Pansy Division comes to The Earl in East Atlanta Village on Friday, April 6, as part of its tour celebrating the 30th anniversary of “Deflowered.”
When Jon Ginoli and Chris Freeman stormed onto San Francisco’s punk rock scene as Pansy Division in the early 1990s, they quickly gained a following for their catchy melodies, witty lyrics and bold message of queer sexual freedom and identity.
“We were blunt. We were outspoken. We were funny,” said Ginoli, lead singer/guitarist.
Pansy Division emerged during the height of the AIDS epidemic when many people were dying. Freddie Mercury, lead singer of Queen, died in 1991 due to complication from AIDS after a career in the closet.
LGBTQ people faced a steady stream of hate and discrimination by government leaders, most notably the conservative senator from North Carolina, Jesse Helms.
“It was a grim time,” Ginoli said. “And we thought, ‘We want to have a pro-sex, in-your-face band at a time when that is under attack … let’s be Jesse Helms’ worst nightmare.'”
“When Freddie Mercury died, I realized that’s why we’re doing this,” Freeman said. “I didn’t want to live in that world anymore, where gay musicians can’t be out doing their thing. There’s no reason that I had to go through all the shame I went through.”
Pansy Division’s second album, “Deflowered,” was released in 1994 on Lookout! Records. Green Day picked Pansy Division to tour with them that year. The gay Bay Area band used to playing in small venues was now playing arenas in front of large crowds of hard rock fans.
“Deflowered” has humorous and very queer songs such as “James Bondage,” “Groovy Underwear” and “Beer Can Boy.” But it also has romantic and wistful songs like “Deep Water” about the loneliness of being gay in high school, and “Denny,” about a man suffering from AIDS.
“We were playing for all these Green Day teenagers and we didn’t change a lyric,” Ginoli said.
The band was rewarded for its take-no-prisoners attitude by gaining many new fans. But there was also plenty of anger and hate from rock fans who did not want to hear about gay men who love each other.
More than 30 years later, Pansy Division is still making new fans. Ginoli and Freeman said they noticed in recent years more young transgender and nonbinary people attending their shows after learning about the band via TikTok and Instagram.
“We’re gay men and we’re singing about sexuality, but now sexuality is not the focus, it’s more about gender,” Ginoli said. “A lot of genderqueer kids have found that Pansy Division is really relatable, which I think is interesting.”
“We were fearless. And I think that resonates,” Freeman said. “It’s like we be punched back really hard. “Humor doesn’t hurt either, but we were also really honest, so I think our honesty and fearlessness comes through.”
The last time Pansy Division performed in Atlanta was in 2003, at the Earl. The band is looking forward to returning to celebrate the 30th anniversary of “Deflowered.”
“It just seems like right now in our lives, it’s really been helpful to take stock and just look back at things,” Freeman said. “Let’s celebrate our own history.”
