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Queercore is a cultural and social movement which arose in the mid 1980's. It is distinguished by discontent with society in general and a disavowel of the mainstream gay and lesbian community in particular, expressing itself through zines, music, art and film.
1980s
J.D.s, created by G.B. Jones and Bruce LaBruce, is widely acknowledged as being the zine which launched the movement. 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 the scene as well as to position themselves firmly outside of gay and lesbian orthodoxy. 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 Roberts, Homocore by Deke Nihilson and Tom Jennings, Donna Dresch's Chainsaw, and Outpunk by Matt Wobensmith, these last two later functioning as music labels. These zines, and the movement, are characterized by sexual and gender diversity; dissatisfaction with a consumerist culture, proposing a DIY ethos in its place; and opposition to religious and political repression.
1990s
In 1990, the J.D.s editors released the first queercore compilation, J.D.s Top Ten Homocore Hit Parade Tape, a cassette which included bands from Canada, such as Fifth Column; Nikki Parasite and Bomb from the U.S.; from England, The Apostles and No Brain Cells and, from New Zealand, Gorse. During this early period of queercore, during the late 1980s to the 1990s, many of the punk bands involved were not necessarily queer but their political ideals included support for this cause. Other bands, like Los Crudos, had one gay member. Noteworthy exceptions were bands like Anti-Scrunti Faction, who appeared in J.D.s and Comrades In Arms, Homocore editor Deke Nihilson's band. Shortly after the release of the tape J.D.s ceased publication and a new crop of zines arose, such as Jane and Frankie by Jena and Klaus von Brucker, Shrimp by Vaginal Creme Davis and Fucktooth by Jen Angel. It was in the early '90s that Matt Wobensmith's zine became Outpunk Records, and began to release it's own queercore compilations, as many new bands began forming.
Among the better known bands from the 1990s are Fifth Column, God Is My Co-Pilot, Pansy Division, Team Dresch, Homomilitia, Huggy Bear, Tribe 8, Sister George and Mukilteo Fairies. During this time, there were dozens of zines being produced as awareness of the movement grew worldwide; The Burning Times from Australia, Speed Demon from Italy, and Brazilian e-zine Queercore, to offer just a few examples.
In Chicago, Mark Freitas and Joanna Brown organized a monthly "Homocore" night that featured queercore bands performing live, offering a stable venue for the scene to proliferate; most of the bands mentioned played at Homocore Chicago.
As a musical genre, it may be distinguished by lyrics exploring themes of prejudice and dealing with issues such as sexual identity, gender identity and gay rights; more generally bands offer a critique of society endemic to their position within it, sometimes in a light-hearted way, sometimes seriously. Musically, queercore bands originated in the punk rock scene but encompass many genres such as hardcore punk indie rock, power pop, no wave, experimental and others.
2000s
In the 2000s, Queercore club nights and events began to take place throughout Europe and North America, such as the festival held each summer in Olympia, Washington called Homo-a-go-go, which features queer films, zines, performance and musical groups during the week-long event.
Independent record labels such as Alternative Tentacles, Kill Rock Stars and K Records supported and released material by queercore artists but early in the 2000s many small labels sprung up soley devoted to queercore. Chainsaw Records, which had begun the mid 90's, now began to release many recordings of newer bands, such as The Third Sex.
Representing a more contemporary breed of hardcore punk are the straight edge band Limp Wrist from the United States and Knifed from Ireland. Three Dollar Bill from Chicago are more eclectic, ranging from metal punk to indie punk. Kids On TV, from Toronto, with an industrial background, offer a new, more electronic direction for queercore as do Lesbians On Ecstasy, from Montreal. The Hidden Cameras are a neo folk band from Toronto. With each new band the range of musical genres expands the definition of Queercore.
Documentary films about Queercore include She's Real, Worse Than Queer by Lucy Thane and Queercore (a punk-u-mentary) by Scott Treleaven.
See also
External links
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