19. The Queer History of Disco

Snarky Opener (0:00)

Yes, the rumors are true. I am, in fact, the Dancing Queen. Only I'm not that young, and I am certainly not that sweet.

Episode Introduction (0:27)

Hello, my LGBTQuties, and welcome back to another episode of A Jaded Gay.

I'm Rob Loveless and, today, I'm a non-jaded gay because I got a haircut, which is like therapy. And actually, the place I go to is pretty pricey, so it's like the same cost as therapy.

And I also got new cologne. So, you know, my hair's looking good, I'm smelling good, I'm feeling good.

The only thing that can bring me down right now is my student loans.

The Queer History of Disco (0:47) 

But leaving the financial hardships aside, I am really excited about today's episode because we are going to be talking about the queer history of disco.

I really got into disco during the pandemic. I ended up paying for Spotify, which I'd never done before. And I mean, they just, they knew who they were marketing to.

Every recommendation was a disco song. I was dancing all pandemic long. And one, obviously, I really enjoyed the music.

But two, it was interesting learning that there actually is a lot of queer history tied to the foundation of disco. And it's more than just a fashion of, you know, bell bottoms and roller skating and all that fun stuff.

Now, just to preface before we get into the episode, the inception of disco really is credited to quite a few minority communities, and especially the Black community.

And as we go through today's episode, we'll definitely touch upon that. But obviously, this is a gay-focused podcast, so I'm going to be talking more about the queer history of disco.

But I do just want to call out that disco was founded by several minority groups and largely credited, you know, as being founded by the Black community.

And I definitely would recommend you, after listening to this episode, go and do a little bit more research to learn about that.

So, switching gears before we get into the topic, you know the drill, we're gonna pull our tarot.

Tarot (1:54) 

So, the card for this episode is the Six of Cups in reverse. I'm not sure we've pulled any cards from the Suit of Cups before.

Some people tend to fear cups because it's tied to emotions. But actually, that's my favorite suit to pull from. So, looking into the suit of Cups, it's tied to the element of water.

It's feminine energy, which is representative of meditation, thinking things through. And again, it's tied to the element of water.

So, you can think of it as our emotions that flow freely. And referencing numerology, the number six is tied to balance, harmony, making choices. So overall, you know, pretty good vibes from this.

And in reverse, the Six of Cups is basically tied to nostalgia and living in the past, which I think that's going to tie in quite appropriately because, you know, the 70s were just the time to be alive, from what I heard.

But in all seriousness, when we're looking at this card in reverse, it's kind of signifying that we have maybe an unhealthy attachment to something in the past or even believing that things that happened in the past were better than the present situation.

It's asking us to think, are we wishing that we were living back in that time, trying to relive those good memories? And is that keeping us from living fully in the present?

Because if we're not living fully in the present, then we might be missing opportunities to make new memories and to discover something new.

And obviously, I think it is healthy to be in touch with, you know, our memories and bringing up that nostalgia because we do want to remember the good times.

However, there's a fine balance between appreciating the good times versus trying to relive them or recreate them and being so focused on those that were missing out on the present.

It can also signify that we might have lost touch with our inner child and that, basically, we're just kind of stuck in a state of mediocrity, which I think a lot of us can definitely relate to.

We have our jobs, our housework, our social obligations, and sometimes we lose sense of what we actually want to be doing.

And sometimes, that sense of adulting can weigh so heavy on us that it can almost become unbearable, and that's why we're stuck living in the past, reliving those good memories.

So again, with this card being tied to meditation, we really need to find that balance between enjoying the past, not letting the memories die, necessarily, but not having them holding us back from achieving something, from living in the present, from being open to new opportunities.

And even in those times when we might be weighed down from too much responsibility in the present, we still need to keep a future focus on what we're looking to achieve so we can avoid that sense of feeling stuck.

Like we're feeling in this, you know, state of mediocrity, where it's just rolling with the punches, you know, going through the motions, same thing, day in and day out.

