Contents:
TAG: DALLAS GAY MEN’S CHOS
Relign was never a huge part of fay life for , but as I wrtled wh my sexual preference through high school, I sought solace our Catholic fah and buried myself mic as a way to seek answers to the big qutns of who I am and what would I I graduated high school May 1975 and started llege that fall, and while still livg at home, I had pretty much accepted myself as gay and was begng to explore gay social life Dallas. The bars, pecially the Old Plantatn, which stood on the Wt si of Harwood Street where the Dallas Mm of Art is now, proved the saft place to be wh other gay men. He simply said, “Son, I want to know if you are gay”, I nearly fell out of my chair.
” I swear to you, nothg uld have prepared me for his next ment, which was, “I don’t re if you’re gay, jt promise me you won’t be nelly! Those of of a certa age remember the big anthems of the day and how good felt to beg to be ee as gay people, enjoyg life more the open and feelg ls fearful of beg “found out” year 1980 was an tertg and pivotal year many ways. A good iend at the time had told me about the formatn of a gay chos Dallas and the first rehearsal was g up.
As a happy gay man and a mician, I uldn’t wa for the first rehearsal! Bach's "To Thee We Turn" though the Stonewall rts were 10 years old, ‘gay rights’ was not a top-of-md issue, and the term AIDS did not exist.
AMERIN IDOL’S DAVID ARCHULETA TO SG WH GAY CHOS DALLAS
And yet sweepg across the land was a movement among gay men to gather together to sg. In some ci, the newly-formed chos boldly chose to e the word 'gay' their name, but the buckle of the Bible Belt, the founrs of jt such a chos Dallas cid agast for what seemed obv reasons.
For one: the supertennt of the DISD proclaimed “There are no homosexuals the DISD; and if there were, I would fd them and fire them.
” Many of our sgers were DISD fact was we were a gay chos; we knew was not the “Dallas way” to prent ourselv as "out, proud and gay" if we wanted our fledglg chos to survive the social and polil climate of Dallas 1980. Co-founr and general manager, Don Essler, was acutely aware of the polics of the time, and navigated through the social challeng of those first years que succsfully, all the while stgglg wh the ternal unrt of whether we should clu “gay” our name and e out the muny as wng argument eventually was, who r whether we say we’re gay or not, everyone knows we are. Now we are known as an open and acceptg gay men’s choir wh a variable number of straight men our ranks.