In 1992, 23
years ago now, the State of Colorado voted to pass something called Amendment 2
to the Constitution of our State, which said that gay and lesbian people could
have no rights whatsoever, and whatever rights they already had in cities such
as Denver and Aspen and Boulder would be canceled or repealed.
The Amendment
2 campaign and battle was vitriolic and pretty nasty. We worked hard and
thought we were going to defeat it, but when it passed, we were all stunned and
devastated. It is very difficult to explain the hurt that hung like a
black cloud over our whole community in the wake of that election.
Amendment 2
passed on a Tuesday in November. That Friday Harmony, a GLBT chorus that
I was conducting at the time, went to the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park for
our usual retreat before an upcoming concert, where we normally rehearse and
polish our music for the performance. But on this occasion we were also
crying and telling election stories and trying to support each other after
having been knocked off our feet, so to speak, by the people of Colorado.
That same
weekend there happened to be another retreat going on at the same YMCA for
Methodist youth leaders from our jurisdiction, which covered four states.
One of the ministers who was leading that retreat happened to be the
brother of one of the women in Harmony. The brother and sister got
together, and the brother minister through his sister invited Harmony to sing
for the convocation of Methodist youth at their Sunday morning meeting.
She brought
the idea back to the choir, and we accepted.
As Sunday
morning came, we lined up outside the Chapel, which is still there but has
later been remodeled. At that time there were no pews. And since
there were over 100 Methodist youth, they sat on the floor in the middle of the
chapel, and since there were over 100 Harmony members, there was no place for
us to get except to surround them standing up.
So I went to a
little stage at one end of the Chapel, and said that I had been a Methodist
youth just like them, had received a Master's in Sacred Music from SMU in
Dallas, and had served a large church as minister of music for four years
before being fired because I was gay. Then I said that Harmony was a GLBT
chorus, and we would just like to sing a couple of songs for them.
I said,
"This first song is dedicated to all of you who might be gay, or all of
you who are struggling with self esteem for any reason." I knew that
most high school kids struggle with self esteem for a variety of reasons. The song was:
"How
could anyone ever tell you you are anything less than beautiful,
How could
anyone ever tell you you are less than whole,
How could
anyone fail to notice that your loving is a miracle,
How deeply
you're connected to my soul.”
Then we sang a
Holly Near song and taught it to them and they sang along. It was:
“We are a
gentle loving people, and we are singing, singing for our lives.
We are a gentle
loving people, and we are singing, singing for our lives.”
Other verses
said, “We are gay and straight together,” “We are a land of many colors,” as
well as a few others.
We were about
to leave, and some of them said, "No, sing another song."
There was an
old organ at the other end of the chapel, and our accompanist cranked it up and
started playing the introduction to our theme song, and the choir started
singing,
"In this
very room there's quite enough love for one like me,
And in this
very room there's quite enough joy for one like me.
And there's
quite enough hope and quite enough power
To chase away
any gloom,
For Spirit,
our Spirit, is in this very room."
At the end of
the first verse, one of the girls sitting on the floor got up and stood with
Harmony in the circle. They continued singing,
"In this
very room there's quite enough love for all of us,
And in this
very room there's quite enough joy for all of us.
And there's
quite enough hope and quite enough power
To chase away
any gloom,
For Spirit,
our Spirit, is in this very room."
During the
second verse, several youth, in groups of two's and three's, stood up and
joined Harmony in the circle. They kept singing through their tears,
"In this
very room there's quite enough love for all the world,
And in this
very room there's quite enough joy for all the world,
And there's
quite enough hope and quite enough power
To chase away
any gloom,
For Spirit,
our Spirit, is in this very room."
By the end of
the song, there was no-one left sitting on the floor. They were all
standing arm-around-shoulder around arm-around-shoulder.
There was
nothing left to say. We had gone there to sing for them, and they had
turned it around and helped us when we needed it most. Harmony filed out
of the Chapel knowing that we had been blessed.
They had given us a Gift from Afar.
A few years
later Amendment 2 was repealed by the Supreme Court of the United States.
© 29 May 2015
About the Author
I was born in Louisiana in
1939, went to Southern Methodist University in Dallas from 1957 through 1963,
with majors in sacred music and choral conducting, was a minister of music for
a large Methodist church in Houston for four years, and was fired for being gay
in 1967. After five years of searching,
I settled in Denver and spent 30 years here as a freelance court reporter. From 1980 forward I have been involved with
PFLAG Denver, and started and conducted four GLBT choruses: the PFLAG Festival Chorus, the Denver Women’s
Chorus, the Celebration ’90 Festival Chorus for the Gay Games in Vancouver, and
Harmony. I am enjoying my 11-year
retirement with my life partner of 32 years, Judith Nelson, riding our bikes, going
to concerts, and writing stories for the great SAGE group.
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