BGMC History
Historically, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people have seldom had a “voice,” a comprehensive, recognized presence with full participation in the American culture. Today, however, LGBTQ choruses are flourishing. The Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses (GALA Choruses), the national support organization for LGBTQ singing groups, celebrated its 35th anniversary in 2018.
History of the BGMC
The BGMC was first conceived in 1999. Guided by Roger Parris, who is still an active singing member, a vigorous group of men worked throughout the coming year to make the BGMC organization a reality. With the national support of the GALA Choruses and local support from the Rochester Gay Men’s Chorus, a steering committee consisting of a dozen dedicated members had written the by-laws and incorporation papers, held fundraisers for seed money, agreed on a mission statement, elected officers and directors and (after a thorough search) hired Barbara Wagner as BGMC’s Artistic Director. She, in turn, arranged the appointment of Debi Overton as our charter accompanist. Both women highly respected musicians in WNY. Barbara Wagner became one of the few female conductors of over 150 gay men’s choruses in the United States and Canada.
Auditions were held in May 2001, with 36 chorus members on board after the first day. Soon there were over 50. Rehearsals began on September 11, 2001, a day of shock and sadness throughout our land. The difficult decision to go forward with the rehearsal, despite the tragedy of that day, proved to have been wise. Forty men, many not knowing each other, gathered in an eerie silence. As they and Ms. Wagner held hands for the first time in a community circle, there were anguished murmurs of meditation, grief and prayer. They sang ….(From you I receive, to you I give, together we share and from this we live”). They learned that long-lived and classic American hymn,“How Can I Keep From Singing?”. It remains to this day the Chorus theme song and a continuing reminder for its members of mutual family togetherness and inspiration that the Chorus always aspires to attain. It was the processional music at the opening of BGMC’s first public concert (“Music From the Heart”) on February 9, 2002. The men of the Chorus, singing this music with feeling and intensity, strode down the aisles of the Unitarian Universalist Church in Buffalo, with uninvited (but welcome) television news cameras recording the event. The audience that night was huge – the Church was filled, chairs lined the aisles and, sadly, people had to be turned away at the door. All concerts after that were offered twice in each performance weekend until, some years later, the Chorus began presenting three times in the weekend and, for a short time, three weekend presentation each year rather than just two. Audiences continue to be large, diverse and enthusiastic.
Creative Tradition
The Chorus has commissioned a number of compositions and special arrangements of music for its concerts. Two of them were especially commissioned for performance by the Chorus at the quadrennial GALA Choruses Festival of LGBTQ choruses from all around the United States, Canada and elsewhere. The Chorus commissioned “Adamic Songs”, a six-part composition featuring poems by Walt Whitman, the creation of Buffalo’s Roland E. Martin. Also a BGMC commission, “Yes!” was composed by the renowned Adolphus Hailstork. “Yes!”is based on a poem by Countee Cullen, the Harlem Renaissance poet, dealing with the struggle for racial harmony. The Chorus performed these new works respectively at the GALA Festivals of over 150 LGBTQ Choruses in Montreal in 2004 and Miami in 2008.
The Chorus has also enjoyed remarkable creative support from other Buffalo composers and arrangers. Madeline Davis, longtime leader of the LGBTQ movement in Buffalo and founder of the LGBTQ Archives, has provided the Chorus with many poignant tunes and texts. Along with many of the GALA composers, Buffalo’s Phil Sims, musician extraordinaire, has composed many beautiful arrangements for the Chorus. Marty Wimmer, a very capable and creative spirit with his moving words and music, continues as a faithful contributor to the BGMC repertoire.
