Queercore
Queercore (or homocore) is a cultural/social movement that began in the mid-1980s as an offshoot of the punk subculture and a music genre that comes from punk rock.[1] It is distinguished by its discontent with society in general, and specifically society's disapproval of the LGBT community.[2] Queercore expresses itself in a DIY style through magazines, music, writing and film.
Not to be confused with LGBT hip hop.Queercore
Mid-1980s, Canada (Toronto), United States (Portland / San Francisco) and United Kingdom (London)
As a music genre, it may be distinguished by lyrics exploring themes of prejudice and dealing with issues such as sexual identity,[3] gender identity and the rights of the individual; more generally, queercore bands offer a critique of society endemic to their position within it, sometimes in a light-hearted way, sometimes seriously. Musically, many queercore bands originated in the punk scene but the industrial music culture has been influential as well. Queercore groups encompass many genres such as hardcore punk, electropunk, indie rock, power pop, no wave, noise, experimental, industrial and others.
History[edit]
Origins[edit]
In the early 1980s, several U.S. hardcore bands wrote queer-themed songs, and Gary Floyd of the Dicks along with Randy Turner of Big Boys were notable in both being openly gay and outspoken gay men. In England, in the anarcho-punk scene, Andy Martin of The Apostles was equally forthright. Politically motivated U.S. bands such as MDC and 7 Seconds also introduced anti-homophobia messages into their songs at this time, while the Nip Drivers included a song titled "Quentin", dedicated to Quentin Crisp, in their repertoire.
The zine J.D.s, created by G.B. Jones and Bruce LaBruce, is widely acknowledged as being the zine which launched the movement. "J.D.s is seen by many to be the catalyst that pushed the queercore scene into existence", writes Amy Spencer in DIY: The Rise of Lo-Fi Culture.[4] Emerging out of the anarchist scene, at first the editors of J.D.s had chosen the appellation "homocore" to describe the movement but replaced the word homo with queer to better reflect the diversity of those involved, as well as to disassociate themselves completely from the confines of gay and lesbian orthodoxy.[5][6]
The first issue was released in 1985, with a manifesto entitled "Don't Be Gay" published in the fanzine Maximum RocknRoll following soon after; inspiring, among many other zines, Holy Titclamps, edited by Larry-bob, Homocore by Tom Jennings and Deke Nihilson,[3] Donna Dresch's Chainsaw, and Outpunk by Matt Wobensmith, these last two later functioning as music labels. These zines, and the movement, are characterised by an alternative to the self-imposed ghettoization of orthodox gay men and lesbians; sexual and gender diversity in opposition to the segregation practiced by the mainstream gay community; a dissatisfaction with a consumerist culture, proposing a DIY ethos in its place in order to create a culture of its own; and opposition to oppressive religious tenets and political repression.
Film[edit]
Filmmakers such as Kenneth Anger, Ron Rice, Jack Smith, early Andy Warhol and early John Waters, Vivienne Dick and the aforementioned Derek Jarman were influential in their depictions of queer subcultures. In 1990 the editors of J.D.s began presenting J.D.s movie nights in various cities showing films such as Bruce LaBruce's Boy, Girl and Bruce and Pepper Wayne Gacy's Home Movies, and G.B. Jones' The Troublemakers; after the demise of J.D.s, each made films exploring the queercore milieu; LaBruce released the feature length No Skin Off My Ass in 1991; G.B. Jones' The Troublemakers was released in 1990, followed by The Yo-Yo Gang in 1992. In 1996, J.D.s contributor Anonymous Boy completed the first animated queercore film, Green Pubes.
Documentary films about queercore include the 1996 releases She's Real, Worse Than Queer by Lucy Thane and Queercore: A Punk-u-mentary by Scott Treleaven. Gay Shame '98 by Scott Berry documents the first Gay shame event. Tracy Flannigan's Rise Above: A Tribe 8 Documentary was released in 2003, and Pansy Division: Life In A Gay Rock Band by Michael Carmona debuted in 2008, both films playing regularly at film festivals around the world.
2003 saw the premiere of the no budget comedy Malaqueerche: Queer Punk Rock Show by Sarah Adorable (of Scream Club) and Devon Devine, which brought the third wave of queercore to the screen. In 2008, G.B. Jones released the feature film The Lollipop Generation, featuring many of the participants in the queercore scene, including Jena von Brücker, Mark Ewert, Vaginal Davis, Jane Danger of Three Dollar Bill, Jen Smith, Joel Gibb, Anonymous Boy, Scott Treleaven and Gary Fembot of Sta-Prest, with music by The Hidden Cameras, Anonymous Boy and the Abominations, Bunny and the Lakers, Jane Danger, Swishin' Duds and Mariae Nascenti. All these films impacted the scene and broadened the scope of queercore to include film as another of its mediums of expression.
Lynn Breedlove (Tribe 8, writer), Matt Wobensmith (Outpunk Zine and Label, Queercorps Label), Jody Bleyle (Candy-Ass Records, Team Dresch, Hazel), The Psychic Sluts (Queer Performance Group), Wendy-O Matic (spoken word artist, writer), Laura Litter (Fabulous Disaster), Mia d´Bruzzi (Mudwimin, Fabulous Disaster) and Anna Joy (Blatz, Cyper in the Snow, The Gru´ps, writer) were interviewed in the documentary Step Up and Be Vocal - Interviews zu Queer Punk und Feminismus in San Francisco, a DIY-documentary made by German filmmakers Uta Busch and Sandra Ortmann in 2001.
2016 saw the premiere of the queer punk rock musical Spidarlings directed by Selene Kapsaski.[35] The film was released in 2017 by Troma Entertainment.[36]
Zines[edit]
As with punk and hardcore, queercore culture existed outside of the mainstream, so amateur-produced and inexpensively photocopied zines were crucial to its development and to communication between members of the subculture.[4] Hundreds of zines formed an intercontinental network that enabled queercore to spread and allow those in smaller, more repressive communities to participate and learn about bands, labels and scene activists. The DIY attitude of punk was integral to queercore as well.[37][8]
In the 1990s, as the availability of the internet increased, many queercore zines could be found online as well as in print. Queercore forums and chatrooms, such as QueerPunks, started up. The Queer Zine Archive Project is an internet database of scanned queer zines that continues to grow.[38] All these developments allowed queercore to become a self-sustaining and self-determined subculture, expressing itself through a variety of mediums independent of the straight and gay establishment.