A California band’s anti-transgender comments resulted in their dismissal from their record label in mid-October.
San Francisco-based band Whirr has recently faced consequences for a string of transphobic tweets they posted to Twitter on October 19th, 2015. These tweets were directed at female hardcore band G.L.O.S.S. (Girls Living Outside of Society’s S---), and their lead singer Sadie Switchblade, who is a transgender woman.
Tweets such as “Lol @ G.L.O.S.S.” and “g.l.o.s.s. is just a bunch of boys running around in panties making shitty music” that have since been deleted from the band’s official Twitter page caused the band to be dropped from their record label, Run For Cover Records.
Run For Cover Records tweeted, “We will not be working with Whirr from this point on and do not support that behavior in any way.”
Despite all the harsh feelings and controversy surrounding the incident, many people have turned the situation into a positive one by supporting G.L.O.S.S. and raising more awareness of social issues in the hardcore scene and various music scenes as a whole.
Oxford High School junior Sarah Stroh, who runs CapitalH Records and has been an active member of Connecticut’s DIY music scene for years, is a strong advocate for the representation of minorities in music. “Slowly but surely, they [G.L.O.S.S.] are contributing to the scene. The hardcore scene has always been predominantly white, straight males, since hardcore began in the 80’s,” Stroh said. “And although it has progressed a lot since then, there has never been a lot of women and trans representation.”
The female band released a five-track demo on Bandcamp in January 2015 and has been praised for its eruptive lyrics and it’s overall theme of female and transgender empowerment.
Newtown High School junior Judge Russell, who has been running Sleepover Records for a little over a year now, believes that this representation is vitally important. "They [G.L.O.S.S.] have definitely made some noise and it's cool for trans punks who don't feel they belong at other shows," Russell said.
He is not the only one who feels this way. Despite what occurs on social media, shows seem to be the defining factor of what it means to be a part of any music scene.
"Just from attending shows, I learn that people who relate to each other tend to stick together. Especially trans people," Stroh said. "Race is less segregated at shows compared to gender identity and sexual orientation and whatnot."
The goal is to continue doing what it takes to create safe spaces in which people of all genders and sexual orientations can feel comfortable and accepted. A huge part of this is limiting the hatred and discrimination that is exhibited on an individual basis.
On September 28th, Stroh addressed this in a public statement on the CapitalH Records Facebook page. They wrote about a zine and a benefit show being put together by both CapitalH Records and Couch Yeti Records that would raise awareness of issues such as sexual harassment and violence in local music scenes.
"Our goal is to make the scene a safe place for all people, minus those who could cause harm, and all we need is your support," Stroh wrote.
With bands like G.L.O.S.S. advocating for these changes, music seems to be headed in a good direction.