Dug Pinnick, bassist-singer for progressive veterans King’s X and rock act KXM, has been publicly out since he declared his orientation in an interview with Christian publication Regeneration Quarterly in 1998. King’s X had been tagged a “Christian band” due to the band’s spiritual lyrics, a term the group disliked.
“I thought to myself, ‘This is a Christian magazine, and I am tired of being ridiculed,’ ” recounts Pinnick, 66, of why he came out during that conversation. “In the Christian world, they’re not too kosher on being gay, so I just thought, ‘Might as well come out and get it over with,’ ” he says with a laugh.