OUR HISTORY: OUR FUTURE
An Ongoing Aeolian Perspective on how Understanding our History can achieve a more equitable Future
PRIDE: SINGING FOR EQUALITY
This summer would have been the Pride Men’s Chorus London’s fifth year performing in Pride Celebrations. But you have to go back many more years that that to find the origin of gay men’s choirs in North America.
The first gay men’s choir – the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus – was founded by Jay Reed Sims and held its inaugural rehearsal on October 30, 1978 as a reaction to Harvey Milk’s Hope Speech, imploring the LGBTQ2 community to come out of the closet in opposition to the Briggs Initiative. Less than a month later, Milk was assassinated. Today, there are over 100 gay men’s ensembles worldwide who use their voices to agitate for acceptance, equality and social change.
The 
Pride Men’s Chorus London was founded by Clark Bryan and Rod Culham in 2016 to fill a gap in LGBTQ2 programs as well as artistic and choral programs for men in the city. The chorus is open to all individuals who identify as male and share a love for music and performance.
The first concert was held in 2016 to an overflowing audience of mourners, allies and friends holding vigil over the Orlando Massacre.
The Chorus is made up of men from diverse cultural and socio-economic backgrounds and sexualities.
In 2018, the Pride Celebration Chorus performed during the Pride London Festival. The addition of women was so popular that the Celebration Chorus has over 100 members and performed two sold-out shows in 2019.
Click below for a “best of” video of PMCL performances from the first first years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDlgH7wdFCY
