This is our third feature for pride month. Also check:
"Queer Themes in 20th Century Music Culture Rebellion" https://thehardcoreoverdogs.blogspot.com/2025/06/queer-themes-in-20th-century-music.html
"The Secret LGBTQIA+ History of Hardcore Techno" https://thehardcoreoverdogs.blogspot.com/2025/01/the-secret-lgbtiqa-history-of-hardcore.html
The inception, the evolution, and the continuing evolution of techno and its subgenres is deeply entwined with LGBTQIA+ subcultures.
This is openly known; the reasons that are usually given for this are that 1. LGBTQIA+ people generally "liked dance music", that 2. subcultures spill over into each other, or that 3. in days of social pressure on queer people, house and techno clubs were a more or less "safe" spot to hang out at.
All this and more might be true.
But I think it goes deeper than that.
It's not just that techno and house culture is "LGBTQIA+ friendly". I think queer politics are deeply engraved in the sound of techno itself.
Because in music, certain tropes are often associated with certain "genders". Aggressive genres, like hard rock and metal were seen as "testosterone fueled", masculine. More "mellow" pop or soul was marketed to women.
Techno crosses over these gender boundaries - not just in its social and dance culture, but in its very sound.
Techno and its subgenres combine, blend, and mend aggressive elements with dreamy, romantic ones; violent sounds with euphoria and ecstasy; power and play; dominate the rhythm and surrender to the bassline.
And this appeals to those human beings who find themselves placed in between the polarity of "masculine" and "feminine" as well.
So you had women going mad and raving to hardcore techno beats. And on the other hand men who danced to pitched up love songs and mellow synths on top of breakbeats.
Both are not very "gender conforming" types of behavior, at least not according to the mindset of the rest of society.
After all, squares always complained that techno music would sound quite queer.
Even hardcore and gabber people never were as "ultra-masculine" in image, fashion, and behavior, as in other brutal music genres such as metal.
The association of sound with gender might seem quite abstract and esoteric, but it is done by culture (see the examples above - how "aggressive guitars" are usually linked with a certain type of "maleness").
False gender norms and ideas of "expected behavior" are forced on everyone in society.
"Men should not be softy and emotional".
"Women should not be bold and belligerent".
But within Techno culture, you can be everything you desire to be.
