No more shall we part

Another major difference between Erasure and Pet Shop Boys was the way they approached homosexuality, and sexuality in general, from 1985 to 1991. While both groups employed a camp aesthetic in their stage shows, they were otherwise very different.

From the start, Erasure were open about their sexualities: one of them was gay and the other was straight. Andy Bell discussed being gay in interviews with all sorts of publications, and was happy to answer questions on the topic. He felt that it was important for musicians to take a stance, and told Seventeen that “being gay and open about it is my substance”. Erasure also supported gay causes more visibly. They played at Pride events, contributed to AIDS fundraisers, gave interviews to the gay press, and spoke out against homophobia, along with bigotry of all kinds.

By contrast, PSB sidestepped questions about their sexualities, and were dismissive when asked directly about the subject. Throughout the 80s, they refused to discuss their “sex lives”, or use the word “gay” to describe themselves. According to some sources, they also avoided speaking to gay journalists, or only did so on the condition that they wouldn’t be asked about their private lives. They saw themselves as musicians, not activists, and objected to the idea of being “role models”. And apart from their appearance at “Before the Act” (an anti-Clause 28 benefit show), they almost never supported gay causes in the public eye. In fact, they often criticized artists who championed social causes.

Writers picked up on the differences in the two bands’ approaches. As early as 1987, they began comparing the groups on this front. At the same time, some gay artists and activists were frustrated by PSB’s silence on their sexualities, and pushed them to come out. Bell was one of those frustrated people, but he was also more sympathetic to PSB than some of their critics. When he talked about PSB to The Advocate in 1988, he acknowledged their fear and believed that they were loosening up on the subject.

By the early 90s, the push for PSB to come out had gotten more intense. Outside their April 1991 concert in Salt Lake City, gay activists handed out leaflets with PSB’s images on them, and there were several articles and quotes from people telling them it was their duty to be out.

This was the context of an interview published in May 1991, with PSB’s Neil Tennant speaking to gay magazine The Advocate–possibly the first time PSB had spoken to the gay press. To provoke Tennant to come out, the interviewer (Richard Laermer) asked him all sorts of questions, including about the criticisms that PSB had faced for not being more political and making pro-gay statements. Tennant said he didn’t admire that approach, and didn’t see PSB’s music as being limited to gays–and then added, “I don’t regard ourselves as being like Erasure.” Laermer hadn’t brought up Erasure at all.

When Laermer challenged him on his words, arguing that young gays were in need of role models, Tennant, who was getting very worked up, fired back, “I don’t agree with the concept of role models. I don’t. How could anyone say he’s a role model?” He was likely referring to Bell–who had never called himself a role model, but had been far more outspoken than PSB about gay causes and the need to come out.