We were announced as the Gay Gotham Chorus to other singers, and you could see that some of them were visibly shaken by that fact, and they did not seem to be to comfortable with the idea that they would have to be around so many homos for 3 days in a row. However, there were no signs of disrespect towards any of us, and after 3 days of rehearsals various singing groups became more integrated, and we actually developed friendly relations with all of them, including those people who probably originally thought that we should burn in hell.

In my opinion, a lot of problems with the recognition of gay issues in the US are partly due to radicalization of gay movement – everything has to be a fight, a struggle, a molotoff cocktail party, and it is us against them. It was true back in 1969, but I would hope that social progress moves forward, and that the ‘fight’ theme should have become a collaboraton and negotiation theme.

To cut the long story short, I don’t think there would have been too much trouble if your conductor ‘outed’ you to the christians. It would have been a good thing as it could create an opportunity to establish a dialogue with those people, and change their perception of us as plain perverts. Isolating ourselves from the rest of the mankind is not going to help to address homophobia, etc. The cause of homophobia is lack of interaction between gays and heterosexuals in a day-to-day environment. Too bad your Baptist women did not know you were gay – you could have made the world a better place!

The oddest thing about this “incident” is why skittish (if not homophobic) professional concert organizers invited the adult Gay Gotham Chorus in the first place. According to the company’s website, the concert had two college and seven high school choruses. While three were from the South, one was from New York, two from New Jersey, and three from Minnesota. In red and blue states, officials are wary of any controversy that could potentially offend parents. As he stated, it’s unlikely any of the choruses knew the “Gotham Chorus” men are gay.

Another factor which may have influenced the organizers’ actions was that part of the concert was a Black History Month tribute with American spiritual songs. It is possible they were concerned about the sexual sensibilities of blacks and Christians.

It is unfair to compare the Tin Man to Rosa Parks. What happened to him at Carnegie Hall has nothing in common with what occurred in Montgomery. Rosa Parks was a civil rights activist, who had previously been removed from other buses for refusing to give up her seat. She knew civil rights leaders had planned a bus boycott and were waiting for the right time to start it. Ms. Parks did not act spontaneously that day. She was not sitting in the front of the bus; she was in the first row of the “colored section,” which was still in the back of the bus.

The Tin Man was center stage at Carnegie Hall. With no forewarnings, he was thrust into a last minute situation, which necessitated an instantaneous reaction with no confirmable community support. While it is easy to look at what happened in our omnipotent retrospectoscopes, it is always hard when we have to spontaneously act. The Tin Man did not deny his sexuality or fail to do his part in advancing gay rights. He did what he went to Carnegie Hall to do: sing.

It is interesting the Tin Man was singled out by his old glee club conductor. Perhaps he was the designated group leader, but it seems as if it was his mentor’s way of apologizing for the decision of the organization, while saying he accepts the Tin Man for who he is. The conductor could have easily announced the altered name to the audience without telling the Tin Man or the GGC and if questioned later attributed it to a slip of the tongue. Unlike the other choruses, it doesn’t seem they were on the written program.

While it’s unlikely concert-goers googled the “Gotham Chorus” after the performance to learn more about them, if they do, they would easily discover the group’s complete name.

Regrettably, it seems the two GREATEST things that happened may be getting overlooked. The Tin Man let a man who he admires know him more fully by coming out to him. (Bravo!) And, he and his boyfriend sang at Carnegie Hall. Carnegie Hall!!! That is sooo freakin’ fantastic! It’s every musician’s dream come true. Well, perhaps not everyone’s, but what Jeff and Matt did was to achieve something truly AWESOME ! (Color me green.)

And for the record, I’d like everyone to know that my college glee club conductor was also Tim’s college glee club conductor. :)

Rosa should’ve just gone with the flow, saved herself all the drama, and realized a seat in the back-vs-front is, in the big scheme of social-progress, minor and fairly silly — and certainly not worth all the hassle. It’s best to be sensible than sensational.

Go ahead… you just sit your gay behind in the back of the bus.

Not me.

rob@egoz.org

That said, I think Tuesday night when the concert is over, it would be a fine time to kiss Matt in celebration. Say, right there in front of some Baptists. They probably won’t even care, and they’ll have a fabulous story to tell when they get home.

And best of luck (or “broken legs” as appropriate) with the performance.