June 18, 1981, was the tour’s biggest day, and its most pointed.
On the Capitol steps
At midday, the chorus sang on the West Front of the U.S. Capitol, including “Stout-hearted Men.” The Chronicle’s John Fogerty reported that Capitol Police said it was the first gay group to sing on the Capitol grounds. About 75 people applauded each song. As the mini-concert ended, word arrived that the House had just voted to bar the Legal Services Corporation from using federal funds to “promote, defend or protect” homosexuality.
“The vote is a minus.”
— tour co-chair Steve Prokasky, as quoted by the Chronicle
Prokasky added that the tour’s warm welcome across the country had furthered the cause of gay rights.
The Kennedy Center
That night the chorus sang to a sold-out Kennedy Center, broadcast live back home on KRON Channel 4. The Washington Post’s Paul Hume wrote that Washington had not heard finer choral singing, and that three encores could not satisfy an audience that stood cheering for 15 minutes. Afterward the singers joined hands at the Jefferson Memorial and sang Randall Thompson’s “Testament of Freedom,” set to Jefferson’s words, up into the dome.
Not everyone approved. A syndicated column in The Desert Sun attacked the Kennedy Center for hosting the chorus. A Kennedy Center booking coordinator defended it as a perfectly legitimate group, and tour co-chair Gerald Pearson said the chorus was out to entertain, not confront. A Washington fan wrote to the chorus days later that the concert was the talk of the town for days.
From the archives: this post retells reporting by the San Francisco Chronicle, The Desert Sun and the Bay Area Reporter. The original articles survive only in newspaper archives, so we have told the story here in our own words. Details attributed to those outlets are their reporting; see the sources below.
Sources
- San Francisco Chronicle, “Gay Chorus Sings as House Votes” by John Fogerty, June 19, 1981. sfchronicle.com
- The Desert Sun, “Promoting homosexuality not center’s function (syndicated column)”, June 19, 1981. desertsun.com
- Bay Area Reporter, “We Bask In Their Glory” by Allen White, July 2, 1981. ebar.com
- San Francisco Sunday Examiner & Chronicle, “A New Release From The Chorus That Captivated The Nation! (advertisement quoting reviews)”, August 2, 1981. sfchronicle.com
