On October 4, 2023, nearly 100 current and former members of the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus sang in the rotunda of San Francisco City Hall as Senator Dianne Feinstein lay in state.
Axios included the chorus’s performance in its coverage of San Francisco’s public farewell to Feinstein, identifying the singers in City Hall in a photograph by Carlos Avila Gonzalez of Getty Images. The following day, mourners gathered for a memorial service honoring Feinstein’s decades of public service. Axios reported that President Joe Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, and Feinstein’s granddaughter Eileen Mariano were among those who paid tribute.
Full circle
As KTVU’s Crystal Bailey reported, the chorus’s first performance was in November 1978, on the steps of City Hall, at the candlelight vigil after the assassinations of Mayor George Moscone and Supervisor Harvey Milk. Feinstein was there. Forty-five years later, the chorus returned to sing for her. LGBTQ Nation’s Bil Browning noted that the singers performed “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
Board vice chair Tom Paulino, who once interned for Feinstein, told reporters what the moment meant to him.
“To send her off in song, in this hallowed building … is a great honor.”
— Tom Paulino, as quoted by KTVU and LGBTQ Nation
Recommended media: KTVU’s video of the performance (linked below).
Sources
This post summarizes reporting by KTVU FOX 2, LGBTQ Nation, and Axios. Details attributed to those outlets are their reporting; see the sources below.
- KTVU FOX 2, “San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus pays tribute to Sen. Feinstein” by Crystal Bailey, October 4, 2023. Read the original story
- LGBTQ Nation, “San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus sings final tribute to late Sen. Dianne Feinstein” by Bil Browning, October 5, 2023. Read the original story
- Axios, “Late Sen. Dianne Feinstein remembered at funeral in California” by April Rubin, updated October 5, 2023. Read the original story
