No Gay Panic (!) (?) at this Disco

In a web-exclusive feature for Out Magazine, wildly popular band Panic At the Disco (who have dropped the "!" from their name) spoke freely and with a refreshing lack of ... well, "gay panic" ... about their campy onstage antics and gay rumors about the straight frontmen. A quick exchange between two band members:

Walker: I think everybody's just too afraid to have a good time. Everybody's gotta loosen up a little bit. 

Smith: We don't care who likes us -- or who dislikes us. 

Walker: And what's the problem if Ryan and Brendon were actually dating, you know? There's not really any problem with that. 

Over on Out's blog, the author of the piece elaborated on the band's easygoing nature, noting: "They were, in fact, the most casually accepting artists I think I've ever interviewed." 

Certainly nice to hear, and another in a series of queer-friendly moves from the bumper crop of radio-ready young emo-ish bands that are all the rage with the kids (Fall Out Boy and My Chemical Romance have made similarly gay-friendly statements and aren't afraid of riffing on their own sexualities in videos and stage shows).

Could the groundwork laid by gender-bending and crypto-homo artists like David Bowie, Iggy Pop and Lou Reed finally be paying off in the mainstream? Let's hope.