Aussie Musician Brendan Maclean Calls Out Discrimination Against LGBT Artists In Powerful Facebook Post

Off the back of last week’s huge Midsumma Pride March, which saw thousands of people march for marriage equality and LGBT rights through St Kilda, the continual community backlash against an expensive and probably pointless same-sex marriage plebiscite, and discussions around the Oscars’ other diversity problem, Australian musician Brendan Maclean has written an impassioned Facebook post on LGBT discrimination in the music industry.

Maclean, who’s also a radio presenter and sometimes-Junkee contributor, called out music networks for having blatant double-standards towards openly gay artists. He said he’s been knocked back for having an overly “camp” performance style from the very same music festivals and video channels who regularly book and play straight artists with basically identical aesthetics.

“The same festival that tells me my performance style is ‘a little too camp and theatrical’ will then turn around and book Kirin J Callinan wearing a red crushed velvet suit and top hat,” said Maclean. “Channel V not only refused play the Tectonic video even once but then went on to make fun of me on social media when I tried to enquire why. ‘Heads will most certainly roll over that oversight! Haha!’ Came the response. ‘Well you understand Brendan, it just wouldn’t work for us,’ someone from another music video network told me as Client Liaison combed their Freddie Mercury style moustaches on the television.”

Not unlike Sir Ian McKellen’s recent remark on the Oscars having no problem awarding straight actors who played gay characters, but pass on awarding gay actors who played freaking Gandalf, Maclean argued that LGBT artists who are open about their sexuality are frequently shut out. “So still, ten years after I started, it seems it is fine to be straight and ironically perform in a camp manner, but to be queer, actually queer, to speak about queer topics, in that I like men and am a man and that my flamboyance makes program directors worry about the fragile masculinity of their audience, will continue to exclude me from festival opportunities, radio play and television syncs for the rest of my career.”

Speaking to Junkee this morning, Maclean said that despite depressingly slow progress, he is optimistic about change. “What does give me hope is watching the great success of Milk Records (Courtney Barnett),” he said. “I keep my fingers crossed that it’s a sign that things can change for the better – but again, even with the meteoric success of my queer super-friend Troye Sivan, it was still a case of Australia waiting on the US and major labels to give him a true platform.

“It’s my wish that by the time I’m old and smelly and playing my 20th reunion tour, this conversation will have become redundant, but it’s not yet. I know I can’t knock down all the barriers, but I hope that independent queer artists like myself, Jack Colwell, Simo Soo and Zsazsa Lafine can at least kick some dents in the walls. I look at artists before me, like Paul Mac, Jonny Seymour, The Scissor Sisters and Sylvester, who made my life infinitely easier.

“Ruffling a few feathers within the boys clubs of Big Sound, the ARIAs and Austereo is the least I can do.”

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Feature image via Brendan Maclean/Facebook.