Skinhead culture emerged by 1969 in Britain out of the styles of white mod and black Jamaican rudeboy gangs and as a reaction against hippy values. It was a world of scooter rallies, ska and skinhead reggae, and football matches where there was more action among the spectators than on the field. Some did target South Asians and gays for violence, though apparently not to any greater degree than other kids of the time.
A second wave of skinheads in the late seventies and early eighties came out of the punk scene, although ska retained its skinhead fans. A second wave of ska mixed ska rhythmes with punk organization of the scene and yielded such bands as Madness, Selecter, and The Specials. Streetpunk bands with a skinhead following were labelled Oi by a music writer Gary Bushell, from a Cockney exclamation abundantly used in the songs of the Cockney Rejects, one of the first and best of the bands. According to the record sleeves, oi was a working class reaction against the art students who had overrun the punk scene. Some of the other oi! bands of the time were The Oppressed, The Business, Sham69, Cock Sparrer, Blitz, Last Resort, Condemned84 and Combat84.
Skins were a part of the punk scene in the US at least by the mid-80s. American skin culture came into its own and developed distinct styles around such New York Hardcore (NYHC) bands as Warzone and Agnostic Front, American Oi! bands like Anti-Heros, Iron Cross, Stormwatch, Templars, Dropkick Murphys, Niblick Henbane, and Patriot, and third wave ska catalyzed by MoonSka records in NYC such as Toasters, Pietasters. The Skoidats and Inspecter7 crossed the two.
The association of skins with fascism that shapes how skins are talked about in tabloids and talk shows may be greatly exaggerated but has some historical basis: the British fascist parties recruited aggressively among football hooligans - many of whom were skins - with the help of one of the most popular and charismatic oi bands, Skrewdriver. White nationalist groups, particularly White Aryan Resistance, tried the same in the US, and did have some success in recruiting among North American skinheads, and many of their followers shaved their heads in imitation of skinhead style.
A lot of skinheads fought back against the far right. In the late 80s and early 90s, SHARP (SkinHeads Against Racial Prejudice) and then redskin crews such as RASH (Red and Anarchist SkinHeads) formed which fought off the Nazis, and claimed a distinction between 'traditional skinheads' who were nonracist (though no less homophobic than other youth), and Nazi 'boneheads'.
The violence among skinhead factions - some political and some just gangs chasing the adrenalin rush - resulted in clubs refusing to book skinhead bands, so the settings where skinhead culture could be enacted became sparse. But the image of the Nazi skinhead has captured the public imagination, and talk shows are especially eager to put them on display. They have not shown as much interest in the anti-racist skins who are very likely the majority of skinheads today. Nothing can be assumed of any skinhead's politics although the patches on his flight might give some big clues. Contrary to common belief, lace colors do not mean anything in most areas.
Forget everything you have ever heard about skinheads. Skins know who we are and recognize each other, but there is not much agreement as to what exactly separates skin from nonskin. For a lot of us, beer and brotherhood, oi and ska, defending the working class, and standing by your mates are a big part of it. Well, you can't automatically assume a taste for large quantities of beer: there is a growing number of straight-edge skins who avoid alcohol, tobacco and drugs. For most of us, racial politics are NOT a part of it, and not all of us think you have to be straight to be skin.
There have been gay skins for as long as there have been skinheads, though an amazing number of Skins like to think that all skinheads are straight and always have been.
Gay skinheads in Europe, especially London, have created a lively culture of their own; though they are primarily sadomasochists who took on a skinhead identity as a replacement for the biker and lumberjack styles of the leathermen.
In America, gay skins are few but are very much part of the regular skin scene, and keep their distance from the disco-based, fashion-oriented gay culture. American skins can safely assume a lot about each others' favorite music but nothing about their sexuality while generally speaking the European gay skinheads make assumptions about a guy's sexual tastes if he appears to be a skinhead but none at all about their music.
Why should you care who we fuck as long as we are not fucking you?
