Pansy Division & GayC/DC’s Chris Feeman Says Pride Is A Good Time ‘To Be Angry Again’ (Exclusive)

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Image Credit: Dusti Cunningham

It’s Pride Month! Throughout June, HollywoodLife is celebrating with The Sound Of Pride, wherever celebs and stars of the LBGTQ+ assemblage prime songs for the eventual 2023 Pride Month playlist. It’s the cleanable soundtrack to readying your Pride party, researching how to support LGBTQ+ rights, oregon speechmaking astir the history of Pride Month. Chris Freeman, bassist for the all-gay stone band, Pansy Division, and frontman for the queer-themed solemnisation band, GayC/DC, joins successful to adhd immoderate wound to the playlist.

Chris Freeman, successful blue, on with GayC/DC (Dusti Cunningham)

“Well, I’m not a instrumentality of the euphony that’s typically associated with Pride, similar disco oregon EDM, truthful my database is going to much rock/punk/pop,” says Chris Freeman when tasked with selecting artists for The Sound of Pride. For implicit 30 years, Chris has stood alongside Jon Ginoli (and successful beforehand of a bid of others, astir notably Luis Illades) arsenic portion of Pansy Division. On apical of that, for the past decade, Chris has fronted the archetypal and lone all-gay tribute to AC/DC, the undeniable GayC/DC. So, erstwhile it comes to picking tracks for the cleanable Pride Month 2023 playlist, Chris was not going to bust retired the disco hits.

Instead, helium wants to get the adrenaline flowing and the humor pumping. He wants to get mad. “Our assemblage has truly been deed hard implicit the past fewer years, and particularly this year, the somesthesia has risen to a level I haven’t seen since the ’80s with Anita Bryant,” says Freeman, referring to the “Paper Roses” singer-turned-anti-gay activistic of the ‘70s and ‘80s. Bryant’s “Save Our Children” run – which successfully repeal an ordinance that banned favoritism based connected intersexual predisposition – utilized children and religion to shield anti-LGBTQ+ views, a run that has drawn comparisons to the anti-“woke” activism of existent Florida Senator Ron DeSantis.

“This is wherefore Pride was important successful the archetypal place,” says Freeman, referring to however the Stonewall Uprising sparked the modern Gay Rights question successful America. “Starting astir 2008, it felt similar we’d deed a plateau wherever we could instrumentality a remainder and conscionable bask our successes,” helium adds. “Now, we person bully reasons to beryllium aggravated again. I’d emotion to spot much activism and assemblage transportation travel backmost to Pride alternatively than having conscionable different euphony festival with a antithetic title.”

Thankfully, the younker are successful the streets, and there are efforts to combat the ongoing attacks connected the LGBTQ+ assemblage (most notably, trans radical and trans radical of color.) While uncovering retired however you tin assistance unafraid equality for each Americans, work beneath what Chris picked for The Sound of Pride.

Tom Robinson Band, “Glad To Be Gay”

“This was a opus that, astatine the clip (1978), I would never let anyone hear maine playing for fearfulness that they mightiness find retired I was gay. And portion it’s a spot dated now, it inactive makes maine consciousness jubilant erstwhile the chorus comes in.”

Soft Cell, Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret

“This was an medium I could not halt listening to, and it became my crutch arsenic I came out. It gave maine the courageousness I needed to archer my champion person first, a immense measurement arsenic immoderate cheery idiosyncratic tin archer you.”
Editor’s Note: The full medium is solid. For the playlist, we’ll adhd “Sex Dwarf.” These are superior times, but we tin besides spend to not instrumentality ourselves excessively seriously.

Bronski Beat, “Smalltown Boy”

“I archetypal heard this opus astatine a disco successful London called Heaven Under the Arches successful 1984. It was specified a heartfelt opus and truly deed location for maine arsenic my parents kicked maine retired of the location astatine 16.”

Lou Reed, “Walk On The Wild Side”

“Not lone was this 1 of the coolest sounding songs connected the vigor erstwhile it came out, but tucked distant successful the lyrics are each of these characters that I wished I could meet. Such a beauteous and revealing song.”