Honors
Along with its efforts and growing musical success, the BGMC has received honors in many forms and venues. A number of awards from Artvoice’s “Best in Buffalo” proclaim the Chorus the best local choral group. The Chorus was asked to sing on the Kleinhans Music Hall stage with the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra on two occasions, once for a subscription concert in 2004 and another as a benefit for the Orchestra and Buffalo’s Olmsted Parks Conservancy in 2006, with Maestra JoAnn Falletta conducting. Mary Louise Nanna, founder and conductor of Ars Nova, asked the Chorus to sing in her Viva Vivaldi Series. BGMC was recognized by the Empire State Pride Agenda in 2005 with the ESPA Award for Community Service awarded to the Chorus for the excellence of its music and its dedication to the community. In March 2008, BGMC was chosen to receive the prestigious Buffalo and Erie County Arts Council Award for exceptional contributions to the arts and cultural community in Western New York.
BGMC’s success has brought many requests from worthy organizations to perform benefit concerts, and the Chorus attempts to honor these requests when it is able to do so. The Chorus has received grants and gifts and much support from both the LGBTQ community and the community at large. It is pleased to be able to reciprocate.
Our Family
A major force in the BGMC success has been the impressive dedication, hard work and unflagging efforts by the Chorus singers, as well as the dedication of its associate members and volunteers. The Chorus understands the need to create a positive social impact in the affected communities as effectively and meaningfully as possible. It finds itself in a relatively conservative environment, a factor that, if anything, should make its efforts and impact all the more important, and, it continues to hope, all the more effective. In addition to its influence on the community at large, it is clear that the Chorus has helped raise the self esteem of an historically marginalized portion of our society. Its high profile has helped to create a positive model for those who are grappling with the negativity that is too often imposed on LGBTQ community.
The Buffalo Gay Men’s Chorus takes great pride in what it has been able to accomplish since its first rehearsal on September 11, 2001. Probably the greatest accomplishment has been its success in weaving the different lives and personalities of its members and of the communities it serves through the tug and magic of music, sung from the heart. The Chorus is, truly, a family.
A Moment to Refelect on our Nations LGBT History Since 1924
Timeline
1924 – The
Society for Human Rights is founded by Henry Gerber in Chicago. It is the first documented gay rights organization.
1950 – The Mattachine Society is formed by activist Harry Hay and is one of the first sustained gay rights groups in the United States. The Society focuses on social acceptance and other support for homosexuals.
April 1952 – The American Psychiatric Association’s diagnostic manual lists homosexuality as a
sociopathic personality disturbance.
April 27, 1953 – President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs an
executive order that bans homosexuals from working for the federal government, saying they are a security risk.
September 1955 – The first known lesbian rights organization in the United States forms in San Francisco. Daughters of Bilitis (DOB). They host private social functions, fearing police raids, threats of violence and discrimination in bars and clubs.
July 1961 – Illinois becomes the first state to
decriminalize homosexuality by repealing their sodomy laws.
September 11, 1961 – The first
US-televised documentary about homosexuality airs on a local station in California.
June 28, 1969 – Police raid the
Stonewall Inn in New York City. Protests and demonstrations begin, and it later becomes known as the impetus for the gay civil rights movement in the United States.
1969 – The “Los Angeles Advocate,” founded in 1967, is renamed “The Advocate.” It is considered the oldest continuing LGBT publication that began as a newsletter published by the activist group Personal Rights in Defense and Education (PRIDE).
June 28, 1970 – Community members in New York City march through the local streets to recognize the one-year anniversary of the Stonewall riots. This event is named
Christopher Street Liberation Day, and is now considered the first gay pride parade.
1973 – Lambda Legal becomes the first legal organization established to fight for the equal rights of gays and lesbians. Lambda also becomes their own first client after being denied non-profit status; the New York Supreme Court eventually rules that Lambda Legal can exist as a non-profit.
January 1, 1973 – Maryland becomes the first state to statutorily ban
same-sex marriage.
March 26, 1973 – First meeting of
“Parents and Friends of Gays,” which goes national as Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) in 1982.
December 15, 1973 – By a vote of 5,854 to 3,810,
the American Psychiatric Association removes homosexuality from its list of mental disorders in the DSM-II Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
1974 – Elaine Noble is the first openly gay candidate elected to a state office when she is elected to the Massachusetts State legislature.
January 14, 1975 – The
first federal gay rights bill is introduced to address discrimination based on sexual orientation. The bill later goes to the Judiciary Committee but is never brought for consideration.
