The Future
As we enter the fifth decade of our existence, the Boston Gay Men’s Chorus continues to break barriers and create new pathways. As news about our Disney partnership has spread, other choruses have expressed considerable interest in performing this concert in the coming years. In 2023 we will embark on another international tour. This one will take us to Asia, where we will perform in the Republic of China (Taiwan) before travelling to South Korea for additional concerts. As with prior tours, we will partner with local LGBTQ+ organizations, insuring that funds are raised to support local communities.
Thanks to our strong leadership, we are on solid financial footing despite the financial challenges of COVID-19 (although we can always use additional funds for more sequins and bugle beads!). Our YouTube channel viewership continues to increase. Many of our new members are now coming in having never seen us live but having watched our performances online.
Those thirty men who first gathered on Warren Avenue in February 1982 could little have imagined the chorus of today. Anti-discrimination laws are in place in most states. Equal marriage is the law of the land. But we still have much work to do. Those who would discriminate against us continue to work hard to take our rights away, and we must be eternally vigilant.
The chorus is ten times the size of that first group that met. We represent more diverse backgrounds ethnically, religiously, and economically, than we ever have before. Half the chorus of today was not yet born when those first rehearsals were held in 1982. One member of that original group, Jim Anderson, is still singing and shows no signs of stopping anytime soon. John Strumwasser continues to be an active supporter, and he and Steve come to rehearsals occasionally (with their adorable dog).
As part of our 35th Anniversary oral history project, we asked Reuben how he would like his time with the chorus to be remembered. He replied:
The boys had fun. I came into this organization, and if I had a goal early on it was like, accept yourself, have fun, be part of a family, make a change in the world, but stop being scared. There was a tightness at the beginning, they thought that it was a circus act coming to town because we were so over the top, so unbelievable, so in your face, and we weren’t scared of it at all. I would like my time to be remembered as a time when we took risk, when we took care of each other, when we got up on stage and did some crazy things that made people think in a different way. But most of all. . . the line in “Everything Possible,” it is about the love you leave behind when you’re done. I hope that every single person in this chorus knows the love I have of the chorus, and of the individuals in it. That’s why I’m still doing it. I can’t not do it.
To say that Reuben has provided a fun experience would be an incredible understatement. Every rehearsal is filled with humor as well as hard work. Our concerts are memorable. Even years later we can cite the lyrics from songs and tell stories of our incredible experiences. I’m certain he has more magic to show us — and our audiences. As long as there are LGBTQ+ people there will be stories to tell of our lives and experiences.
In his departing speech, John Strumwasser told us that “I brought a lot of me and left it here. And it really means the world to me to have been a part of this organization for all this time.” He sums it up nicely for all of us.