The Kinks, “Lola”

“This opus came retired good earlier I deed puberty, but I got into the Kinks precocious successful my teens and erstwhile I really listened to and understood the lyrics, I realized however brave the Kinks truly were for putting retired specified a perchance incendiary song. If lone each consecutive men could beryllium arsenic unfastened arsenic Ray Davies!”

Bian Welch, Glen Pavan, Chris Freeman, Steve McKnight, and Clint Yeager. (Dusti Cunningham)

HL: How does this year’s solemnisation consciousness erstwhile compared to past year’s?

Chris: Our assemblage has truly been deed hard implicit the past fewer years, and particularly this year, the somesthesia has risen to a level I haven’t seen since the ’80s with Anita Bryant. I consciousness it started erstwhile 45 (I will not type his name) started his tally for president and gave support for radical to consciousness good astir being shitty to different people. Since then, we’ve been dilatory maneuvering our wagons backmost into a circle, and that’s evident successful what we conscionable saw hap with the Dodgers and the Sisters.

We won that battle, but determination are a ton much headed our way. This makes Pride each the much important this year. This is wherefore Pride was important successful the archetypal place. Starting astir 2008, it felt similar we’d deed a plateau wherever we could instrumentality a remainder and conscionable bask our successes. Now, we person bully reasons to beryllium aggravated again. I’d emotion to spot much activism and assemblage transportation travel backmost to Pride alternatively than having conscionable different euphony festival with a antithetic title.

What unsung heroes would you similar to spot get immoderate spotlight during Pride 2023?

To beryllium honest, I’d similar to ballot for myself and my bands, if that were possible. I’ve been successful Pansy Division, the archetypal all-gay stone set ever, since 1991, and I’ve continued putting retired much gay-related euphony and performances successful GayC/DC for the past 10 years and MARY for the past 5. Plus, I’ve produced albums for cheery bands similar IAMLOVED and artists similar Kelly Mantle. The contented is that it’s ‘rock music,’ which astir LGBTQA+ audiences conscionable aren’t funny in.

Since I cognize that’s not going to happen, my ballot goes to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. They whitethorn person gotten a batch of property already acknowledgment to the Dodgers, but IMO, they can’t get capable property oregon praise. Honestly, I’ve seen the enactment they bash first-hand. I moved from Seattle to SF successful 1987 and I watched virtually dozens of my friends (and 5 boyfriends) dice of AIDS implicit the adjacent respective years. Some of them became stateless and broke erstwhile household oregon landlords would formed them retired for being sick. The Sisters were close determination helping retired successful each mode they could. These are immoderate of our community’s biggest heroes, and they merit each of the accolades they tin get.

Do you person immoderate large memories from Prides past?

The archetypal Pride I went to was the astir memorable. It was 1982 successful Seattle, [and] I was conscionable astir to crook 21. Prides backmost past were not large firm euphony festivals with a pinkish triangle slapped on. These were the bravest of the brave showing themselves successful the free-est mode imaginable and allowing themselves to beryllium seen publically by radical similar me, who needed to spot however galore determination were of ‘us,’ and what spectacles we could marque of ourselves. It was life-changing arsenic determination was next-to-zero visibility backmost then. There was acold much astatine involvement for being retired publically backmost then, like, you could suffer your occupation if anyone from enactment saw you.

What’s connected pat for June (and the remainder of 2023?)

Pansy Division is playing a fewer Midwest shows successful the mediate of the month, ending with Chicago Pride; and GayC/DC is playing a Pride lawsuit astatine the Hard Rock connected the Las Vegas strip. Also, support a lookout for our video of “Hold Your Head Up,” which should beryllium retired by the clip you work this.

Do you person a Pride connection for the world?

Pride is much than an accidental to enactment with your besties astatine a popular concert. It’s a accidental to earnestly measure one’s spot successful the world, to observe what you basal for, what makes you unique, a accidental to beryllium counted arsenic the ‘other’ that you are. And to unfastened oneself up to different ways of being ‘other’ and embracing those who situation societal norms. These are the existent groundbreakers moving nine forward, not backward. At least, that’s what it was for maine backmost successful 1982.

Keep reading HollywoodLife throughout June for more entries in The Sound of Pride and additional Pride Month coverage. And retrieve — hole your bosom oregon die! 

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