A powerful image of a San Francis men’s classil choir shows how the 1980s epimic vastated the gay muny." name="scriptn
Contents:
- DO A POIGNANT PHOTO OF GAY MEN'S CHOIR SHOW DEVASTATG IMPACT OF HIV/AIDS?
- SOBERG BLACK-AND-WHE IMAGE OF A GAY MEN’S CHOIR REMDS OF LOSS OF LIFE DURG AIDS EPIMIC
- THE BTERSWEET SONG OF THE GAY MEN’S CHOS : AIDS HAS TAKEN S TOLL ON THE GROUP AND, IRONILLY, GIVEN NEW LIFE
- BLACKS, GAYS AND THE CHURCH: A COMPLEX RELATNSHIP
DO A POIGNANT PHOTO OF GAY MEN'S CHOIR SHOW DEVASTATG IMPACT OF HIV/AIDS?
Sce 1981, more than 300 members of the San Francis Gay Men's Chos have died of HIV/AIDS. * gay choir aids *
ContextThe photograph shows 115 members of the San Francis Gay Men's Chos wh their backs turned to the mera, reprentg the former members of the choir who have died of HIV/AIDS, wh seven foundg members of the choir facg the mera. In September 2021, a poignant photograph clud a popular Redd post appeared to illtrate the vastatg impact of the HIV/AIDS epimic on the gay muny, pecially the 1980s. That photograph is thentic, and is a heart-breakg illtratn of the ath and stctn that the HIV/AIDS epimic has levied upon the gay muny over the years, pecially the 1980s.
Sce then, the number of former members of the San Francis Gay Men's Chos (SFGMC) who have died om HIV/AIDS-related illns has outstripped the number of current performers — an even more poignant reflectn of the vastatg impact of the epimic on the choir self, and the gay muny more broadly. The San Francis Gay Men's Chos, May 1993 Demonstratg the impact of AIDS to the members of the chos (Photo by Eric Le/San Francis Chronicle via Getty Imag).
SOBERG BLACK-AND-WHE IMAGE OF A GAY MEN’S CHOIR REMDS OF LOSS OF LIFE DURG AIDS EPIMIC
* gay choir aids *
“Gay Men’s Chos Carri on / A Quarter-Century after the Start of the Epimic, the Group Has Suffered the Deaths of 257 Members. A rurfaced photo on social media shows the San Francis Gay Men’s Chos, the world’s first openly gay choir and one of the world’s largt male chos, and s harrowg history wh the AIDS the now-viral portra, the majory of the men are drsed black, some sgers whe reprent the remag livg members of the origal choir, while those black reprent those lost to Stan Hill, the choir’s nductor om 1989 to 2000, lls the epimic era “the world of tim”, and says he spent every Wednday and Sunday visg sick members hospal.
A powerful ptn above the photo of the San Francis Gay Men’s Chos on Facebook, reads: “Remember this when people say the gay muny survived the epimic. There is no performg group town that has been more affected by the AIDS crisis than the Gay Men’s Chos of Los one here to gui you, now you’re on your ownOn a recent Sunday the 120-member chos stood on a makhift stage a Wt Hollywood dis, sgg Stephen Sondheim’s “No One Is Alone. “Origally, we jt wanted to have an anizatn where gay men uld meet outsi a bar suatn and be an atmosphere of mutual support, ” he said.
A -founr of a gay chos Chigo, Carlson took over as nductor of the lol group and steered toward a more profsnal sound. But when the associatn found out jt what kd of group had won, tried to whdraw the by the Amerin Civil Liberti Unn, the Gay Men’s Chos brought su agast the associatn and the associatn gave , extendg the Bailey, chairman of the mic partment at Pomona College and formerly head of the Instute of Sacred Mic at Yale Universy, was the dience, hearg the chos for the first time. You sg at memorial servic and you see what this chos means to the gay muny at a time when we are beg heavily asslted om a variety of viewpots.
THE BTERSWEET SONG OF THE GAY MEN’S CHOS : AIDS HAS TAKEN S TOLL ON THE GROUP AND, IRONILLY, GIVEN NEW LIFE
There is no performg group town that has been more affected by the AIDS crisis than the Gay Men's Chos of Los Angel. * gay choir aids *
“I uldn’t work anymore and so I was jt stg around the apartment, takg my pills and gettg prsed, ” he said, takg a seat on the pat outsi the rehearsal brother persuad him to try out for the gay chos. ”It was a time when gay, bisexual and transgenr people were often monized, and HIV/AIDS was shroud fear and silence. But through his work wh the AIDS Project Los Angel — and wh a boost om a legendary live terview wh televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker — Pieters beme a natnal spokperson and a rallyg figure for AIDS awarens and gay polil last year, Pieters and other gay men have been phg back agast the stigmas associated wh a new illns, mpox, formerly known as monkeypox.
”Pieters allud to those paful parallels while acceptg the Humanarian Voice Award through the Gay Men’s Chos of Los Angel Augt. “He’s been honored by so many different groups, but this was different bee he was beg honored by his iends and the people who’ve been there for him for years, ” said Alison Arngrim, who met Pieters the mid-1980s while her hband, Robert Pl Schoonover, volunteered for AIDS Project Los Angel, after wnsg the late ‘70s were a great time to be gay, Pieters Milk had bee the first openly gay man to be elected to public office California.
BLACKS, GAYS AND THE CHURCH: A COMPLEX RELATNSHIP
Wh humor, urage and hard-earned wisdom, the activist and Gay Men's Chos stalwart remas a lear and spiratnal figure for LGBTQ+ muni. * gay choir aids *
He uldn’t figure out how they uld he met a group of gay pastors om Chigo’s Metropolan Communy Church, a nomatn found the late 1960s exprsly to mister to LGBTQ+ Christians, the natn’s primarily LGBTQ+ Christian nomatn, and found his home. “That’s when I knew God loved me, when I saw all the other lbian and gay Christians, lovg relatnships, and servg other people and beg open and hont.
”When he beme a pastor for the MCC church Connecticut, Pieters routely clashed wh homophobic prits and misters, eher on televisn or real life.
He took note om the LGBTQ+ performers, public figur and policians who ma their nam known, seekg to follow their the first s of what would later e to be known as HIV/AIDS were disvered among several gay men, many of those the Christian muny stigmatized as a punishment for beg gay.
A gay men's choir member has shared his experience of losg close iends to AIDs the 1980s, as his chos releas a track payg tribute to them. | ITV News Wal * gay choir aids *
But was the faiar verse om Gilbert and Sullivan’s “The Mikado” mil that ma him sob as he watched hundreds of gay men harmonize:“I am so proud / If I allowed / My fay pri / To be my gui.
“It was the overall effect of seeg so many gay men proudly sgg so betifully, ” he the GMCLA formed 1979, dozens of members had been diagnosed wh HIV/AIDS.