Gay Men's Chorus of LA makes surprise appearance at assembly speaker's swearing in

This week's swearing-in ceremony for new Assembly Speaker John Perez included "special guests for a musical performance" inside the State Capitol. Those "guests" turned out to be 50 members of Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles.

On March 1st, members of the Gay Men's Chorus of Los Angeles filed into hushed chamber of the California Assembly wearing suits, ties, and smiles.

Chorus executive director Hywell Sims pressed his ear to the wall in the Rules Committee room adjacent to the chamber. That was "green room" the chorus used to keep its presence secret until the performance.

"We kept it quiet - and deliberately so," said Sims. "So that what we think of as one of the first performances of a gay men's chorus in the Assembly chamber could have the fullest effect possible."

That effect was to show patriotism with their rendition of "America the Beautiful." It worked.

The chorus followed that with a rendition of "Brand New Day" from the Broadway musical "The Wiz." They chose the piece to both highlight the swearing-in of the first openly gay Assembly Speaker John Perez, and to inspire optimism in California.

"This is a difficult time for us all - but also for the state," said Sims. "We wanted to do what we can often do with music which is inspire, lift up and inspire hope. And "Brand New Day" is perfect both musically and lyrically - and that's why we put the two things together.

The singers in the Gay Men's Chorus are volunteers. Most work full time. Hywell Sims says it's usually difficult to recruit for mid-week performances - but not this time. So many men wanted to sing during the swearing-in ceremony that Sims created a lottery to select only 50 of the group's 200 members; the Assembly chambers couldn't hold many more. Southwest Airlines donated the round-trip tickets.

Chorus member Shawn Ingram said part of the group's mission was to bring people and music together - and to encourage acceptance of diversity. "It was a really amazing, electric experience," he said.

Ingram said members seized the opportunity to perform for a divided political house in California - and all the other politicos in attendance that day.

"We were singing for the Governor of California. Immediately behind me was Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. In front of us was Mayor Gavin Newsom, Hilda Solis, the lawmakers guiding us through this next difficult time. The Chorus succeeded in making a positive impression."

Ingram said that was reason enough for chorus members to take a day off from their day jobs.

"A lot of the men took vacation time off from work or called in sick or whatever they needed to do to because they felt that the message we were going to deliver was such an important one it was worth whatever personal sacrifice was being undertaken to be there."

The audience in the Assembly chambers that day responded to the performance with a standing ovation.