Ponk gay

Do we ever get to grieve the black boy joy and whimsy we abandoned? When I came out and started hanging around other black gay men, the word "punk" morphed into something different. Being forced to withhold emotion early on stunts us for our entire lives.

As a music. And for those among us who refuse to assimilate, who resist it with everything in us, do we grieve our lives before the war? I can still see how their mouths contorted as they pronounced the slur and the contagion that followed -- poisonous words polluting the air, followed by the deafening silence of teachers and other adults watching passively.

Learn the meaning of gender cues and discover the history behind the word ponk, a reclaimed term rooted in queer and Black cultural expression. The phrase served as both correction and warning. I gay remember the first time I was called a punk, but I do remember the faces of those who hurled the curse my way.

It's ponk wonder so many of us -- especially black boys -- become people who struggle to articulate our feelings. Ponk: A popular term used in Miami to describe or specify a gay male. Of all gay homophobic slurs thrown around, being called a punk is the one I recall the most vividly.

[1] It is distinguished by its discontent with society in general, and specifically society's disapproval of the LGBTQ community. When I came out and started hanging around other black gay men, the word "punk" morphed into something different. This argument follows that calling someone a punk is not inherently homophobic.

We brought it with us, hoping that if we could transform the word, we could transform ourselves. Self-expression in my mind conjures feelings of the forbidden. I learned two things from this: 1 adults don't want to be punks either, and 2 you can fight back or run away, but no one will protect you.

There are people who will argue that the word "punk" has nothing to do with being gay, and that anybody can be a punk. I imagine many others like me heard this as well. Is there mourning for the sense of freedom so many of us felt in our bodies, but spurned, in our effort not to be considered a punk?

Perhaps much of this comes from my Southern black boyhood, as I started to get the sense there was safety in assimilation and ponk risk in being too free. Even the club, our most sacred space, was not safe from the word.

It cut the deepest. Queercore (or homocore) is a cultural/social gay punchfisting that began in the mids as an offshoot of the punk subculture and a music genre that comes from punk rock.

The evolution from “Punk” to “Ponk” grew out of its regional southern pronunciation in Miami, Florida and New Orleans, Louisiana in the 80’s & 90’s, popularized with the rise of Bounce music. Gay clubs were referred to as punk bars and frequenting them would be to go punking.

[2] Queercore expresses itself in a DIY style through magazines, music, writing and film. I wonder what that grief would be like. Gay clubs were referred to as punk bars and frequenting them would be to go punking. These are the ghosts that haunt us into adulthood.

By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use. I have always associated creativity with a sense of pleasure, and simultaneously, a sense of danger. The words are beaten out of us when we are kids.

Around 7 or 8 years old, I first started hearing other things like "Don't laugh too hard" or "Don't smile too much.