New Wave Outpost Forum

in the 80's, were you considered "gay" by most of your peers? It seems that the genre had a huge homosexual vibe to it. Were you made fun of by the heavy metal and country fans????

Why was this?

"You just pick a chord, go twang, and you've got music." ~ Sid Vicious

[quote]Originally posted by WoodlandParkPunk
[br]in the 80's, were you considered "gay" by most of your peers? It seems that the genre had a huge homosexual vibe to it. Were you made fun of by the heavy metal and country fans????

[/quote]

Yes, I was. But then I put a notice on the school bulletin board crying about how offensive their behavior and it miraculously stopped. [|)]

Seriously, though ... being punk in a small town back in the day was no fun. At first. I used to get called a faggot all the time and occasionally got jumped, sometimes by jocks but mostly by hicks (gay people who think I know nothing about being called a fag should try being hate crimed for something they're NOT and then get back to me).

Then I decided I'd had enough and started lifting and learned how to fight. I also made friends with a few people whose bad side you definitely did not want to get on. Being a small town, word gets out quick and after a few of the offending dumbasses learned the hard way, the attacks stopped. I'd still get called a fag occasionally but I'd just reply with "can't you neanderthals come up with something that IS an insult??? and I'd just laugh it off.

So yeah, I had a few bad experiences but all in all, I'm grateful for the insecurities and weakness of others as it inspired me to get stronger and self-confident.

oh well

<img src="http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w131/pselfy/ed6.jpg"

[quote]Originally posted by WoodlandParkPunk
[br]in the 80's, were you considered "gay" by most of your peers? It seems that the genre had a huge homosexual vibe to it. Were you made fun of by the heavy metal and country fans????

Why was this?

"You just pick a chord, go twang, and you've got music." ~ Sid Vicious
[/quote]


I don't think country fans made fun of anyone directly. They just wrote a song, fit in a derogatory line about punks or new wavers (in between the line about their dog dying and the one about their cheating wife) and moved on

You know, with some of the paisley, pink, turquoise, and purple shirts and parachute pants, hats and pointy-peter-pan-esque shoes I used to wear......I probably deserved it!!! What the hell was I thinking?!? [:I]

I think my parents were secretly relieved when I adopted more of a goth look.

[quote][i]Originally posted by zill[/i]
<br>You know, with some of the paisley, pink, turquoise, and purple shirts and parachute pants, hats and pointy-peter-pan-esque shoes I used to wear......I probably deserved it!!! What the hell was I thinking?!? [:I]



I think my parents were secretly relieved when I adopted more of a goth look.
[/quote]

I had those shoes too! Elf boots

I know the topic was regarding New Wave but did the Punks and Metalheads share a unique bond at your school?
The Punks and the Metalheads played very well together at my school. If you think about it the punk and metal kids had a lot in common: Loud music, anti-establishment, hung out in the smokers area, shared several fashion accessories, both were gawked at and more. It was not unusual for some of the metalheads to end up playing in punk bands, and vice versa.


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[quote][i]Originally posted by SwampThing[/i]
<br>I know the topic was regarding New Wave but did the Punks and Metalheads share a unique bond at your school?
The Punks and the Metalheads played very well together at my school. If you think about it the punk and metal kids had a lot in common: Loud music, anti-establishment, hung out in the smokers area, shared several fashion accessories, both were gawked at and more. It was not unusual for some of the metalheads to end up playing in punk bands, and vice versa.


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[/quote]

And...there were so many punk bands that went metal mid-80's.

[quote][i]Originally posted by i_like_lectric_motors[/i]
Yes, I was. But then I put a notice on the school bulletin board crying about how offensive their behavior and it miraculously stopped. [/quote]

see? THAT's funny.

Bruiser,
See...there is some sunlight here. I would turn the page on the insensitive comments of the other post and hope for the best going forward.

Yeah I was pegged as gay, and funny enough, I came out a few years later at 19 Only then did I fully realize that most of my favorite bands were also gay to some degree (Erasure, Pet Shop Boys, Dead Or Alive).

Oh yes. I was one of the few new wavers in a school full of testosterone-loving rock fans in a suburb of Cleveland. I was the "weird kid" who listened to that "weird music" which ended up being called "fag music." Of course, the fact that I dyed the front of my feathered hair blonde like John Taylor of Duran Duran certainly didn't help matters. However, regardless of how I dress, many still think I have that "look," and I still get comments now and then. Some of the comments are quite hateful and threatening. There's no point in trying to prove that I'm straight to these people; it's just a waste of time, because they're too small-minded to get it.

However, I decided long ago not to let it bother me any more. Sure, it's no fun being "convicted of a crime I didn't commit," but to be bothered by it would insinuate that there's something wrong with being gay. I have a lot of gay friends, and there's certainly nothing wrong with my friends. Obviously, anyone who displays any homophobic behavior clearly is trying to hide some little, ahem, "issues" of their own.

Plus, someone once told me that when you've been hit on by both women [i]and[/i] men, you know you're "the shit"! I take it as a compliment.

Naturally, I hated all of the hair bands in the '80s, since so many around me insisted it was so cool and manly. Yes, bands like Poison who wore more makeup than The Go-Go's...

"Words like conviction can turn into a sentence"

I was never accused of being homosexual, but I sure got called "fag" a lot. I think the people calling me that really didn't mean to attack my sexual orientation, I think that they were just knuckle-dragging morons who couldn't think of anything wittier to say.

heavy metal or country...? hmmm

my theory is....
Would anybody expect that lead from Judas Priest was gay?
all thoses macho rockin, nobody would have guessed

so if one was a JP fan, was that "gay"?

[quote][i]Originally posted by Fred Taghon[/i]
<br>Yeah I was pegged as gay, and funny enough, I came out a few years later at 19 Only then did I fully realize that most of my favorite bands were also gay to some degree (Erasure, Pet Shop Boys, Dead Or Alive).
[/quote]
Wait. Erasure's gay??[:0]

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