We need to shake it up a little bit, and we need to have our end goals in sight.

And while it might seem a little contradictory to the tarot reading for today, we are going to be taking a trip down memory lane and going on back even before the 70s.

Disco’s Origins (4:27)

So, to kick us off, let's talk about what disco is.

Merriam-Webster defines disco as popular dance music characterized by hypnotic rhythm, repetitive lyrics, and electronically produced sounds.

And disco is short for discotheque, which is a French word which originally meant a library of phonograph records.

And predating the 70s, when disco was at its height, this term discotheque was actually used to classify certain types of nightclubs in Paris in the 1940s during the Nazi invasion.

So, before the invasions, these clubs would have live bands. But obviously, because they were in war, they didn't have the resources for that. Their men were off fighting. They were under Nazi control.

So, a lot of these nightclubs could not operate the same. So, in order to stay alive, these clubs resorted to bringing in a record player and playing jazz records instead of having live music.

Now again, that was in the 1940s, and in the years following that, some new genres of music began emerging.

We have R&B, which kind of came about in the 1940s, Soul in the late 50s and into the 60s, Funk in the 1960s, and then Go-Go music in the 1960s and into the 70s.

And these genres were considered more danceable compared to previous genres of music, and they inspired what later became known as disco music.

And like I said at the top of the episode, it's important to note that these genres, including what became known as disco, primarily comes from African American roots.

The Cultural Shift of the 60s and 70s (5:45)

So, these discotheques in Europe started playing these new genres, which created a trend of discotheque dancing, which was soon adopted in the United States.

So, before disco was labeled as a type of music, it was this trend of going out to these clubs where they played records, they were playing the new genres of music, and people were dancing, enjoying it.

Also, we'll get to this a little later on, but this music kind of shifted away from the norm of having to be a two-person dance. At that time, a lot of dancing was for couples.

So, if you were single, you were shit out of luck. But the music and the dances that accompanied that were more danceable for single people.

There wasn't a two-person routine you had to go through necessarily. And again, as this discotheque dancing trend really got popular in Europe, it actually moved over to the United States and was pretty quickly adopted.

So, in the 1964 issue of Playboy, an article referenced this trend, saying, "Los Angeles has emerged with the biggest and brassiest of the discos."

Now, remember, during the 1960s in the United States, we had that hippie moment. You know, sex, drugs, rock and roll, baby.

But as the 60s progressed, the economy declined, unemployment and inflation soared, and there was also a rise in crime rates.

Additionally, there were some political tensions surrounding race riots, the Vietnam War, the Watergate scandal, as well as the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and John F. Kennedy.

So, it just wasn't a good time. And in addition to all of this, the start of the 70s saw a rise in feminism and identity politics.

Disco’s Increase in Popularity (7:05)

So, disco's popularity increased around this time for a few reasons.

According to Turn the Beat Around: The Secret History of Disco by Peter Shapiro, it offered a sense of escape from the negative economic issues and political tensions.

And this next point, kind of like we touched upon earlier, in the book, Last Night a DJ Saved My Life: The History of the Disc Jockey, author Bill Brewster explained that, compared to other musical genres, disco was a non-partnered style of dancing.

And he also states it was more inclusive of all sexualities and races, which contributed to a sense of liberation.

And if you think back to our episode on pop icons, we know that two of the main emotional appeals of pop music for gay men are elements of fantasy and escapism and a sense of liberation.

So immediately, I'm sure you can see disco's gay appeal, and we didn't even get into the fashion yet.

Disco’s Inclusivity (7:50)

So, a New York City DJ, David Mancuso, is credited with the birth of disco in 1970, and again, it's important to emphasize that disco music gets its roots from African American music.

So, when David Mancuso is credited with the birth of disco, I think they mean disco in the sense of the disco tech clubs and the disco scene in the United States.

So, Mancuso lived in New York City and referred to his home as The Loft, which he used as an invitation-only, non-commercial underground club that inspired many others.

