Lesbian and Gay Band at Inaugural, update
Steven Levine
Inaugural festivities with the Lesbian and Gay Bands
of America. 140 musicians from 17 different lesbian and
gay community bands, on four weeks notice, got themselves
to Washington to rehearse and play for this event. We were
stationed along the side of the street, near the end of
the parade, where we entertained the crowds all day while
waiting for the parade to begin. There have been some previous
posts to soc.motss about this (one rather lengthy one from me),
so this is just a quick update of how things looked from my perspective.
The Inaugural Ceremonies were broadcast along the parade route,
and it was eerie that the sun reached our side of the street at the very
moment that Clinton was sworn in. Imagine listening to
this while standing with a crowd of lesbians and
gay men, many of whom are your closest friends. Feelings
get amplified in a crowd, sometimes to the point of irrationality,
and most of us got very choked up. It felt as if a yoke of
hatred was being lifted from our shoulders.
The Clintons and the Gores were near the head
of the Parade, and by the time Bill and Hillary and Al and
Tipper got to our station, they had left their cars and were walking
and waving. When this Presidential group came by, we played a lush,
sweet arrangement of _America the Beautiful_. (Carmen
Dragon's arrangement, for you bandies out there). I know
I'm a little prejudiced in this regard, but we really
sounded wonderful for this. Some elderly women I met on the metro
later that day turned out to have been sitting near my band,
and they were full of praise for us. They, and most other
folks I talked with, were incredulous that we could sound
as we do when we do not regularly play together as a single
band.
There were spectators standing behind us (who, for the most
part, had no connection with us) who were moved to tears by
our musical background to the Presidential appearance. I
know that sounds strange, but it is difficult to explain the
feelings that the Inaugural Week, and the Inauguration itself,
generated among the attendees.
Bill Clinton was not on our side of the street, but
Hillary pointed out our banner to him (Lesbian and Gay
Bands of America) and he walked right over, waved, and mouthed
"thank you" (twice). Al Gore was on our side of the street,
and when he read our banner he broke into a big grin
and gave us two thumbs up.
It's just a couple of politicians. But the symbolism
of these gestures was huge. If I think too hard about it,
I can get enraged that such a small, simple thing as a smile
and a thanks from the President for a lesbian and gay
group should be such a big deal. But that doesn't mean that
it wasn't a big deal. Does my stock go down in soc.motss
if I admit that I cried a little while playing the
piece?
Some have posted to soc.motss that they are disappointed that
our group got no coverage on the networks. Hey, talk to my
mother about disappointment. But we were mentioned a lot.
We were listed prominently in the big map published in
the Washington Post. When we told spectators who we were,
nearly all of them said, "Oh, yes, I read about you." It
was not the biggest publicity blitz the world has ever seen,
but we were decidedly not invisible.
I have been told that Tuesday night's CBS evening news included
some footage of our rehearsal. Oh, and Rush Limbaugh
called us human trash, but that was a few weeks ago.
I'm disappointed, too, that more networks didn't cover our
presence -- it still seems a major, historical moment to me.
But the gay press has, for the most part, ignored us as
well (that's another story and another post).
The parade logistics were a nightmare for us. The DC police
were refusing to cooperate with the Inaugural people, and
wouldn't let our buses to their appointed spots. We were
delayed well over an hour because of this, and, ultimately,
had to carry all of our instruments and equipment
through several blocks of parade crowds. We were told
to leave our cases on the buses (and our lunches), but
the buses disappeared. In fact, a small suitcase of mine may still
be on one of those buses, as I had to leave for the airport
before we could find them. (Fortunately the bulk of my
things and my airline ticket itself were elsewhere -- others
were not so lucky.)
I think back to the rhetoric of the Republican convention,
all that talk about "real Americans," all that explicit stuff
that said that we are not legitimate citizens of this
country. I think about the times when it looked as if we
were doomed to a President of the party that had vowed
to maintain this policy. And then I think about a
President and Vice-President who (at least by proxy) invited
the Lesbian and Gay Bands of America to a Presidential Inaugural.
That's my group, the group I have devoted a good part of the
last 8 years to. I'm more pleased than I have a right to
be.
-Steven Levine
ste...@cray.com
Melinda Shore
> Feelings
>get amplified in a crowd, sometimes to the point of irrationality,
So true. In 1973 I marched in the World's Largest Marching
Band in Nixon's inaugural parade. There were 1976 of us
(it's true), and the whole thing made me wildly nauseous.
