How Disco Uplifted Italian Queer Culture in the late 70's.

An examination of gay anthems and deep cuts coming in the Italian disco scene.

In the 70s and 80s queer culture in Italy grew and existed on two different levels. On one side, it lived hidden and underground, somehow secluded from the “normal” occurrences of daily life. It thrived in the nightclubs, in the dark alleys and cruising spots and in the ‘salotti’ where cultural elites would gather and socialize.  On the other it lived en plein air and vibrantly on Italian TV shows, music, film through artists, dancers, singers and sketches en travesti.

This was a mirror of the Italian mass/popular mentality and culture of the time, riding the wave of paradox. It was something that was reflected in every field of Italian life, from politics to entertainment, from the Parliament to the Vatican, from the more cosmopolitan and progressive cities to the rural, conservative areas . If queer culture was critiqued, ridiculed and condemned on the surface and in regular daily life, there was at the same time a deep fascination for it,  it was the manifestation of the forbidden f…