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Liberation

From the time the first brick was thrown at Stonewall to now being LGBT has always been about liberation. Here is a queer punk playlist to rage against the man.

By ZoPublished 3 years ago 3 min read
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Liberation
Photo by Delia Giandeini on Unsplash

Don't get me wrong, rainbow capitalism can be great. I love being able to walk into Target during pride month and pick up a super cheap rainbow flag, rainbow merch, anything so that I can shout my pride out to the world. However, I think it's important every queer person figures out what liberation means to them. For me it has been inherently seperating myself from what society considers to be "the norm." While gayness is becoming more and more normalized our roots, history, and lived experience will never be the same as straight society so why should we live by their rules. Capitalism, sexism, the confines of traditional gender, and gender roles shouldn't have a place in our community any more. My playlist is curated for those punk queers, those queers looking to be liberated from the system because it was NEVER made for us.

To begin, I have to plug my Jacksonville, FL hometown natives; Ugly Mascot and their song Ready to Regret it. (https://uglymascot.bandcamp.com/track/ready-to-regret-it-feat-home-is-where)

This Joyce Manor inspired band is not only queer fronted but are radically anti-capitalist with a twist of humour. Ready to Regret delivers quick-witted lyrics like "Rockin' tee shirt with a collar, southern funeral aesthetic, it's a fast food uniform with the logo hidden," alluding to the culture of showing off and appealing to capitalism when you are still poor or working class at best like the majority of the population. Furthermore, the band satirizes fake activists with the lyric "if you want to take the credit for a teenage rebellion without any of the effort." With their tounge-and-cheek lyricism, Ugly Mascot brings to light the hyprocrisy of the Jacksonville queer scene and other scenes like it with very vocal activist with little action or accountability.

Next up, we have UK band Hands off Gretel and their song Kiss me Girl (https://www.handsoffgretel.co.uk/copy-of-s-a-s-s.)

Lauren Tate, the lead vocalist of Hands off Gretel, delivers riveting vocalizations in this song enough to hype up an entire crowd of queer women. Her powerful vocals paired with the raunchy lyricism ("she bites my lip to unleash the freak hot lady, brings the worst of me she takes my hand right into her heat") normalizes and reclaims the sexualization of queer sex between women. LGBT women hardly ever get to see representation through the eyes of actual queer women. An overwhelming amount of lesbian media is catered towards men. Hands off Gretel gives this power back to queer women.

Another independent and iconic queer feminist band similary empowers women through their music. Cool Slut by Chastity Belt (https://chastity-belt.bandcamp.com/track/cool-slut) is permission to women who find liberation in owning their sexuality. By taking back the power of the word 'slut' for themselves and proudly proclaiming it they show queer women like them every where how to own it when people attempt to be hateful. Furthermore, the Seattle based band is active in the Washington queer community and has performed at several LGBT events in the area, underlining the importance of community for radical queer bands such as Chastity Belt.

After blowing up on tiktok, the band GRLwood's song Nice Guy (https://grlwood.bandcamp.com/track/nice-guy-2) became an anthem for queer Gen-Z people. Self described "Kentucky fried queerdo" satirizes the voice of a whiny man in the song with her signature "scream-pop" style, mocking the behavior women have been experiencing for decades and normalizing shunning those kinds of men.

Lastly, we have a classic by Pansy Division, a 90's era punk band with predominantly gay members. Their song That's So Gay (https://pansydivision.bandcamp.com/album/thats-so-gay) came out in 2009, a time where the phrase was used consistently in a negative connotation and gay marriage had not even been legalized yet! I don't have much of a read into the lyrics for this one, I just think it's fun to shout!

Each of these bands pave the way for young LGBT people to reclaim their history. Not only is being queer to me about liberating myself from the confines of normal society, it is community. It is learning confidence from the lyrics of a song an older gay woman wrote. It's owning my identity along with my sensuality as a queer person. I hope these songs can inspire some one to yell and scream and raise hell until they get the justice they deserve and feel comfortable in their own skin.

Full Playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0tGM5uWz0BfGpsbBCClqCg?si=2b981862f62c4a13

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About the Creator

Zo

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