at its helm since its ascension in the 1970s.Įven then, being a punk musician did not shield members of the LGBTQ+ community from societal stigmas, even in their own social circles.