BTW, here is part two on that article about gays in metal. Metal, specifically EXTREME METAL (unlike punk/hardcore and other genres of music) is a VERY hetero, male chauvanstic,.dominated genre of music. I'm not sure if that is the industry standard (I wouldn't be surpised if women were told to show cleavage) or if extreme metal is "sexist" or not so "inviting" to women or gays.
There was a "private" extreme metal chat room called "hetero" on AOL a few years ago (replacing the legendary UNHOLY METAL chat room) to specify the music that sucks is "gay" and the "brootal KVLT" music is hetero, (or that you're "gay" if you don't listen to: insert genre of music here_____ ) Not to be too PC, but using the word "gay" in a negative connotation or "hetero" as soley postive IS a negative stereotype-intended or not against gays.... Not that metal (thankfully) has been known to be very PC as the metal genre was invented to offend and scare away the peace loving, pacifists, hippies, IS anti establisment, and defiles and destroy societies conventions.... The dark imagery of extreme metal, nihilstic idealsim, images of destruction and decay are the complete polar opposite of todays music, (hip hop, folk rock, and alternative music) that gay people are stereotypcally known to "like"..However, what might be shoved down the gay communities throat., like all other corperate sponsored musical drivel is JUST CRAP and stale, retro musical genres. We (gays. dykes whatever) don't all listen to hip hop, techno, bad club music, or alternative folk rock. However, there are ALOT of females in the AOL metal chat room and a few gays that WILL speak up whom DO listen to death,doom, thrash, grind, and black metal... Once in 2003, a young gay male started his own private chat room for gay men whom were into extreme metal on AOL... \m/
I've seen quite a few gay females/gawths, and teens (not teeny boppers) at some of the most extreme metal shows this year in 2005..
Of course there is the infamous horror story of homophobia in the Scandanavian BM scene... JON, the lead singer of the melodic Swedish, Black metal band Dissection was jailed for over 10 years for the murder of a gay Nigerian man in Swedan...Only ten years in prison along with the infamous black metal scene fueled church burnings in Norway? .Read the book "Lords of Chaos" about the Norwegian Black Metal scene of the 90's..Some of those guys in the Scandanavian black metal scene ARE neo nazi's or damn close to it. However,.I have no problem with the anti christian bend of Scandanavian black metal bands being that right wing christians are often anti gay, pro life, and anti female independence and are just as oppressive to people whom are straight...
I've always belived that the ideal of metal or extreme metal was to be whom you ARE/yourself, and to be free of the conventional stereotypes of society. Metal is NOT just about testostrone fueled aggression but about a beauty in darknesss, and a world wide community of metal heads..Aggressive music can come from any race, colour, sexual oreintation, gender, national origin. It's about agressive MUSIC, not just testoterone.
Unfortunatley the article on Blabbermouth.net. has over 100 posts of sexually insecure,demented, inadequate idiots.
However, whom should CARE about someones sexual oreintation as opposed to the MUSIC. The whole stereotype about metal heads (and gays "flaming" and listening to Madonna or disco) being just white, male,chavanistic pigs, and straight may be WRONG after all.
It's about time we opened up our minds in the metal scene and got our asses out of the closet and became more accepting and tolerant...
BTW, to clarify in this article, Jon Davis of Korn is NOT gay, but was harrassed as a teen, and Otep's female vocalist is either a lesbian or bi. Maybe more later..Thanks-Stay Metal-Tee-\m/
FROM AFTERELTON.COM.
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by Joshua Rotter, August 1, 2005
But the ultimate insult to the gay community came from Skid Row frontman Sebastian Bach who appeared on MTV back in the early 1990's at the height of the AIDS crisis, wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the slogan "AIDS Kills Fags Dead."
The exclusivity of straights in the metal arena has been so prominent, prompting German metal cabaret act Pink Steel’s satire of the hetero-dominated genre with tunes "We Fight For Cock," "I'm Comin' Out (All Over You)" and "Sausage Party" across albums like Mouth Full of Magic, Creaming for Vengeance, and Out at the Devil (a humorous take on a Motley Crue album).
More recently, however, the genre seems to welcome gays. Rumors of nu metal group Korn’s lead singer Jonathan Davis’s homosexuality have done little to quell interest in the band, even after the band’s controversial tune “Faget” off their 1994 self-titled album, where Davis screams, “All my life, who am I? I'm just a faget! Faget!” as he describes years of verbal abuse by his high school classmates.
Although a lot of listeners missed the point and imagined the song to describe Davis’s sexual confusion, they stood by their idol, who even has an HIV tattoo on his arm.
Finally, although Davis is married, he often jokes about his sexuality in interviews. In an interview with Spin magazine, Davis set the record straight, so to speak: "Everyone thought I was gay my whole life... so I have to joke about it just to deal with it," he said.
But that didn’t stop Ozzy’s wife SharonOsbourne from telling Rolling Stone in 2002 that "Korn Are Gay" meaning they suck, and replacing them on the Ozzfest Tour with Judas Priest, who actually have a gay lead singer. Halford has actually been embraced by fans more than his replacement singer, if their recent packed touring gigs and successful new album Angel of Retribution (2005) are any indication.
There are a few openly gay women in heavy metal now, too, including the lead singer of metal band Otep.
Even more striking is a recent Blender magazine interview with Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee, where he admits to at least contemplating a gay experience with a friend, who groped him, high on E. "Maybe if he was really good looking I may have slightly considered it,” he said. “But he was not my type."
Maybe straight heavy metal groups and fans are becoming more tolerant, and maybe, like Lee’s friend, certain gay men are fans of the genre because we’re attracted to these leather-clad performers’ machismo.
Or maybe as with all generalizations about gay men, there are exceptions to the rule.
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