March 1975 – Technical Sergeant Leonard P. Matlovich reveals his sexual orientation to his commanding officer and is forcibly discharged from the Air Force six months later. Matlovich is a
Vietnam War veteran and was awarded both the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star. In 1980, the Court of Appeals rules that the dismissal was improper. Matlovich is awarded his back pay and a retroactive promotion.
1976 – After undergoing gender reassignment surgery in 1975, ophthalmologist and professional tennis player Renee Richards is banned from competing in the women’s
US Open because of a “women-born-women” rule. Richards challenges the decision and in 1977, the New York Supreme Court rules in her favor. Richards competes in the 1977 US Open but is defeated in the first round by Virginia Wade.
1977-1981 – Billy Crystal plays one of the first openly gay characters in a recurring role on a prime time television show in “Soap.”
January 9, 1978 – Harvey Milk is inaugurated as San Francisco city supervisor, and is the first openly gay man to be elected to a political office in California. In November
Milk and Mayor George Moscone are murdered by Dan White, who had recently resigned from his San Francisco board position and wanted Moscone to reappoint him. White later serves just over five years in prison for voluntary manslaughter.
1978 – Inspired by Milk to develop a symbol of pride and hope for the LGBT community,
Gilbert Baker designs and stitches together the first rainbow flag.
October 14, 1979 – The first National
March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights takes place. It draws an estimated 75,000 to 125,000 individuals marching for LGBT rights.
March 2, 1982 – Wisconsin becomes the first state to outlaw discrimination based on sexual orientation.
1983 – Lambda Legal wins People v. West 12 Tenants Corp., the first
HIV/AIDS discrimination lawsuit. Neighbors attempted to evict Dr. Joseph Sonnabend from the building because he was treating HIV-positive patients.
November 30, 1993 – President Bill Clinton signs a
military policy directive that prohibits openly gay and lesbian Americans from serving in the military, but also prohibits the harassment of “closeted” homosexuals. The policy is known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
November 1995 – The
Hate Crimes Sentencing Enhancement Act goes into effect as part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. The law allows a judge to impose harsher sentences if there is evidence showing that a victim was selected because of the “actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender, disability, or sexual orientation of any person.”
September 21, 1996 – President Clinton signs the
Defense of Marriage Act, banning federal recognition of same-sex marriage and defining marriage as “a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife.”
December 3, 1996 – Hawaii’s Judge Chang rules that the state does not have a legal right to deprive same-sex couples of the right to marry, making Hawaii the first state to recognize that gay and lesbian couples are entitled to the same privileges as heterosexual married couples.
April 1997 – Comedian
Ellen DeGeneres comes out as a lesbian on the cover of Time magazine, stating,
“Yep, I’m Gay.”
April 1, 1998 – Martin Luther King Jr.’s widow,
Coretta Scott King, asks the civil rights community to help in the effort to extinguish homophobia.
October 6-7, 1998 – Matthew Shepard is tied to a fence and beaten near Laramie, Wyoming. He is eventually found by a cyclist, who initially mistakes him for a scarecrow. He later dies due to his injuries sustained in the beating.
October 9, 1998 – Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney from Laramie, Wyoming, make their first court appearance after being arrested for the attempted murder of Shepard. Eventually, they each receive two life sentences for killing Shepard.
April 26, 2000 – Vermont becomes the first state to legalize civil-unions between same-sex couples.
June 2003 – The
US Supreme Court strikes down the “homosexual conduct” law, which decriminalizes same-sex sexual conduct, with their opinion in Lawrence v. Texas. The decision also reverses Bowers v. Hardwick, a 1986 US Supreme Court ruling that upheld Georgia’s sodomy law.
May 17, 2004 – The first legal same-sex marriage in the United States takes place in Massachusetts.
September 6, 2005 – The California legislature becomes the first to pass a bill allowing marriage between same-sex couples.
Governor Arnold Schwarzeneggervetoes the bill.
