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Gerard Way, 2010

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“How My Chemical Romance’s Gerard Way Became a Queer Icon” by Michelle Kim. Published Mar. 19, 2020. Part of a recent surge in think pieces published after the band announced their reunion on Oct. 31, 2019. 

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Frank Iero licking Gerard Way, 2007

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Gerard Way calling boy in audience “cute”, 2010. 

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Compilation of Gerard Way expressing supporting fans with mental illness and encouraging fans to be themselves. 

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My Chemical Fancast episode discussing MCR’s subversion of gendered power dynamics and their overall importance to the queer community. Posted Jan. 2020. 

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Gerard Way and Frank Iero kissing on stage, 2007

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Gerard Way and Frank Iero, grinding, 2007

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Gerard Way and Frank Iero kissing on stage, 2007

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Two or three days into the tour, Way overheard the singer of another band call an audience member a "faggot" over the microphone. "I won't say the name of the band but they've been around for a while," Way hedges. "He wasn't using it to make a point or anything - he was trying to make the kid feel uncomfortable for wearing makeup, or whatever the kid did. I was like, 'This is fucked up - we're on Warped Tour - how did this band even get on here?' Everyone I talked to about it made excuses for the (singer), like, 'Oh, he's been doing that shit for 10 years.' So I made it a point to address homophobia on stage every day. Some of the bands playing this tour think homosexuality is funny," Way adds. "They're still living in 1992, and that's the kind of shit that made high school unbearable for some of my friends. I had a hard time in high school because of shit like that, and I'm straight. It's this jock mentality that should have nothing to do with punk rock - or rock and roll for that matter." The problem of course is that when punk rock becomes the Warped Tour, it's no longer punk rock. And the jocks are everywhere, especially onstage. "When you're drawing tens of thousands of kids every day, it's not punk rock - it's mainstream," Way agrees. According to Way, when Warped founder Kevin Lyman caught wind of the animosity between the two bands, he scheduled them to play back-to-back on the same stage. "We played and then they played," Way says, "But instead of playing, they just talk shit on us, called us faggots and said I took a dick in the ass. But at least he wasn't picking on some 16-year-old kid who's gonna go home and feel like he was unwelcome at the show."

Gerard Way, quoted in Rock Sound, 2004.

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Gerard Way dropping bra and dancing, 2010

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'I didn’t want the girls to want to fuck me, I wanted the straight guys to want to fuck me,' Way says. 'I got that from Iggy.'

Gerard Way, quoted in Spin, Mar. 3, 2010

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“My Chemical Romance Was Toying With Masculinity Long Before It Was Cool”, by Samir Chadha. Published Dec. 19, 2019. Part of a recent surge in think pieces on MCR since the band announced their reunion on Oct. 31, 2019. 

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"The tour was amazing because it gave us a voice - it gave us something to fight for besides 'Fuck Bush'. I really respect the bands that use [Warped] as a political platform - like Anti-Flag, NOFX, and Alkaline Trio - but there was nobody telling you how to treat your neighbor. That became kind of taboo on this tour but it's what garnered us so much support from our idols, who'd come and watch us every day, and it gave us a voice. When you're in the studio recording albums, you lose your voice; you forget what it's like to play live or be called a faggot," Way laughs. "Until you get called one by 40-year-old loser in a punk band that's going nowhere."

Gerard Way, quoted in Rock Sound, 2004. 

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Gerard Way asking boys in audience to take their shirts off for You Know What They Do to Guys Like Us in Prison, 2010

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Gerard Way with boa, 2007. 

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Though he [Gerard] has a girlfriend whom he plans on moving in with as soon as this touring cycle ends, he has Frenched-kissed McCracken onstage and begs mosh-pit mooks to fuck him.

Spin, Jun. 6, 2005