He held informal invitation-only house parties, and they attracted a large number of gay men. Now, keep in mind, the Stonewall Riots happened in 1969 as a response to police raids on gay bars.

Obviously, those raids were still a common occurrence. In fact, many gay men went to gay bars with bail money in hand in case there was a raid and they got arrested.

So, since gay men were often harassed in gay bars and dance clubs, they went to The Loft and other private discotheques where they could dance together without fear of police interference.

Then, on Valentine's Day, 1970, Mancuso hosted Love Saves the Day, which was the first major underground dance party held at The Loft. And after this, these dance parties became weekly occurrences.

In the book Last Night a DJ Saved My Life, this is another book, not the one that we referenced previously. I know so many books, so few titles, apparently.

Anyway, this author, Alex Rosner, an electrical engineer and sound system designer who invented the first DJ mixer, gave a really beautiful quote about these parties.

He said:

"It was probably about 60% Black and 70% gay. There was a mix of sexual orientation, there was a mix of races, a mix of economic groups, a real mix where the common denominator was music."

So, this is kind of the early roots of disco in the United States. And we really see it take off and enter the mainstream around 1974, and it became a huge music trend into the late 70s.

And this disco movement wasn't only inclusive to clubgoers. According to a 2018 BBC article, disco enabled female, gay, Black, and Latin artists to define their identities in increasingly fluid ways. Even kitsch hits could prove subversive.

The Village People brought macho gay imagery to prime-time entertainment.

Disco also fueled the global collaborations that we now take for granted in modern music, whether it was the epic euro disco of Donna Summer and Giorgio Moroder, I Feel Love, 1977, or British Italian producer Biddu.

Disco’s Queer Appeal (10:06)

Now, let's focus on the queerness of disco.

A 2011 article by Tim Lawrence, published in the Cultural Studies, asserts that the disco movement was queer in terms of its refusal of both straight normative and gay normative articulation.

Specifically, Lawrence states that disco consists of four areas of queerness:

Number one, which we already kind of touched upon, disco's break with traditional couples dancing as the basis of social dance, and the queer recasting of the dancing body as a site of affective intensities that underpins a form of collective sociality.

And there were some words that I didn't quite understand, so wanted to do a little further research.

According to the American Psychological Association, affect intensity refers to individual differences in the typical intensity with which people experience their emotional responses.

So basically, what Lawrence is saying is that disco music was eliciting emotional responses from clubgoers, particularly gay men, obviously, for the reasons we talked about in terms of pop music and its gay emotional appeal.

And it was also supported by this collective culture of the dance floor atmosphere. You know, like Alex Rosner said, the atmosphere of these underground discos really consisted of a mix of races, genders, sexuality.

And it was more so about the music itself and just being liberated by the music.

So, the second key area of queerness for disco is the DJ practice of cross-generic sounds and creating a musical set in conjunction with the dancing crowd.

Number three, the sonic makeup of disco music, and in particular, its polymorphous component. And polymorphous means having, assuming, or occurring in various forms, characters, or styles.

And finally, number four, the alternative experience of temporality and space on the dance floor, as well as the destabilizing impact of a range of dance floor technologies.

Now, I want to circle back to that first key area. When talking about pop icons and their gay emotional appeal, Matthew Todd, the author of Straight Jacket, said there were four core appeals.

And they are:

• An assertion of aggressive sexuality
• Escape through music
• Empowerment/ I'm too good for you
• And I'm not good enough for you/victim

So disco music really checked the boxes when it came to these four categories, but primarily the first two.

Like Lawrence stated, disco music, with its dance beats and futuristic sounds, really elicited an emotional response, which contributed to a feeling of escapism and fantasy.

Disco, Sexual Liberation, and Eroticism (12:20)

But more so, the disco movement really brought about a wave of sexual liberation and eroticism.

In fact, in 1979, Richard Dyer published an essay in a publication called Gay Left and claimed that eroticism was one of the three main characteristics of disco.