October 25, 2006 – The
New Jersey Supreme Court rules that state lawmakers must provide the rights and benefits of marriage to gay and lesbian couples.
May 15, 2008 – The California Supreme Court rules in re: Marriage Cases that limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples is unconstitutional.
November 4, 2008 – Voters approve Proposition 8 in California, which makes same-sex marriage illegal.
August 12, 2009 – Milk is posthumously awarded the Medal of Freedom by
President Barack Obama.
August 4, 2010 – Proposition 8 is found unconstitutional by a federal judge.
September 20, 2011 – “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is repealed, ending a ban on gay men and lesbians from serving openly in the military.
May 9, 2012 – In an ABC interview,
Obama becomes the first sitting US president to publicly support the
freedom for LGBT couples to marry.
September 4, 2012 – The Democratic Party becomes the first major US political party in history to publicly support same-sex marriage on a national platform at the Democratic National Convention.
November 6, 2012 – Tammy Baldwin becomes the first openly gay politician and the first Wisconsin woman to be elected to the US Senate.
June 26, 2013 – In
United States v. Windsor, the US Supreme Court strikes down section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, ruling that legally married same-sex couples are entitled to federal benefits. The high court also dismisses a case involving California’s proposition 8.
October 6, 2014 – The
United States Supreme Court denies review in five different marriage cases, allowing lower court rulings to stand, and therefore allowing same-sex couples to marry in Utah, Oklahoma, Virginia, Indiana and Wisconsin. The decision opens the door for the right to marry in Colorado, Kansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia and Wyoming.
April 28, 2015 – The US Supreme Court hears oral arguments on the question of the freedom to marry in Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio and Michigan. On June 26 the Supreme Court rules that states cannot ban same-sex marriage. The 5-4 ruling had
Justice Anthony Kennedy writing for the majority. Each of the four conservative justices writes their own dissent.
July 27, 2015 – Boy Scouts of America President
Robert Gates announces, “the national executive board ratified a resolution removing the national restriction on openly gay leaders and employees.”
May 17, 2016 – The Senate confirms Eric Fanning to be secretary of the Army,making him the first openly gay secretary of a US military branch. Fanning previously served as Defense Secretary Carter’s chief of staff, and also served as undersecretary of the Air Force and deputy undersecretary of the Navy.
June 24, 2016 – President Obama announces the designation of the first national monument to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights. The
Stonewall National Monument will encompass Christopher Park, the Stonewall Inn and the surrounding streets and sidewalks that were the sites of the 1969 Stonewall uprising.
June 30, 2016 – Secretary of Defense Carter announces that the Pentagon is
lifting the ban on transgender people serving openly in the US military.
August 5-21, 2016 – A record number of “out” athletes compete in the summer
Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. The Human Rights Campaign estimates that there are at least 41 openly lesbian, gay and bisexual Olympians — up from 23 that participated in London 2012.
November 9, 2016 – Kate Brown is sworn in as governor of Oregon, a day after she was officially elected to the office. Brown becomes the highest-ranking LGBT person elected to office in the United States. Brown took over the governorship in February 2016 (without an election), after Democrat John Kitzhaber resigned amidst a criminal investigation.
April 4, 2017 – The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals rules that the Civil Rights Act prohibits workplace discrimination against LGBT employees, after Kimberly Hively sues Ivy Tech Community College for violating Title VII of the act by denying her employment.
June 27, 2017 – District of Columbia residents can now choose a gender-neutral option of their driver’s license. DC residents become the first people in the United States to be able to choose X as their gender marker instead of male or female on driver’s licenses and identification cards. Similar policies exist in Canada, India, Bangladesh, Australia, New Zealand and Nepal.
June 30, 2017 – The US Department of Defense announces a six-month delay in allowing transgendered individuals to enlist in the United States military.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis writes that they “will use this additional time to evaluate more carefully the impact of such accessions on readiness and lethality.”
