Sunday Diva/Three From The Hip: Pet Shop Boys

Sunday Diva/Three From The Hip:

The Pet Shop Boys

In my big gay church there is a wing dedicated to The Divas Who Represent. They're not all flashy or cocks of the walk - in fact, some never officially came out of the closet during their lifetime - but they are all extraordinarily gifted, sharing their songs, music, and insights, allowing the world at large to learn, in the most subtle of ways, what it's like 'being green'. Thanks to their gifts and their bravery, they help make the world a little more gay every time their voices are heard. And that's been their true super power all along... their voice; they were heard. They mattered. And, whether they liked it or not, they represented!

Two such talented musical icons...

Pet Shop Boys.

Talk about a revolution. But rather than an explosion, theirs was one of subtly and wit. 

These were not your average posers. This pair was learned, aware and rarely minced words. 

The Oscar Wilde of the pop set, they wasted little time setting tongues wagging and feet dancing. From a frosty distance they took the weekly cultural temperature and commented upon it while setting disco balls ablaze. 

As they matured, their observations grew ever more veiled even as their shows grew more artful and elaborate, if fewer and farther between. 

Never has gay culture had more consistent, more vibrant, and more telling scribes.

To this day, their music serves as a textbook for gay intellectuals and hedonistic spirits alike. 

The gospel according to them )?

Here are three from the hip, dropping from Neil Tennant's lips.

The topic? The Gay Culture Trap

"When I was I younger I didn't want to be gay. Not because I was scared of the sexual thing; I didn't want to be a clone. Now this was in the late seventies."

"I didn't want to wear a checked shirt and grow a mustache - that's what you had to do, and everyone did."

"Because some people have sex with people of the same sex, an entire culture has been created, broadly speaking, out of oppression. Which in a rational world would not be an issue."

"A lot of what used to be known as gay culture - broadly speaking, homoeroticism and being camp - has been brought into mainstream culture. I think we should be moving to an era where it's just sex."

"I think there's an element where people get very comfortable in their ghetto. Which is fair enough."

"We hope we are moving toward a world where sexual orientation is not an issue, because we hate the idea of a gay ghetto. I think that it's a real shame that people become restricted by their sexuality or define their whole lives by their sexuality."

"To a certain extent, this... a celebration of individuality and that you can invent and reinvent yourself. You should have the power to be able to do that. Sexuality is a part of that. It should release you. It doesn't have to be an issue. It shouldn't box you in."

"We shouldn't feel restricted by our sexuality, and our sexuality doesn't have to be a cultural choice." 

It's A Sin - Pet Shop Boys

How Can You Expect To Be Taken Seriously? - Pet Shop Boys

The Pop Kids - Pet Shop Boys

And one last parting shot...

"I'm always uneasy with messages. I think if there is a message, it's about taking control of your life. Not becoming a victim. Be true to yourself."