And just to kind of put it in context, at the time, rock music was more focused on the sexual pleasure of straight men, whereas disco created a sense of sexual liberation on the dance floor and in the clubs, and it was more inclusive.

And, keep in mind, the disco era was like immediately following the politics of Stonewall and before the AIDS pandemic.

So, you can really see it was kind of sandwiched in the midst of okay, gay liberation, gay rights.

That's kind of coming to the forefront because of the Stonewall Riots, and it was before AIDS was really discovered, primarily affecting the gay community in the 80s.

So, it was kind of this perfect moment that disco came about where the LGBTQ population could really just kind of celebrate and be liberated.

Additionally, Dyer asserted that compared to pop music, disco's lyrics were more directly physical, and the delivery was more raunchy.

Furthermore, in the book Modulations: A History of Electronic Music, Peter Shapiro described this concept of mechano eroticism, which basically links the mechanical sound of disco to eroticism.

And as a result, it created a different, sometimes futuristic sound, which further contributes to that sense of escapism and fantasy.

And Shapiro, Peter, that is fuck, Ben. Peter Shapiro further stated that this mechano-eroticism set the genre of disco into a new dimension of reality, which really created a life outside of naturalism and heterosexuality.

And also, it's the 70s. Let's get real. The drugs helped create new dimensions as well.

But for real, a lot of big disco hits were pretty sexually charged. I mean, let's start with our Queen of Disco, Donna Summer.

We have Hot Stuff and Bad Girls. Toot toot, beep beep. They were huge hits that definitely were alluding to sex and street prostitution.

And obviously, don't forget about Love to Love You Baby, which is 16 minutes and 49 seconds of pure sex laced with erotic moans. In fact, this is kind of funny.

The BBC supposedly banned this song, and its censor counted 23 orgasms during the song. So, if you listen to that 16-minute version, you'll definitely hear her moaning throughout the entire track.

Also, her song, which was referenced a little earlier, I Feel Love, it's a great example of a more sexually liberated song with futuristic sounds.

So, really, it's combining that sexually charged appeal with that sense of escapism. So, I mean that just checks two of the boxes right there under the gay emotional appeal.

Some other songs that were definitely a little bit more erotic. We have Ring My Bell by Anita Ward, Marvin Gaye's Got to Give It Up, Funkytown by Lipps, Inc., because Funkytown is essentially pound town.

Do You Think I'm Sexy? by Rod Stewart and Take Me Home by Cher. And to some extent, you can even argue that Dancing Queen is a bit promiscuous.

I mean, think specifically of that lyric: "You're a tease, you turn them on. Leave them burning, and then you're gone."

Also, we've got You Make Me Feel Mighty Real by Sylvester, who was a Black, gay singer who wore both male and female-gendered clothes and was described as being flamboyant and colorful.

And, of course, don't forget Macho Man by the Village People, which, duh, we all know them and their onstage characterizations of American masculinity and macho gay fantasy personas.

Again, it was the 70s, different time.

Now, sexual liberation and escapism aside, there were, of course, songs that tied to the remaining two categories of gay emotional appeal.

First off, one of my personal favorites, we have Don't Leave Me this way by Thelma Houston, which falls under the I'm Not Good Enough for You/Victim category.

But I would argue that there's probably a little bit of that assertion of aggressive sexuality within that song.

I mean, even though she doesn't want her lover to leave her, she's point-blank saying, come on, satisfy the need in me, because only your good loving can set me free.

And then, of course, when it comes to empowerment/ I'm too good for you, we have the iconic gay anthem I Will Survive by Miss Gloria Gaynor.

And you know, putting the gay emotional appeal of the music aside, let's not forget about the fashion also.

Disco’s Impact on Fashion (16:13)

According to a BBC article from 2018, fashion reacted to disco by creating glamor for the dance floor. Disco evoked a passion for luxury.

And I mean, let's face it, sometimes we gays have a tendency to be materialistic. So, obviously, you can see the mass appeal to the gays in disco.

