You don't have to be gay to like Pansy Division...but it helps.
– Pre Basso Continuo¹

San Franciscan queercore band Pansy Division were formed in 1991 by guitarist/vocalist Jon Ginoli and bassist/vocalist Chris Freeman after having both been ostracised by 'other musicians for being gay and by other gays for being rock'². They recruited a drummer – Luis Illades – and another guitarist – Joel Reader³ and armed with their love of pure pop and Ramones-esque punk they set about their plan to make an alternative for other queer misfits like themselves.

Now a quartet, Pansy Division decided to eschew what was expected of them and simply to make music that made themselves and – eventually - their audiences happy. Their aim was to be an openly gay punk rock band and to tackle issues that related to their lifestyle. This is, no doubt, a major contributing factor to their lack of radio airplay; for although the music itself is radio-friendly punk-pop, the lyrics are less suitable for an all-ages audience given some of their songs contain twenty or more occurrences of the f-word in two minutes!

Having been signed to independent punk record label 'Lookout!', Pansy Division caught the attention of an up-and-coming Green Day who took their former label mates on tour as support act on 1994's Dookie tour. Such a huge tour provided Pansy Division with an unprecedented opportunity to reach a whole new audience; the normal audience at a Pansy Division gig were in their twenties or thirties and gay, or at least gay-friendly. Now the boys were faced with thousands of high school kids on a nightly basis, not all of whom were as accepting or tolerant as Pansy Division had come to expect.

Following on the back of the Green Day tour, Pansy Division toured and recorded almost non-stop for five years, producing an impressive album a year for Lookout! from 1993 through to 1998.

It took another five years and a new label – Alternative Tentacles – before the next Pansy Division album saw the light of day. It kept the same brashness and sense of humour but with a new added maturity⁴.

In 2006, Pansy Division released a retrospective CD/DVD of their hits entitled The Essential Pansy Division. They have reduced the amount of time they put into the band and now only perform together a few times a year, instead choosing to concentrate their time on their other bands⁵ and being with their families.

Albums

• Undressed (1993)
• Deflowered (1994)
• Pile Up (1995)
• Wish I'd Taken Pictures (1996)
• More Lovin' From Our Oven (1997)
• Absurd Pop Song Romance (1998)
• Total Entertainment (2003)
• The Essential Pansy Division (2006)