Indiana Lawmakers Now Consider Don't Say Gay Laws, The Pioneering Gay Powerpop of Handbag, Ryan Field Books

Indiana Lawmakers Now Consider Don’t Say Gay Laws

One of the biggest and most idiotic things I see from these anti-gay straights on social media is that they have no idea about the differences between a drag performer and a person who is transgender. These poor straight fools just can’t figure it out. So whenever I see them posting about “grooming” and drag queens doing story hour in libraries, I try to let them know the difference.

With that said, the wonderful state of Indiana where Mike and Mother Pence are from is now considering a similar law to the don’t say gay bill in Florida.

You can read more about it here. They all claim to be protecting children, but I would like to know how they are protecting children against straight middle aged men who are the real sex offenders and groomers.

The Pioneering Gay Powerpop of Handbag

This is an interesting part of gay history that dates back to 1971. It talks about the awful gay scene in London in the 1970s. If there was entertainment, it was with straight bands.

Along came Paul Southwell who decided it was time to change things. With Dave Jenkins and Alan Jordan, they formed a powerpop band called Handbag, strongly influenced by The Rocky Horror Picture Show. As they started to build a following in the gay community (there was no LGBTQ+ acronym back then and I resent that this article uses the term in this case. This is gay history, not LGBTQ+ history.)

“We would dress outrageously,” says Southwell. “We’d kiss each other on stage and simulate sex – whatever a song warranted.”

Here’s the rest. The article goes into more detail about how they were the only openly gay band at the time. It’s long but it’s worth the read in spite of the LGBTQ+ references. The LGBTQ+ acronym has its own history, but it has little to do with gay culture of the pre-AIDS era in the 1970s.