➤ GAY MEN’S CHORUS, from p.12
periences.
“We are grateful to so many
members and leaders who have
stepped up and are providing information
about their experiences
and the experiences of others, while
also providing guidance and ideas
about steps towards deeper systemic
change,” the NYCGMC Board
of Directors said in an email to Gay
City News. “It will take time — we
know that — but we are working to
dismantle the problems of our past
and create a safe, beautiful space of
music-making for everyone.”
An ex-committee member for the
chorus’ Inclusion and Equity Team
who requested to speak on the
condition of anonymity said the
purpose of the play was to protest,
not to mock people of color or denigrate
them. The ex-member said
he was asked to participate and
wear Blackface, but he declined
because he did not feel comfortable
doing that.
“The director wanted to make
a very pointed satire about racism
in the chorus, and wrote this
parody song related to this idea
of minstrelsy and enslavement
to talk about the Black experience
in the chorus,” said the excommittee
member, who was in
the chorus for seven years. “This
is actually, to me, one of the fi rst
actions by someone in the chorus
that in a very pointed way, but a
little bit tongue in cheek, called
out chorus leadership and chorus
members for their engagement in
racism.”
Furthermore, the ex-member
said that this song was meant to
hold chorus members accountable
for sexual harassment, which includes
allegedly grabbing members
without their consent and talking
about the size of their penis.
“It was to talk about the fetishization
of the Black body in the
chorus. Chorus members have had
experiences where white members
have been sexually aggressive,” the
ex-committee member recalled.
The ex-committee member blasted
the Instagram page as an act
of retaliation to get attention from
leadership.
“Some of the folks that have been
very vocal about this have been
burned so many times and are so
emotionally invested that they’re
hyperbolic,” the ex-committee member
The @nycgmc_nightmares Instagram page has highlighted allegations of racism in the chorus.
said. “I sort of resent this tactic
of posting infl ammatory screen
captures and images without context
because it’s dishonest.”
In response to the criticism, the
page’s creator apologized, adding
that he did not alter the page’s submissions
and would be “happy to
contextualize the photo with any
details provided.”
“We acknowledge the importance
of context and are happy to provide
it. However, regarding the posting
itself, we are not an editorial, so
we don’t provide context not given,”
the page’s creator said in a statement
to Gay City News. “We were
representing the voices of at least
one aggrieved BIPOC member who
contacted us about the image.”
However, the page creator’s initial
inspiration for the piece was
co-opted and altered on social
media as NYCGMC leaders continued
to face criticism for dragging
their feet to address racism. An
unknown user tampered with the
photo on Facebook, blocking out
members’ faces and slapping an
image of a slave next to it.
A current member of the chorus
who also spoke on the condition of
anonymity slammed the photo as
harmful, noting that he has seen
this image appear on a Facebook
chorus group.
“There are some malicious actors…
whose intentions are not
justifi ed,” he said. “Why would
you cover up everyone’s face in the
INSTAGRAM
photo — all the Black people and
only show the Blackface?”
An unknown individual manipulated
the photo on social media.
Facebook
An internal diversity report conducted
by the diversity, equity, and
consultant fi rm the J.L. Solution
and obtained by Gay City News
revealed high levels of mistrust
between membership and leaders,
avoidance tactics when handling
challenging issues, and a history
of members leaving their positions
out of frustration.
Johnathan Gibbs, a member
who previously came forward
with allegations about racism surrounding
his termination-turned
reinstatement, said he was kicked
out of the chorus again for speaking
with a journalist about his return.
BAPA declined to comment
on the confl ict, citing the organization’s
policy not to comment on
former or current members.
According to an email obtained
by Gay City News, BAPA accused
Gibbs of violating the terms of his
reinstatement by speaking with the
media despite an agreement not to
speak publicly until the terms of
his membership were established.
Gay City News could not confi rm
the terms of this agreement by
press time.
In an email, Gibbs, who is not
seeking to return to the chorus,
said he is “slightly optimistic”
about the new board following a
special meeting the organization
had on October 28 with members
of color. However, Gibbs believes
that the organization’s problems
are a symptom of an even more
signifi cant matter.
“The core issue here is something
that has been happening for
literal decades in the LGBTQ community,”
Gibbs said. “BIPOC queer
people stand at an intersection in
which they can still experience racism,
fetishization, harassment, not
be given the benefi t of the doubt,
white supremacy — they can be
victim to all of that by gay white
men, which the NYC Gay Men’s
Chorus is majority comprised of.
Yet they pretend to be the savior
of the LGBTQ community.”
As for what the future changes
mean for the organization, the chorus
community remains skeptical
of the board’s promises.
“At the organizational level,
they’re saying the right thing, so
that’s a positive, but the membership
is still the membership, so,
I don’t know that the culture will
change,” said Jonathan Jones, a
former NYCGMC chorus member
and stage director. “When people
speak up about concerns…they
need to be taken seriously, immediately,
and…in the 10 years I’ve
been associated with the organization,
that has never been how they
handled anything.”
GayCityNews.com | November 18 - 24, 2021 13
/GayCityNews.com