But in all seriousness, the music and clubs really created a space where people could be liberated and have freedom in their sexuality and self-expression.

And by looking into the history, you can really see how the disco movement was really brought to the mainstream by marginalized communities.

Because remember, in the early disco days, it was exclusive because of its inclusivity.

The Commercialization of Disco and Bigotry (16:48)

But that's not to say that everything was hunky-dory back then, either.

Even though disco was more sexually liberating, it wasn't like straight people across the country were fully embracing the LGBTQ+ community.

And as disco grew in popularity beyond the queer community, we see a rise in commercialized businesses like discos, and they began to exclude its original patrons.

Conflicts sometimes even arose in discos where straight people were uncomfortable seeing gay couples, and they'd confront them about it.

And in return, gay people would counter them, trying to reclaim their spaces. Remember, the disco movement started in the underground invite-only parties that accepted all races and sexual orientations.

And now that they were commercialized, heteros were showing up there too, and trying to govern how gay couples should behave on the dance floor. So, you could see that frustration there.

And as a result of this turmoil, some discos were informally labeled as gay or straight to avoid these conflicts. In fact, some clubs even prohibited same-sex dancing.

And ours wasn't the only community negatively impacted. Club owners also engaged in discriminatory practices along racial lines.

And I think this is a good time to bring up Studio 54.

Studio 54 (17:51)

I mean, if you know disco, if you know the 70s, then you've definitely heard about Studio 54. But some quick history on that.

Originally built in 1927 as an opera house, the building was later bought by CBS, and in 1977 it transformed into the iconic nightclub that came to be known as Studio 54.

However, it closed only a few years later, in 1980, after the owners had been charged with tax evasion and skimming.

But in its heyday, Studio 54 commercialized the disco scene and was frequented by many celebrities. And this is pretty interesting.

It was actually modeled after New York City gay clubs, and the design team comprised of many gay men. I mean, you want a glamorous discotheque, you better be hiring the gays.

And just to give you an idea of what Studio 54 was like, I'm gonna read a quick quote about its description:

"The club was known for its velvet rope door policy where Rubell, who was one of the owners, hand selected guests ranging from unknowns to high profile gay, bisexual, and straight celebrities.

At capacity, the club could accommodate 2,000 patrons, with a 5,400 square foot dance floor and 85-foot-high ceilings. Special effects included fluttering fabric flames, floating aluminum strips, neon wheels, strobe lights, and the legendary animated Man in the Moon with a cocaine spoon sculpture.

Well-built bartenders and busboys, dressed in gym shorts and sneakers, added to the sexual energy of the music and crowd."

So again, mid-70s disco music really took off, and it became commercialized into the late 70s.

And you can see how this commercialization of disco made it more exclusive for a certain clientele compared to its origins.

And it's important to note, too, that there were instances of racial discrimination at Studio 54 among other commercialized disco clubs, which, again, is another kind of slap in the face because disco is primarily founded by queer and black artists and supported by those marginalized communities.

So, this movement, this trend that they worked so hard for, as soon as it became commercialized and reached the masses, then they were kind of excluded from it.

Backlash to Disco (19:44)

And interestingly enough, this commercialization was not only a threat to the roots of disco, there was also a political threat as well. So, I'm going to read a quick quote:

"The 1970s was a time of identity crisis for white men due to the economic challenges facing the country, changes to employment, military defeat in Vietnam, and political rights being granted to women and People of Color. This combination of strife caused many men of the decade to feel somewhat emasculated and growing more defensive over their sense of identity."

And remember, disco was empowering many marginalized communities, as well as inciting a sense of sexual liberation. Additionally, disco had become the most popular genre of music for almost a decade.

So, because some straight white men were offended, and because of this kind of fatigue of seeing disco music being the popular music trend for almost a decade, an anti-disco sentiment actually arose.

And there were popular slogans such as Disco Sucks and Death to Disco. And in 1979, there were several anti-disco incidents that included protests and record burnings.

