Braian Robert was adopted by gay fans sometime after story of the ghost came out and the end of their first hiatus. A time when gay people were beginnning to make some progress with visibility and acceptance. The internet had been instrumental in building both phish and gay culture during the 90s as it made finding like minded folks so easy and affirming. Both cultures were crazy early adopters of Social platforms and used them to share and connect. As a gay person who had been going to see shows nonstop since 91, I knew statistically there had to be gay fans but never met any Outside my circle of friends or at shows ( met heads at bars) but Brian and Robert changed all that.
Clearly phish related language for the site was a need and I think Brian and Robert was a brilliant choice. Two rand om male names kept in line with phish’s culture of secteet language while also being clear and implicitly visible. Think about songs with two names in it Ruben and Cherise... they are love songs. When STORY came out there were threads and conversation about the B&R lyrics and some phans floated the idea that it was about two gay men. People shared the idea that Brian Eno and Robert were lovers and the threads were lively as fans (who most often present mostly heteronormative beliefs) were talking about gay people, debating civil rights, expressing their beliefs which ranged from devoured allies to deep homophobis. People came out, soapboxes were always present and it got real.
I appreciate the of “take it back” approach of peaceful protest found in bomth African American and gay American history- where victims of perpetration, discrimination and hate had had enough and took some of the poisonous language and it’s power away from
Those who used it to hurt by taking it and using it in their culture almost secretly and with rules. This was for survival and smart and while not the most productive, it had its place.
Using the name Brian and Robert for a gay fan board is itself a clever selection but when you add in a homophobic history on PT (greenboard) on threads directly concerned with the name of the song and rampant that’s gay , trey is gay.......language for years......... the name makes total sense and
Braian Robert was adopted by gay fans sometime after story of the ghost came out and the end of their first hiatus. A time when gay people were beginnning to make some progress with visibility and acceptance. The internet had been instrumental in building both phish and gay culture during the 90s as it made finding like minded folks so easy and affirming. Both cultures were crazy early adopters of Social platforms and used them to share and connect. As a gay person who had been going to see shows nonstop since 91, I knew statistically there had to be gay fans but never met any Outside my circle of friends or at shows ( met heads at bars) but Brian and Robert changed all that.
Clearly phish related language for the site was a need and I think Brian and Robert was a brilliant choice. Two rand om male names kept in line with phish’s culture of secteet language while also being clear and implicitly visible. Think about songs with two names in it Ruben and Cherise... they are love songs. When STORY came out there were threads and conversation about the B&R lyrics and some phans floated the idea that it was about two gay men. People shared the idea that Brian Eno and Robert were lovers and the threads were lively as fans (who most often present mostly heteronormative beliefs) were talking about gay people, debating civil rights, expressing their beliefs which ranged from devoured allies to deep homophobis. People came out, soapboxes were always present and it got real.
I appreciate the of “take it back” approach of peaceful protest found in bomth African American and gay American history- where victims of perpetration, discrimination and hate had had enough and took some of the poisonous language and it’s power away from Those who used it to hurt by taking it and using it in their culture almost secretly and with rules. This was for survival and smart and while not the most productive, it had its place.
Using the name Brian and Robert for a gay fan board is itself a clever selection but when you add in a homophobic history on PT (greenboard) on threads directly concerned with the name of the song and rampant that’s gay , trey is gay.......language for years......... the name makes total sense and