Status Quo

Here I am, a few days after my first post and I'm still waiting for notification that my Library books I put on hold have been pulled and are ready. The online catalog is really quite nice (though I find that the NYPL's Performing Arts Branch really doesn't have the great selection one would think!) but this is the second time I've put books on hold from home only to have to several days for someone to go to the stacks and pull the material.

I think I should have just gone to the library and pulled the stuff myself. There is a problem with that plan. Have you ever been to that library at Lincoln Center? It's impossible to find anything. Stuff is really not shelved correctly and is very nonsensical. I'm sure Library Scientists are going into collective apoplexy, but the Dewey Decimal system has really failed when it comes to Music Libraries. I should know, I worked in one for a summer during grad school.

I guess it's up to me to go and pick up those research items on my own. I'm looking forward to diving into a few books about homosexuality in opera. There isn't much research material so I have a feeling that I will be doing a lot of first hand analysis on my own!

Homophobia and the Arts

Its 1998, its Christmas, I'm 25 and I'm coming out of the closet. "Mom, I'm gay."

A year later I'm quitting my job as an assistant music minister. I had been told that the church wouldn't tolerate an openly gay person on staff. It's Texas, so this kind of bigotry is, unfortunately, to be expected.

Fast forward a few years. I'm back home in the North East, living in New York City, crying with joy at my first Pride Parade, and out to the world.

Today, I'm partnered and always make sure to mention him to new people I meet early in the conversation (my subtle/not so subtle way of continuously coming out). I'm still toying around with which word to use to describe him: Partner; Boyfriend; Husband.

I sing opera, classical art song, and choral music in New York. I think that most people would be surprised to learn that there is still a subtle homophobia within the vocal genre, specifically within opera.

Singers are still in the closet. In fact, an overwhelming amount of people in the arts are still in the closet. Film and Broadway stars are notorious for staying in the closet for fear of being type-casted or black listed.

Beyond the issues of "out" performers, I want to explore why Opera has little to no representations of GLBTI individuals or story lines within the repertoire.