But perhaps the most notable and infamous was Disco Demolition Night at Comiskey Park in Chicago.

Disco Demolition Night (20:45)

During this time, the Chicago White Sox regularly had fun, and I'm using fun loosely, events to attract larger audiences to their games.

Also, we have Steve Dahl and Gary Meier, who were popular radio DJs in Chicago, and they recently moved to a rival station after theirs was reformatted to an all-disco format.

And this was a relatively common reformatting trend in American radio in 1979. So, they were more rock DJs. They catered more to fans of rock, and their station was converted to that all-disco format.

So, they were pretty pissed off about this. And this whole conversion had also displaced other DJs who were more aligned with rock music. So, they definitely were tied into that anti-disco movement there.

And as a result, Dahl and Meier approached the White Sox with an idea for a comical, again, loose term here, comical anti-disco event as a form of satirical retaliation against the reformatting of radio stations.

And they called it Disco Demolition Night. So basically, for the night that they had this planned, it was going to be a doubleheader game.

And in between games, Dahl was going to collect a bunch of disco records, chuck them into a dumpster, and then blow it up on the field.

So, you're giving straight men explosives. What could possibly go wrong? I mean, have you seen those gender reveals online? Not great.

So, to kind of promote this event even further, they offered 98 cent tickets for anyone who brought a record to the game.

And because of this, they expected maybe 15,000 people to attend, but really, they sold out. So, there were 40,000 people in attendance and upwards of 40,000 more outside the stadium.

So here we are, July 12, 1979, like I said, it's that doubleheader. After the first game, Dahl and Meier made their way to the center field and led the crowd in a chant of disco sucks.

Dahl then set off the explosives, which not only destroyed the records but also left a large hole in the outfield.

And the crowd was so fired up that an estimated 7,000 attendees stormed the field, and chaos ensued.

Things were set on fire, baseball equipment was stolen, and police actually arrived at the scene in riot gear. And ultimately, 39 people were arrested.

Now again, this wasn't the sole factor of the decline of disco. There were other movements going on at this time, other protests, but this certainly was one of the larger events.

And the decline of disco after this was pretty quick.

Disco’s Rapid Decline (22:53)

So, on July 21, 1979, the top six records on the United States music charts were disco songs. By September 22, so only two months later, there were no disco songs in the top 10.

And now that we're looking back on this event, over 40 years later, of this Disco Demolition Night, some have viewed this as a not-so-subtle attack against disco's early adopters.

So again, that's the queer community and communities of color. Furthermore, some social critics have gone so far as to call the anti-disco movement as being implicitly macho and bigoted.

And also, as we approach the 80s, we see a shift in politics. So, another quote:

"Cultural and political conservatives had already pushed back hard on the expression of queer identity and the idea that gay people were not only open about their identity but celebrating it was deemed too far by others.

This slow and steady rise of conservatism came as a result of many civil rights victories in the 1960s and a continued rise of identity politics in the 1970s that ultimately accumulated in Ronald Reagan being elected president in 1980.

Disco's emphasis on sexuality through lyric and dance, the opulent imagery of disco artists and clubs, and the diversity among its fans made disco a very clear target for conservatives."

Also, in 1979, the music industry underwent a major slump, and it was one of their worst in decades. And they blamed disco music for this, even though disco was still pretty successful at that time.

And so, you know, we have all these factors going on. And just like that, the disco era came to an abrupt end.

And unfortunately, many of the major staples of disco struggled to keep their careers alive in the post-disco world. Cue Stayin' Alive by the Bee Gees.

The Rise of Nu-Disco (24:30)

So, despite its demise, it gave way to new electronic genres that kind of rose in popularity in the 80s, including house, techno, and Eurodance.

However, in the 90s, there was a bit of a resurgence in disco music.

For example, you know the song, 1990, we had Groove Is in the Heart from Deee-Lite, which obviously I mean not just the music, but that music video is very disco inspired.

And then, in the 2000s, we see a new music trend emerge called nu-disco.

