Now, the decorating of the Big Gay Minivan has become an annual ritual each February; last year, I was ecstatic that a photograph of it was featured in the slideshow that prefaces the final keynote speaker (Angela Davis). So, we figured we really had to crank it up a notch this year: each person decorated his, her, or hir window with technicolor queer prowess … and then, to top it all off, we hung rainbow Christmas lights on the interior ceiling of the van (yes, the back seat was the red light district)… Not only was the BGM featured once again in the pre-final-keynote slideshow (this time before a presentation by Rose Troche), but we were also given props by the conference organizers, and the entire auditorium gave us a round of applause!
A thorough recounting of the entire weekend would be lengthy, sacrilicious, and possibly mildly incriminating (j/k, of course!), so I’m just going to get right to the point and describe the events that led to the genesis of this blog. On Saturday the 14th, I attended a workshop led by Rachel Gollay entitled “32 Flavors and Then Some: Performing Queer Identities in Popular and Independent Music.” This workshop explored several questions, such as: “What does it mean to be a queer musician in the glossy, glamorous world of popular music [and] how do current queer musicians navigate the terrains of commercial success, audience, visibility and personal politics?” (quotation from the MBLGTACC booklet).
Okay, now, before you click away from this site… this isn’t primarily an academic, political site, so I’m not going to get into a treatise on the various merits and demerits, risks and rewards of being an out queer musician. I learned a lot, but I’m not going to bombast you kind readers with such pontifications right from the get-go… I’ll leave my soapbox for another day and another forum.
Instead, I’m just going to express my gratitude that such a forum was available (Thanks, Rachel!), and share my excitement at having discovered lots of amazing music by queer musicians. Of course, I was already familiar with much of the music that was presented during the course of the workshop (I won’t say how old I am, but suffice it to say that I’ve been listening to queer musicians for decades)… however, there were several artists mentioned that I was already listening to, but didn’t know were queer, as well as several bands that were completely new to me. Yaaaay!
So, on the way home, the Riders of the Big Gay Minivan and I had a mission… on the drive back to our campus, we were going to listen to music by out lesbians (such as The Ditty Bops, Alix Olson, and Melissa Ferrick), gay men (like Rufus Wainwright), bisexuals (let’s not forget Missy Higgins and, of course, Ani), and transsexuals (ex: Antony and the Johnsons), all in one drive. Not only was the BGM colorful beyond belief, it was also rockin’!
Upon my return to campus, I realized how little the younger generation knows about queer music and out queer musicians. And so, here I am, writing up the first post of what will hopefully be a long-term blog with its pulse on the queer music scene....
In the interest of strengthening our awareness of and connection to the queerest, greatest music in out midst, I invite anyone and everyone to post comments with suggestions and ideas for future posts, as well as feedback on what is already here.
(To see Rachel Gollay performing one of her own original songs, visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiYkUlt9lOk)
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