COLUMBUS GAY MEN'S CHORUS
Columbus Gay Man's Chorus concert will be 'Our Best'
Pride Guide 2004 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE
by David Georgi
The Columbus Gay Men's chorus pours their hearts into their performance.
Columbus-Since 1990, countless individuals have experienced the notes and melodies of the Columbus Gay Men's Chorus. Each of these people has had a favorite song that the chorus has sung during the past 14 seasons. The Columbus Gay Men's Chorus wants everyone to come and hear some of their best songs that have made audiences laugh, cry and just have fun,
Two performances will take place, Friday and Saturday, June 18 and 19 at 8 pm in the Capitol Theater at the Vern Riffe Center for Government and the Arts in downtown Columbus. Tickets are $22 to $27 and can be purchased from CAPA at 614-469-0939 or Ticketmaster, 614-431-3600.
The Columbus Gay Men's Chorus was formed to produce vocal music of the highest quality in the rich tradition of men's choral singing. The Chorus unites as a Gay men's chorus to rehearse and work in an atmosphere of camaraderie and support, and secondly to perform publicly before general audiences thus fostering increased recognition, understanding and acceptance of gays and lesbians in society. Although the Chorus operates
within the constraints of the singing art form, the Chorus is open to all individuals regardless of race, gender, color, religion, national origin, disability, age or sexual orientation.
Also, on Thursday, June 24, the chorus's final fundraiser at Barcelona Restaurant in German Village will take place from 5 to 11 pm. Eat a fabulous dinner, mention the chorus, and a portion of the check will go to send singers to the GALA International Festival in Montreal in July.
Chorus artistic director David Monseur CGMC's has been elected by the GALA board of trustees and a select group of directors from across the United States, to conduct the GALA International Men's Chorus this July. Over 160 choruses will be attending the quadrennial GALA festival from eight different countries. GALA is the International Association of Gay, Lesbian and Transgender Choruses.
For more information about the Columbus Gay Men's Chorus and theconcert season, visit www.cgmc.com or call 614-288-2462 (288-CGMC).
David Georgi is the marketing director of the Columbus Gay Men's Chorus.
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CATF's Men 4 Men Project looks back on the Gay '90s
by Chris Hughes
Columbus-The Men 4 Men Project at the Columbus AIDS Task Force is now over a year old, and it's had a great year providing safer sex information and messages, as well as free HIV testing, to the gay community. It is the testing and HIV prevention program that is done by gay men for gay men. The testing is always free--free of cost, and free of judgment.
For 2004's Pride Holiday, the Men 4 Men project chose the theme "The Gay '90s." It was chosen first because, believe it or not, the 1990s are now retro. And everyone loves to celebrate retro!
Second, the 1990s were an amazing decade for the community. The first president who was willing to discuss the LGBT community's issues was elected, members of the community started speaking out and coming out in record numbers, and the community's basic civil rights were beginning to be recognized. These accomplishments alone deserve homage.
Progress was made on another front in the 1990s that is typically not recognized. The 1980s marked a high point for the AIDS crisis among gay men in this country. In the mid 1980s, for instance, there were an average of 150,000 new HIV infections per year. Due much to the HIV prevention efforts made by the gay community and its allies, by 1992 the HIV infection rates in this country dropped to an average of 40,000 per year.
Throughout the 1990s, it is estimated that
95% of HIV positive individuals did not transmit the virus to someone else. That is truly astonishing, and the gay community needs to be thanked for its part in making lower infection rates a reality in this country. Midway through the decade, 1996 was the year that a new class of HIV treatments, protease inhibitors, was made available to significantly decrease the deaths due to HIV and AIDS.
However, even as we take this year to celebrate the Gay '90s, it is now 2004 and things have changed. New HIV infection rates have begun to climb back up, and we've come to realize that the great treatment advances we made have in no way solved the problem. Still in this country, especially in Columbus, it is the gay community who is suffering most from this epidemic. We learned from the 1990s that our community can make a difference in its own health and wellbeing. We learned from the 1990s that we can be proud of who we are and make changes in the process. We can do it again, and take it even further.
So, those spending the week of the Pride Holiday in Columbus will probably run into the Men 4 Men program at some point. They will be out and about in local establishments the whole week, promoting free rapid testing and safer sex messages. Look for their float in the parade on Saturday--it will be hard to miss. They will be celebrating the Gay '90s— join them in the celebration! ✓
Chris Hughes is the MSM HIV prevention coordinator at the Columbus AIDS Task Force.
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