SF Gay Men's Chorus Well Received On Prop 8 Tour Of CA Heartland

In a front page story, today's San Francisco Chronicle notes the success of the SF Gay Men's Chorus as it tours California's central heartlands in a peace-making tour after the acrimony of Proposition 8.

They came. They sang. They wore pink cowboy hats. When the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus embarked on its Freedom Tour into the heart of Proposition 8 territory over the weekend, there were concerns. Would red-state towns like Redding and Chico turn out to see gay men in tuxedos singing "Over the Rainbow"? Would there be protests, threats or fear-mongering from Shasta County's fundamentalist community? But chorus artistic director and conductor Kathleen McGuire asked: "Who is afraid of a choir?" Make no mistake, this isn't a tour. It's a groundbreaking political action. In the upcoming months, they'll visit Bakersfield, Fresno and Tracy, all strongholds for Prop. 8, the measure that banned same-sex marriage. They hope their music will help personalize the fight for gays to marry.

It is more than a small gamble. They could face protests, fights or even worse - complete indifference. "When the tickets didn't sell at first, I thought, 'Oh God, no one is going to show up,' " said Amy Andrews, a welfare worker in Redding, who helped arrange the show at the 1,000-plus-seat Cascade Theatre. "And then tickets just took off. I have never been prouder of my hometown." Saturday's show was a sellout. So was Sunday's 450-seat event in Chico, where they received a standing ovation.

The tour resumes in May with dates in Fresno, Tracy, and Bakersfield.