The Gay Origins of House Music on the ‘But We Loved’ podcast.
Sneaking out in the early Warehouse years; Robert Ford and Thing mag; being disowned for being gay; the white co-optation of house; the emergence of Honey Dijon; and loads of other stuff. If you miss those Chicago clubs and parties, take a listen.
From ‘But We Loved’, a podcast with Jordan Gonsalves.
Jordan Gonsalves interviewed Chicago turntable legend Lori Branch, one of the pioneering DJs of house music in the 80s. She reflects on the queer origins of the genre, how this history was erased, and why house music still resonates with so many queer people today.
Lori shares, “I was so excited. This place was allegedly mecca for like gay people and it was underground. Frankie Knuckles was the DJ. He was playing all kinds of stuff that I certainly had never heard before. I was just taking it all in because it was really the first time that I had seen people who identified as queer or gay in one place. And I remember, right as I was about to go down the stairs to go to the dance floor, I spotted these two young women sitting next to each other and they were holding hands, and I just remember my heart like beating fast, like I just had a flutter.”