--
Melinda Shore - Cornell Theory Center - sh...@tc.cornell.edu
Bil Snodgrass
Wonderful story, thanks for sharing it and I would have been crying
on the ground in front of the president's review stand if he
would have said thank you to me twice!!!
>But the gay press has, for the most part, ignored us as
>well (that's another story and another post).
Yep!!!!! We Portland Gay Men's Chorus get more reviews and
stories from the non-GBLO press than our own press.
Good example is this December. The musical community, Portland Gay Freedom
Band, Portland Lesbian Choir, and Portland Gay Men's Chorus, put on
a free concert on December 20th. That is over 100 GLBO people performing
and well over 400 people in attendence, a great audience in Portland and
not one story about. The biggest event in the GLBO community that
month and nothing. The concert was free and we ask for donations that
go to various organizations in the Portland area.
When PGMC and PLC went to southern Oregon, Klamath Falls to be
exact, (during the measure 9 scare) the Klamath Falls paper, a
non-GLBO paper, gave us a wonderful little blurb in their entertainment
section. This is a real homophobic place folks, and this towns newspaper
printed a story about our visit. Anything from the GLBO rags? Nope!!!!
Just another sore point in my little humdrumb life.
Bil Snodgrass III
>
>-Steven Levine
> ste...@cray.com
>
>
>
>
Michael Siemon
>The Inaugural Ceremonies were broadcast along the parade route,
>and it was eerie that the sun reached our side of the street at the very
>moment that Clinton was sworn in. Imagine listening to
>this while standing with a crowd of lesbians and
>gay men, many of whom are your closest friends. Feelings
>get amplified in a crowd, sometimes to the point of irrationality,
>and most of us got very choked up. It felt as if a yoke of
>hatred was being lifted from our shoulders.
Irrationality be damned -- "It felt as if a yoke of hatred was being
lifted from our shoulders" (even though we know the hatred is still
out there to ambush us.)
>It's just a couple of politicians. But the symbolism
>of these gestures was huge. If I think too hard about it,
>I can get enraged that such a small, simple thing as a smile
>and a thanks from the President for a lesbian and gay
>group should be such a big deal. But that doesn't mean that
>it wasn't a big deal. Does my stock go down in soc.motss
>if I admit that I cried a little while playing the
>piece?
Politics is -- at best AND at worst -- an immensely HUMAN thing,
and as such it is MAINLY symbols (the rest of it is an ability
to harness individuals who would not normally be able to stand
each other to a loyalty (either to an idea or to a person --
both can be dangerous) that allows them to work together.
For me, your "stock" would have gone down (fat chance, though!)
if you had NOT reacted to a postive, affirming reaction to the
"man from Hope" -- "there is nothing wrong with America that
cannot be cured by what is right with America." It's a little
bit sappy, but if we DON'T believe that, America is dead.
>We were listed prominently in the big map published in
>the Washington Post. When we told spectators who we were,
>nearly all of them said, "Oh, yes, I read about you."
That's worth a lot!
>some footage of our rehearsal. Oh, and Rush Limbaugh
>called us human trash, but that was a few weeks ago.
That should make you happy, too! :-) The bigots are hurting.
--
Michael L. Siemon "We honour founders of these starving cities
m...@panix.com Whose honour is the image of our sorrow ...
They built by rivers and at night the water
Running past the windows comforted their sorrow."
Michael Siemon
(Melinda Shore) writes:
>In article <1993Jan21.2...@hemlock.cray.com> ste...@cray.com
(Steven Levine) writes:
>> Feelings
>>get amplified in a crowd, sometimes to the point of irrationality,
>So true. In 1973 I marched in the World's Largest Marching
>Band in Nixon's inaugural parade. There were 1976 of us
>(it's true), and the whole thing made me wildly nauseous.
That's easy to understand -- marching for Nixon would have made ME
nauseous, too!
Jess Anderson
In article <1993Jan21.2...@hemlock.cray.com>,
ste...@cray.com (Steven Levine) writes:
A wonderful account of his impressions of the Inaugural from
his vantage point in the Lesbian and Gay Bands of America.
Thanks, Steven, I'm sure it must have been very moving.
Musta been a lot of fun, too.
<> Any idiot can face a crisis. It's the day-to-day living
<> that wears you out. -- Anton Chekhov
--
[Jess Anderson <> Madison Academic Computing Center <> University of Wisconsin]
[Internet: ande...@macc.wisc.edu <-best, UUCP:{}!uwvax!macc.wisc.edu!anderson]
[Room 3130 <> 1210 West Dayton Street / Madison WI 53706 <> Phone 608/262-5888]
[---------> Discrimination, Bigotry, and Hate are not Family Values <---------]