October 4, 2017 – In a memo to all federal prosecutors,
Attorney General Jeff Sessions says that a 1964 federal civil rights law does not protect transgender workers from employment discrimination and the department will take this new position in all “pending and future matters.” In February 2018,
the Second Circuit Court of Appeals releases an opinion that “sexual orientation discrimination constitutes a form of discrimination” and that it is a form of sex discrimination.
December 11, 2017 – A second federal judge rules against Trump’s prohibition on transgender individuals serving in the military. The Pentagon announces it will begin processing transgender applicants to the military on January first, while the Department of Justice continues to appeal the ruling.
March 4, 2018 – Daniela Vega, the star of Oscar-winning foreign film “A Fantastic Woman,” becomes the first openly transgender presenter in
Academy Awards history when she introduces a performance by Sufjan Stevens, whose song “Mystery of Love” from the “Call Me By Your Name” soundtrack, is nominated for best original song.
1983 – Lambda Legal wins People v. West 12 Tenants Corp., the first
HIV/AIDS discrimination lawsuit. Neighbors attempted to evict Dr. Joseph Sonnabend from the building because he was treating HIV-positive patients.
November 30, 1993 – President Bill Clinton signs a
military policy directive that prohibits openly gay and lesbian Americans from serving in the military, but also prohibits the harassment of “closeted” homosexuals. The policy is known as “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
November 1995 – The
Hate Crimes Sentencing Enhancement Act goes into effect as part of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. The law allows a judge to impose harsher sentences if there is evidence showing that a victim was selected because of the “actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender, disability, or sexual orientation of any person.”
September 21, 1996 – President Clinton signs the
Defense of Marriage Act, banning federal recognition of same-sex marriage and defining marriage as “a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife.”
December 3, 1996 – Hawaii’s Judge Chang rules that the state does not have a legal right to deprive same-sex couples of the right to marry, making Hawaii the first state to recognize that gay and lesbian couples are entitled to the same privileges as heterosexual married couples.
April 1997 – Comedian
Ellen DeGeneres comes out as a lesbian on the cover of Time magazine, stating,
“Yep, I’m Gay.”
April 1, 1998 – Martin Luther King Jr.’s widow,
Coretta Scott King, asks the civil rights community to help in the effort to extinguish homophobia.
October 6-7, 1998 – Matthew Shepard is tied to a fence and beaten near Laramie, Wyoming. He is eventually found by a cyclist, who initially mistakes him for a scarecrow. He later dies due to his injuries sustained in the beating.
October 9, 1998 – Russell Henderson and Aaron McKinney from Laramie, Wyoming, make their first court appearance after being arrested for the attempted murder of Shepard. Eventually, they each receive two life sentences for killing Shepard.
April 26, 2000 – Vermont becomes the first state to legalize civil-unions between same-sex couples.
June 2003 – The
US Supreme Court strikes down the “homosexual conduct” law, which decriminalizes same-sex sexual conduct, with their opinion in Lawrence v. Texas. The decision also reverses Bowers v. Hardwick, a 1986 US Supreme Court ruling that upheld Georgia’s sodomy law.
May 17, 2004 – The first legal same-sex marriage in the United States takes place in Massachusetts.
September 6, 2005 – The California legislature becomes the first to pass a bill allowing marriage between same-sex couples.
Governor Arnold Schwarzeneggervetoes the bill.
October 25, 2006 – The
New Jersey Supreme Court rules that state lawmakers must provide the rights and benefits of marriage to gay and lesbian couples.
May 15, 2008 – The California Supreme Court rules in re: Marriage Cases that limiting marriage to opposite-sex couples is unconstitutional.
November 4, 2008 – Voters approve Proposition 8 in California, which makes same-sex marriage illegal.
August 12, 2009 – Milk is posthumously awarded the Medal of Freedom by
President Barack Obama.
August 4, 2010 – Proposition 8 is found unconstitutional by a federal judge.
September 20, 2011 – “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is repealed, ending a ban on gay men and lesbians from serving openly in the military.
May 9, 2012 – In an ABC interview,
Obama becomes the first sitting US president to publicly support the
freedom for LGBT couples to marry.
