What Every 'Mo Should Know about... The past, present & future of gay music

Photo: Getty Images

If I could have any superpower, it would be the ability to teleport. In the meantime, I just beg, plead and cajole my far-flung friends to file their notes from any good queer cultural events they go to without me.

My buddy Rae spent Friday at the CMJ Music Marathon in New York -- the massive festival of indie showcases and serious discussions of such things -- where she sat in on a panel on LGBT music and media and sent me running commentary via Sidekick:

> This is where these conversations always start: Should "gay music" come from some kind of one-stop-shopping label or radio station?

Logo of course says yes, and say they air videos from bands like Fall Out Boy because the audience wants to hear more than "typical" gay music (which was loosely defined as men's techno music and lesbian singer-songwriters). But Bruce McDonald from Fuse [a mainstream cable music network] says rock music is rock music, whether or not the band members are gay: "We are in a world where men wear eyeliner and girls' jeans," he points out.

> And what if, say, Justin Timberlake were gay and out at the start of his career? What then, smartypants panelists?

Perry Turcotte from MTV.com/Logo says that Scissor Sisters, had they not been marketed as gay from the get-go in the US, might have actually stood more of a chance in the US, despite their music not being particularly mainstream.

Bruce from Fuse says most people are sensible and know they can't really have the rockstar anyway, so even if women knew JT was gay, they would still have the fantasy and he'd still sell because of the music. Logo's Perry says that it doesn't hurt JTs marketing that we see him out with Cameron Diaz, but that pictures of Lance and his boyfriend won't make women swoon.

> And what about younger bands whose flamboyant performances and appearance make everyone wonder if they might be, you know, kinda sorta a little bit gay?

Bruce talked about the backlash against Panic! at the Disco, that people call them fags -- because they're jealous, he says, and anyway just because they dress "dapper" does not mean they are gay. [Ed. note: Please see dapper outfits, pictured above.] Perry says he thought the Panic tour was one of the gayest stage shows he'd ever seen, and he was impressed that all the kids were so into it.

See? Now it's like we were all there together!

Lessons learned: Whether you're talking about musicians or actors if you go to one of these things, you hear the same questions and many of the same answers (and have someone bring up Lance Bass, seriously). On the other hand, five years ago these kinds of panels usually only happened at gay conferences, not big quasi-mainstream music-fests, and our only frame of reference was Elton John. This, boys and girls, is what progress looks like.

Previously > Killer queens at Street Scene > Fast & Furious with Twist artists