Company Profile
San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus
Company Overview
The San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus (SFGMC) is the world's first openly gay chorus.
Since its premiere performance on the steps of City Hall with 100 members singing to stand up against discrimination and bigotry, the chorus has inspired the worldwide LGBTQIA+ choral movement.
With over 300 singers strong today, SFGMC is bringing people and communities together through the power of music.
On a mission to promote acceptance, awareness, and inclusivity as well as a love of music, we participate in a number of community outreach programs.
Our members are dedicated to bringing their creative energy to young people in the San Francisco Bay area.
Despite our name, the chorus is not limited to only gay men. We are firmly committed to diversity, equity and inclusion and open our arms to any and all persons who can sing in tenor or bass range, irrespective of gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or race.
Company History
In the fall of 1978, Jon Reed Sims founded the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus. His original mission was simple: to include more music in the local Gay Freedom Day Parade.
But when over 100 singers came to the first rehearsal, it became clear that something much bigger was about to happen.
Less than one month after that first rehearsal, Supervisor Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in California, and San Francisco Mayor George Moscone, were assassinated in front of City Hall.
On the evening of the assassination, over 100 members of the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus attended a candlelight vigil along with thousands of shocked and grieving San Franciscans.
The chorus sang Mendelssohn's "Thou, Lord our Refuge" that night which marked our first ever public performance.
ast forward to June, 1981, just after being awarded the key to the city by San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein, we embarked on our first national tour along with The Bay Area Women’s Brass Quartet.
We traveled across the United States, performing in Texas, Minnesota, Nebraska, Michigan, New York, Massachusetts, Washington, D.C., Washington state and then back home to San Francisco.
The tour was a tremendous success as it not only gave us a chance to sing all over the country, but it also changed lives.
For many gay men, it was the first time they had the opportunity to be a part of something big and come together in public to share a fun experience.
Parents who attended the concerts with their children were moved by our voices and began opening their minds and hearts toward accepting and understanding gay and lesbian relationships.
It was on this tour that we realized our full potential to become a national activist organization, changing lives through music.
That first national tour helped spark the creation of other LGBT choruses across the United States.
Today there are thousands of other LGBT choruses and bands not only across the United States but all over the world.
Not only are these musical groups a safe space for LGBT individuals, but they are a political act as well, adding their voices to help change the course of queer history.
By singing together, we are actively challenging the heteronormative status quo and refusing to stay quietly in the closet.