For 40 years GMCLA has been a champion of social justice for the LGBTQ community. But now, it faces a budget deficit so severe, the board chairman said the group is in real danger of going bankrupt.
The Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles is facing a financial crisis, and a recent sexual misconduct controversy has only made problems worse.
For 40 years GMCLA has been that safe space for hundreds of gay men. It has also been a place of welcome for their allies, friends and families, as well as a champion of social justice for the LGBTQ community. But now, as the chorus prepares for its 40th anniversary spring show Saturday and Sunday at the Alex Theatre in Glendale, it faces a budget deficit so severe, board chairman Steve Holzer said the group is in real danger of going bankrupt.
“We are in a world of hurt, and we are struggling to stay alive,” Holzer said. “We had a couple of concerts that didn’t sell well, we lost some subscribers and we made some bad financial decisions. Pretty soon we found ourselves unable to dig out of the mountain of debt that we are in.” The wounds are still fresh, and triage is ongoing, Holzer said. GMCLA has recruited an attorney who has conducted sexual harassment training for the Los Angeles LGBT Center to do the same for the chorus, and a member task force is working on solidifying policies and procedures to prevent future upset.
Men would show up at rehearsal with IV stands and oxygen tanks. When they became too weak to practice, chorus members would sing bedside in the hospital and later at the funeral.Kevin JonesSince then, GMCLA has provided crucial visibility for gay men, Jones said. It taps into the universal joy of music to show the world that members of the LGBTQ community are just like everyone else and not an “other” to be feared, hated or victimized.
“When I saw that video, it was like seeing family members I had never met before,” said Cruz, 31, who joined GMCLA in 2013. “But I could see in their eyes, and hear in their voices, that they are just like me.” “I go to those Alive Music Project events to be the role model I didn’t have,” Cruz said. “To be the face for those kids who don’t have anybody else to talk to, so they can see someone like me and know that it gets better.”
“The work they do is so important because it really gives young people the opportunity to see what it’s like to be out and proud,” said Johnson, who came out as a sophomore in high school. “If I had seen the Alive Music Project during my freshman year, it would have made me so much more comfortable in my own skin.”
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