From their inception, gay choirs not only provided participants with “gay-affirming” associations but also were sites of agency and courage. According to John D. Sparks of the League of American Orchestras, when the choirs were initially formed, “social opprobrium, outright discrimination, fears of being found out by one's co-workers and family, and even threats of violence—these were the dominant, seemingly immutable realities of gay life. In spite of it all, thousands of gay men and women created, joined, and sustained a new kind of performing arts institution.”1
San Francisco lays claim to the first gay men’s chorus founded in 1978, a group of some 130 men who preformed under the direction of Dick Kramer. A year later, the Stonewall Chorale, with both lesbian and gay singers, was formed in New York City. By 1990, gay and lesbian choirs constituted one of the fastest growing movements within the North American choral music. Today, the GLBT choral movement consists of over 180 choirs with some 8,000 singers.2
The reasons why singers became attracted to these choirs, and why audience members continue to attend the GLBT choral performances, are diverse. Choirs often perform non-standard music, sometimes newly arranged or written works. “Many more famous musical organizations could learn a thing or two from [a gay chorus.] Their program was varied and performed with unwavering enthusiasm,” explained Boston Globe critic Richard Dyer. “The audience expected to have a good time at a concert of musical substance, which is unusual, and that is what it got, which is more unusual still.”3
Though not always expressly political, these organizations have helped shaped and been shaped by GLBT politics. The AIDS crisis that began in the early 1980s prompted the formation of many of the early choruses, allowing members to “sing for their lives,” a place to advocate for greater awareness of the epidemic and find solace in the ranks of friends and fellow singers. The San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus website lists the names of more than 200 of their own who died of the virus. Later choruses focused their attention on other gay issues, like bullying and gay marriage.4
The Chris Gonzalez Library and Archives has a collection of chorus t-shirts, including the hometown Indianapolis Men’s Chorus, founded in 1990, and the Gay Men’s Chorus of Houston, founded in 1978. Despite regional fan bases, the shirts suggest the interconnectedness of the choirs, often performing at joint events.
The Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles performing “True Colors” in 2010, as part of the anti-bullying “It Gets Better” Project
1. John D. Sparks, "Gay and Lesbian Choruses- Then and Now," https://www.chorusamerica.org/advocacy-research/gay-and-lesbian-choruses-then-and-now↩
2.Eric A. Gordon, "GALA: The Lesbian and Gay Community of Song," The Choral Journal, Vol. 30, No. 9, April 1990. 25.↩
3. Gordon, ibid↩
4. Sparks, ibid↩