Just a reminder--tonight on CBS--the Lincoln Center Honors Barbra
Streisand among others--one of the most stylish presentations on TV)
Miami's Gay Chorus



The chorus opened its holiday show, Miss Twinkleton's School for Sensitive Boys Presents The Nutcracker: Men In Tights, on a recent night in South Florida, drawing laughs and cheers for Gone with the Wind and Project Runway jokes.

There were marching soldiers and, yes, even sugar plum fairies. The
performers were theatrical and clever, and above all, easy to listen
to. The audience's applause was not just for the message of tolerance,
but also because the chorus was good — with strong, spirited voices
that could make Miami Beach feel like the North Pole.

"The Miami Gay Men's Chorus is, in one way or another, Miss
Twinkleton's School for Sensitive Boys. It's a place where everyone's
accepted," Cabrera said. "The gay community sometimes tends to be very
critical of itself. ... It can be divisive within itself sometimes,
like any other group. But this group is open to anyone, everyone. You
come here, and you have a good time."

On the stage that night, there was joy and cheer, dancing and
lighthearted fun. During a year that saw California voters cast ballots
in favor of outlawing same-sex marriage and the passage of
consitutional Amendment 2, which prohibits same-sex marriage in
Florida, that has not always been easy to come by.

"I can certainly tell you that that post-election week was pretty
devastating," Cabrera said. "On a personal level, it was difficult for
me to come in here and conduct, knowing that I live in a state where my
partner would not be recognized as our daughter's father.

"But you kind of look past that and understand that as a chorus,
you have a responsibility, because the people that are paying to come
and see your concert, sometimes they'll come and see you. But people
who go to concerts go because they need to," he said.

Gay choruses are certainly nothing new. The international association
of gay and lesbian choruses, GALA, boasts more than 100 members, and
about 130 groups performed at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the
Performing Arts in Miami during a July festival.

As Miami's chorus reached its 10-season mark, members said they were
looking to choruses like the 180-member Heartland Men's Chorus in
Kansas City and Texas-based Turtle Creek Chorale, which has more than
200 members, as inspiration.

"I could see that we ... could become perhaps the premier chorus
in the Arsht Center, and we would do larger works," Fashbaugh said.
"Because our repertoire and our abilities are going to be incredible."