QUEER IN THE COUNTRY
BRIEF QUEER HISTORY TIMELINE
>1924: The first documented gay rights organization, the Society for Human rights, founded in Chicago.
>1952: The American Psychiatric Association’s diagnostic manual lists homosexuality as a sociopathic personality disturbance.
>1953: Homosexuals banned from working for the federal government by Dwight D. Eisenhower in executive order. (following post war communist fear tactics)
>1955: Daughters of Bilitis formed, first known Lesbian Organization
>1961: Illinois becomes first state to decriminalize homosexuality by repealing sodomy laws.
>1961: “The Rejected” discusses the “problem” of homosexuality. First US televised documentary about homosexuality. Does dispel some rumors in some segments but then of course there is discussion about a “Cure”.
>1969: Police raid the Stonewall Inn in New York City. As protests and demonstrations begin and it later becomes the impetus for the gay rights movement in the United States.
>1970: New York City residents march through the local streets to recognize one-year anniversary of the Stonewall riots, named Christopher Street Liberation Day. It is now considered the first gay pride parade.
>1973: Lambda Legal is first established legal organization that fights for equal rights of gay and lesbian citizens.
>1973: Maryland first state to statutorily ban same-sex marriage.
>1973: The American Psychiatric Association removes homosexuality from its list of mental disorders.
>1976: Renee Richards, first trans competitor in the Olympics.
>1979: First National March on WAshington for Lesbian and Gay Rights.
>1980s: The AIDS scare
>1988s: First World AIDS Day
>1996: Bill Clinton and the Defense of Marriage Act
>1998: Matthew Shepard brutally beaten in Wyoming
>2003: US Supreme Court strikes down the “homosexual conduct” law, thus decriminalizing same-sex sex
>2005: The release of Brokeback Mountain
>2009: Obama signs Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act into law.
>2011: Don’t ask, Don’t Tell repealed
>2012: Tammy Baldwin first openly gay and first Wisconsin Woman elected to the US Senate
>2015: Supreme Court ruling in favor of same-sex marriage
>2016: Bathroom Bill in North Carolina
BRIEF QUEER COUNTRY HISTORY TIMELINE
>1939- Lavender cowboy, even though no blatant references to homosexuality, it was believed there was and was thus banned on the radio.
>1952- Sissy Song by Billy Briggs, essentially saying if he turns into a “Sissy” (synonymous for gay man) to blow his brains out
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>1973- Lavender Country first recorded openly gay country album. They were based in Seattle, Washington. Was not incredibly popular, sold 1000 copies with the help of gay colleagues and performed at PRIDE festivals. Coordinated with the Stonewall Riots and the rise of the Civil Rights movement.
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>1973- Alix Dobkin releases LP “Lavender Jane Loves Women”, first openly lesbian country singer releases an openly lesbian country album.
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>1991- Doug Stevens and the Outband releases first album, “Out in the Country”, but then change name to Pearl River to appeal to the mainstream more.
>1992- Garth Brooks releases “We Shall Be Free” which includes “When we’re free to love anyone we choose” that did not have very huge success but was indeed controversial.
>1992- K.d Lang comes out of the closet and releases Ingenuine which received multi-million sales and a grammy award. However this album was definitely more as “pop” than country as opposed to her early music like “Down to my last cigarette”.
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>2006- Willie Nelson cover of “Cowboys are Frequently, Secretly Fond of Each Other” is first LGBT- themed mainstream country song by a major artist. While it was played on some radio stations, it was never played on country stations. WXBX, a country station in Johnson city, says the audience was "disappointed in Nelson"
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>2006- Dolly Parton records Travelin Thru for movie about a transgendered woman, which was nominated for a Golden Globe. She is open supporter of the LGBT community.
>2010- Chely Wright comes out of the closet
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>2013- Steve Grand releases "American Boy" about his relationship with a man. He was cited as the "first" country star, which is not true.
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Where is he now? Nashville ignored, he never won awards while Kacey Musgraves:
“Follow Your Arrow” nominated for CMA awards.
>2014- Ty Herndon and Billy Gilman comes out of the closet.
"'Herndon, 52, made a poignant statement about why he’d chosen to stay in the closet for so many years. His most recent album was titled Lies I Told Myself, and he told Entertainment Tonight that the biggest lie he told himself was 'that I couldn’t be gay in country music. I’ve dreamed about being in country music since I was 6 years old. It’s my life, it’s what I do, it’s who I am, and I went to great lengths to cover up that fact to be a country star.'
That sentiment inadvertently tells a hard truth about country music: namely, that it is arguably the only genre of music in which sexual orientation is still an issue to any meaningful degree. Much of that stigma appears to stem from its demographic makeup.
'I grew up in a small town in south Alabama, and that was just a word we whispered growing up, and it wasn’t something that was okay,' Herndon tells Taste of Country. 'I was programmed at a very young age to think that I was broken. I carried that into adulthood, even though I had an awesome and affirming and loving family. But I carried it into my adult life, and I wanted to be in country music, and that was just such a taboo. It was also something we didn’t talk about, and it was definitely not something you could be and be in country music. Not in a world of good ol’ boys and pickup trucks, and all of the things that American values are made of.'"
'But they were also very adamant about, ‘You’ve got to put into consideration that this industry may not sit well with this. You may have to do something different. Just put that in your head,' he relates. 'So it’s a real come to terms situation. You really come to a core realization of hardcore facts of life. It wakes you up a little bit.'" (Sterling, Wit 2017)
>2014- Patrick Haggerty of Lavender Country signed to North Carolina record label to reissue the album.
>2017- Trixie Mattel of Ru Paul’s drag race announces country album and releases song “Mama Don’t Make Me Put on the Dress Again”
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