Straight edge

:For the drawing or cutting tool, see straightedge.

Origins

In the book Our Band Could Be Your Life, MacKaye reports that he and friends often missed musical performances by their favorite groups because they were held in clubs in and around Washington DC that served alcoholic drinks and banned anyone under 21 years old from entering.

Related Topics:
Our Band Could Be Your Life - Washington DC

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MacKaye's group, the Teen Idles, made a brief west-coast tour in 1980. At San Francisco's Mabuhay Gardens, club owners were sympathetic to youngsters wanting to see musicians perform, and had begun writing a large "X" on teenagers hands with a permanent marker as a warning to bartenders that such persons should not be served alcohol.

Related Topics:
1980 - San Francisco - Mabuhay Gardens - Permanent marker - Bartender

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Upon returning to Washington D.C., MacKaye suggested this same notion to various area club owners as a means to allow teenagers into the clubs, while preventing them from being served alcohol. Several clubs began doing so, and the "X" drawn on one's hand quickly became a symbol of a growing ideological stand against alcohol and drugs. The Teen Idles' "Minor Disturbance" EP, released on the highly influential DIY label Dischord Records in 1980 featured two X'd up hands on the cover. This EP also marked the beginning of what would become the straight edge scene within hardcore and punk.

Related Topics:
Washington D.C. - DIY - Dischord Records

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There are differing views on the origins of the actual term "straight-edge". The usual explanation is that it was coined by MacKaye's second hardcore/punk band, Minor Threat, in the early-mid 1980s; the straight-edge lifestyle that began soon afterwards is in fact largely defined by the lyrics to Minor Threat songs, specifically Out of Step and Straight Edge. The 'movement', however, was never advocated by singer Ian Mackaye, who thought of it as more the personal choices that he had made in his life than a worldwide revolution.

Related Topics:
Minor Threat - 1980s

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However, there exists evidence that the term "straight-edge" being used to indicate a vegetarian or vegan lifestyle dates as far back as the 1900's. According to posts on both BoingBoing http://www.boingboing.net/2004/01/06/straightedge_ca_1906.html and Beatrice.com http://www.beatrice.com/archives/000014.html, there was a vegetarian restaurant called "Straight Edge Kitchen" in New York City's Greenwich Village at that time, and a set of illustrations in a 1906 issue of the New York World newspaper shows a group of "Straight-Edgers" eating at a vegetarian restaurant. http://home.gwi.net/~dnb/gallery/vegetarians/vegetarians.htm

Related Topics:
1900's - BoingBoing - New York City - Greenwich Village - 1906 - New York World

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