September 4, 2012 – The Democratic Party becomes the first major US political party in history to publicly support same-sex marriage on a national platform at the Democratic National Convention.
November 6, 2012 – Tammy Baldwin becomes the first openly gay politician and the first Wisconsin woman to be elected to the US Senate.
June 26, 2013 – In
United States v. Windsor, the US Supreme Court strikes down section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, ruling that legally married same-sex couples are entitled to federal benefits. The high court also dismisses a case involving California’s proposition 8.
October 6, 2014 – The
United States Supreme Court denies review in five different marriage cases, allowing lower court rulings to stand, and therefore allowing same-sex couples to marry in Utah, Oklahoma, Virginia, Indiana and Wisconsin. The decision opens the door for the right to marry in Colorado, Kansas, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia and Wyoming.
April 28, 2015 – The US Supreme Court hears oral arguments on the question of the freedom to marry in Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio and Michigan. On June 26 the Supreme Court rules that states cannot ban same-sex marriage. The 5-4 ruling had
Justice Anthony Kennedy writing for the majority. Each of the four conservative justices writes their own dissent.
July 27, 2015 – Boy Scouts of America President
Robert Gates announces, “the national executive board ratified a resolution removing the national restriction on openly gay leaders and employees.”
May 17, 2016 – The Senate confirms Eric Fanning to be secretary of the Army,making him the first openly gay secretary of a US military branch. Fanning previously served as Defense Secretary Carter’s chief of staff, and also served as undersecretary of the Air Force and deputy undersecretary of the Navy.
June 24, 2016 – President Obama announces the designation of the first national monument to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights. The
Stonewall National Monument will encompass Christopher Park, the Stonewall Inn and the surrounding streets and sidewalks that were the sites of the 1969 Stonewall uprising.
June 30, 2016 – Secretary of Defense Carter announces that the Pentagon is
lifting the ban on transgender people serving openly in the US military.
August 5-21, 2016 – A record number of “out” athletes compete in the summer
Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. The Human Rights Campaign estimates that there are at least 41 openly lesbian, gay and bisexual Olympians — up from 23 that participated in London 2012.
November 9, 2016 – Kate Brown is sworn in as governor of Oregon, a day after she was officially elected to the office. Brown becomes the highest-ranking LGBT person elected to office in the United States. Brown took over the governorship in February 2016 (without an election), after Democrat John Kitzhaber resigned amidst a criminal investigation.
April 4, 2017 – The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals rules that the Civil Rights Act prohibits workplace discrimination against LGBT employees, after Kimberly Hively sues Ivy Tech Community College for violating Title VII of the act by denying her employment.
June 27, 2017 – District of Columbia residents can now choose a gender-neutral option of their driver’s license. DC residents become the first people in the United States to be able to choose X as their gender marker instead of male or female on driver’s licenses and identification cards. Similar policies exist in Canada, India, Bangladesh, Australia, New Zealand and Nepal.
June 30, 2017 – The US Department of Defense announces a six-month delay in allowing transgendered individuals to enlist in the United States military.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis writes that they “will use this additional time to evaluate more carefully the impact of such accessions on readiness and lethality.”
October 4, 2017 – In a memo to all federal prosecutors,
Attorney General Jeff Sessions says that a 1964 federal civil rights law does not protect transgender workers from employment discrimination and the department will take this new position in all “pending and future matters.” In February 2018,
the Second Circuit Court of Appeals releases an opinion that “sexual orientation discrimination constitutes a form of discrimination” and that it is a form of sex discrimination.
December 11, 2017 – A second federal judge rules against Trump’s prohibition on transgender individuals serving in the military. The Pentagon announces it will begin processing transgender applicants to the military on January first, while the Department of Justice continues to appeal the ruling.
March 4, 2018 – Daniela Vega, the star of Oscar-winning foreign film “A Fantastic Woman,” becomes the first openly transgender presenter in
Academy Awards history when she introduces a performance by Sufjan Stevens, whose song “Mystery of Love” from the “Call Me By Your Name” soundtrack, is nominated for best original song.
THIS IS WHY WE SING…
