Loud and Queer

Pansy Division founder talks about life as a gay rocker

Comments (0) By Leslie Barton Thursday, May 7 2009

For the love of pink triangle, are we the only straight-curious girl who owns Pansy Division vinyl? We asked around, but no one remembered that the San Francisco band was handpicked to open for Berkeley’s Green Day in ’94, and we bet a few of those Dookie lovers shit themselves over this verse: “Denny picked me up, Denny did me/He’s got a tattoo of his dick on his belly.”

More About

Singer/guitarist Jon Ginoli, the Pansy Division founder, emphasized the band’s sexual preferences by performing politically polarizing lyrics, but without the glitter eyelashes and size-13 heels. As bassist Chris Freeman said in the recent documentary Pansy Division: Life in a Gay Rock Band, “We were trying to be what we didn’t see when we were growing up.” Translation: queers wearing faded T-shirts and Chucks and slamming out garage rock.

Ginoli reads from and signs his first book, Deflowered: My Life in Pansy Division, at Borders Books & Music at Biltmore Fashion Park.

Sun., May 10, 1 p.m., 2009