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Despite being birthed out of economic and social upheaval, like punk and hip hop, disco has been culturally ridiculed for the past forty years. Soon after Richard Nixon entered the presidential office, Stonewall marked a meaningful beginning in the Gay Liberation Movement. There was a demand for spaces where people could dance openly, with one another, or with themselves. (Frank, 2007) The Black Panther Party was targeted by J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI as a “Black Nationalist Group” which they wanted to “expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, or otherwise neutralize the activities of” (Hoban, 2021). The Hard Hat Riots on May 8, 1970 and were notable representations of class resentment. (Shapiro, 2005)
Disco venues became popular among LGBTQ, Black, and Hispanic Americans. David Mancuso opened the first private discotheque in his Manhattan loft in 1970. Mancuso says. “There was no one checking your sexuality or racial identity at the door”, The Loft attracted people of all sexualities, skin tones, and economic statuses. (Shapiro, 2005) The music lifted up musicians of color and queer DJs in the music scene.
Disco rose in popularity, and nightclubs like Studio 54 attracted high-profile celebrities and artists like Bianca Jagger, Andy Warhol, and KISS. Saturday Night Fever, starring John Travolta, featured disco music and was a massive hit. (Frank, 2007) As disco rose in popularity, so did anti-gay and anti-black sentiments. When Chicago radio DJ Steve Dahl lost his job when his rock radio station was replaced with a disco station, he called for a Disco Demolition Night after a White Sox game. An estimated 55,000 people were in attendance, most with a disco record in hand for admission. Steve Dahl brought a crate of the collected records to the center of the field and detonated a fireworks bomb that sent shards of records flying. (Frank, 2007)
The backlash against disco was not only to the music but also to the culture surrounding it. Rock music represented heterosexuality, and disco represented sexual freedom and openness. When disco took over the mainstream, it was perceived as homosexuality taking over the mainstream. (Hobbes and Marshall, 2020) The trend of marginalized communities' cultures breaking into mainstream and being met with attack echoes throughout history. Today we see it with drag bans and book bans.
References
Frank, G. (2007). Discophobia: Antigay Prejudice and the 1979 Backlash against Disco. Journal of the History of Sexuality, 15(2), 276-306. https://www.jstor.org/stable/30114235
Hoban, V. (2021, January 18). 'Discredit, disrupt, and destroy': FBI records acquired by the Library reveal violent surveillance of Black leaders, civil rights organizations. the UC Berkeley Library. Retrieved May 9, 2023, from https://www.lib.berkeley.edu/about/news/fbi
Hobbes, M. & Marshall, S. “Disco Demolition Night.” You’re Wrong About. 2020.
Shapiro, P. (2005). Turn the Beat Around: The Secret History of Disco. Faber & Faber, Incorporated.