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Deborah Hardy helped found the Syracuse Gay & Lesbian Chorus in 1991. On top of her passion for singing, she also wanted to “mingle” with the larger Syracuse community and have a space where she could be proud of being LGBTQ in public. The chorus has since become an opportunity for her to make new friends and help form an accepting organization.

The chorus focuses on making a musical group that is “open and all inclusive,” said Earl Taylor, the current chairperson of the chorus. The organization hopes to give people a place “to go and be themselves,” all while sharing their mutual love of music.

“We were simply the gay and lesbian community (at first). We are a much larger community now,” Hardy said. “We started embracing any and all people who have an interest in promoting our message of inclusivity and joy, expressed through singing and making music.”

The chorus first started out as a group exclusively for people who identified as gay and lesbian. Over time though, they have welcomed people outside of those identities. The chorus now includes straight and questioning people, along with transgender people and nonbinary people, and currently has around 40 members, Hardy said.

In its beginning, the group performed music including Broadway and Disney standards and other music that was available in four parts. As time went on, they had more music to choose from as more songs were available to gay and lesbian organizations, Hardy said.

Taylor said the choir focuses on making a musical group that is both open and inclusive. Wendy Wang | Contributing Photographer

Along with building community, the SGLC also makes efforts to educate the larger Syracuse community on LGBTQ topics. Hardy said the chorus enjoys singing together and preparing for concerts as a means of educating and entertaining the public, and it also values building community among its members.

“A lot of people in the chorus had been rejected by their family, and so we were each other’s family,” Hardy said. “Because of our close association with each other, we really began to love each other and see each other as our best friend’s family.”

COVID-19 has been an obstacle in the chorus’ path. While the chorus has been working to maintain the community it has built, it had to cancel its spring and winter seasons earlier this year.

“(Not performing has) been very tough. It’s like a piece of your soul missing,” Taylor said. “It’s for a lot of people in the chorus, pretty much all they had.”

The virus has also prevented the members from being able to practice together. Rehearsing over Zoom would be difficult due to different internet speeds, Taylor said.

The group has thought about gathering in a parking lot with social distancing, Hardy said. They deemed it impractical, though, because they’re worried they would pick a day with bad weather.

Hardy said members of SGLC have been “undergoing withdrawal” since they haven’t been able to rehearse or sing together. But instead of singing and rehearsing over Zoom, the group has been scheduling social meetings, including trivia nights and game nights. Over the summer, group members would sometimes get ice cream and hang out in downtown Syracuse.

SGLC’s 30th anniversary is approaching next year. Members of the choir are hoping that they’ll be able to sing together again soon, even with the pandemic.

“The most we can do is have meetings where we chat,” Taylor said. “We’re hoping we can have a 30th anniversary concert.”

Published on October 19, 2020 at 11:25 pm

Contact Siron: [email protected] | @sironthomas