And it's spelled nu, n-u. Nu-disco is defined as a subgenre of disco, which takes the basis of disco music but combines it with newer production tools and elements of EDM.

So, in my biased opinion, I'd say Kylie Minogue was one of the early adopters of this new disco sound in her albums Light Years in 2000 and Fever in 2001.

I mean, specifically, think of the songs Spinning Around, Your Disco Needs You, Can't Get You Out of My Head, and Love at First Sight.

Also in 2005, Madonna released her Confessions on a Dance Floor, which is heavily influenced by disco music, especially the lead single from the album, Hung Up, which samples Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight) by ABBA.

And this nu-disco trend continued into the 2010s. We had some songs like Get Lucky by Pharrell Williams and Daft Punk. We had Blurred Lines aka Got to Give It Up, by Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams.

And really, in the past few years, this nu-disco movement really can be heard in a lot of the pop music we're listening to today. I mean, think of the song, Say So by Doja Cat.

Obviously, very disco-inspired. Even the music video.

We had the album Future Nostalgia by Dua Lipa and Disco by Kylie Minogue, which were hugely inspired by disco.

Episode Closing (26:01)

So here we are, over 50 years later, since the beginning of disco, and it's still alive and a trend in the music we're listening to today.

So, whether you want to consider it just people not liking disco music or a bigoted attack, that anti-disco movement was really unsuccessful because the foundation of disco music is still alive today.

And, of course, never forget that the roots of disco's sound and success stem from marginalized communities and that there is a lot of queer history tied to it.

And going back to the tarot, obviously, this was a very nostalgic episode for anybody who might have grown up during the disco era. It also is definitely having us reflect on the past.

Specifically, you can think about that perfect timing of when disco came about. Post-Stonewall and pre-AIDS, a time when really gay men could feel sexually liberated and express themselves freely on a dance floor.

And then, obviously, the decline of that as we moved into a more conservative era under Ronald Reagan and with the AIDS pandemic. And looking at the present, I think that we're kind of in that midst a bit.

It seems like over the past few years there has been a rise of conservatism. And even though there's been some major wins for the gay community, it seems, at least for me, it seems like there's more vocal backlash against the LGBTQ community.

Even in the year 2022, unfortunately. So instead of kind of looking back on the past and thinking the 70s were this perfect time where, you know, gay men could live freely for a moment, we should reflect on that and be aware of the history, but we also need to figure out how we're moving forward.

Obviously, disco music is coming back, and hopefully, once the pandemic is completely over, we can get out on the dance floor and dance to Future Nostalgia and Disco.

But beyond the music, looking at the era we're living in, we need to keep an eye on the future so that we're open to new possibilities and finding that balance and harmony in life.

And for me, when I'm hearing balance and harmony in relation to this episode, I'm primarily thinking of being liberated, being our authentic selves, even in the face of adversity, through some loud conservative voices we've been hearing more recently.

So, that brings us to the end of this episode. Definitely recommend that you go and listen to all the songs referenced during this history lesson. Especially Kylie Minogue. Love her.

I mean, obviously not a founder of disco music by any means. But if you really want to embrace the nu-disco movement, listen to all of Kylie's albums. You won't regret it.

Connect with A Jaded Gay (28:12)

But as always, thanks for listening. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe. I know I'm always asking that, but if you did it the first time, I wouldn't have to keep asking.

So, hint, hint, wink, wink. Rate, review, subscribe.

You can follow the podcast on Instagram and Twitter @ajadedgaypod. You can also follow me, Rob Loveless, on Instagram @rob_loveless or on Twitter @robjloveless.

And remember, every day is all you have, so you got to make your own happiness.

Mmm-bye.

Outtake (29:02)

It's kind of signifying that we have maybe an unhealthy attachment to something in the past or even believing that things that happened in the past were better than the present situation.

All I'm saying is I think some of the pop music this day is an indication that pop music from the 70s was better. Oops, I said it.