Man Enough to Be a Woman: A Punk History of 1970s New York

In the immediate aftermath of the Stonewall uprising, the politics of queer liberation reverberated in the punk rock movement in 1970s New York City. Bands that later became associated with the punk rock movement, including Queen Elizabeth, the Harlots of 42nd Street, the New York Dolls, and the Backstreet Boys drew inspiration from, and directly participated in some cases, queer radical theater groups that highlighted the absurdity of anatomically grounded gender constructs. Utilizing drag performance styles, and songs that celebrated gender fluidity and gay sex, these bands harnessed punk as a practice to convey satirical social commentary with the specific aim of destabilizing gender categories. Focusing on the life and work of transgender singer and actor Jayne County, who fronted bands two bands in New York from 1972 to 1976, this paper explores ways in which punk rock constituted a platform for transgender political expression. This is demonstrated through an analysis of County’s performances, and commentary in music journalism which collective amplified the protests of trans activists including Sylvia Rivera and Marsh P. Johnson.