The Kennedy Center has canceled an upcoming LGBTQIA+ Pride performance by the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC (GMCW), shortly after President Donald Trump took the reins as chairman of the venue’s board.
The GMCW, a 250-member singing group of gay men that has performed for the Bidens, Clintons, and Obamas, announced that they are “deeply disappointed” with the Kennedy Center’s decision in a Tuesday night Facebook post:
️⚧️We will continue to sing and raise our voices for equality ️
Posted by Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington on Tuesday, February 18, 2025
“We are deeply disappointed with the news that our upcoming Pride performance with the National Symphony Orchestra (NSO) has been canceled. The piece was intended to be a part of the Kennedy Center’s Pride celebration and we were very excited to be collaborating with the NSO as their guest chorus on the piece titled “A Peacock Among Pigeons,” the chorus said in a statement.
Going on to say how they “regret” that the opportunity to perform an LGBTQIA+ pride song with the NSO was “taken away,” the GMCW said they are “committed” to continuing their mission of furthering “equality” and “diversity.”
The choral group is now set to perform “A Peacock Among Pigeons” at their Choral Festival that is part of WorldPride 2025.
They were set to perform with the NSO at the Kennedy Center on May 21, 11 days before LGBTQIA+ Pride Month is recognized in June.
Instead, the NSO will play “The Wizard of Oz in Concert.”
Trump stepped up to the Kennedy Center’s chair position in early February after the firing of President Deborah Rutter, Breitbart News reported.
Trump’s special presidential envoy, Ric Grenell, was named interim president while Trump replaced outgoing chair David Rubenstein.
“Just last year, the Kennedy Center featured Drag Shows specifically targeting our youth — THIS WILL STOP,” Trump said on Truth Social on February 7. “The Kennedy Center is an American Jewel, and must reflect the brightest STARS on its stage from all across our Nation. For the Kennedy Center, THE BEST IS YET TO COME!”
On the GMCW’s website, it states that the group was “inspired” to form after the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus (SFGMC) performed at the Kennedy Center in 1981,
The SFGMC received widespread backlash in 2021 for producing a music video that promised to “convert” children to a “tolerant” pro-LGBTQIA+ worldview, sarcastically singing that “the gay agenda is here,” “we’ll corrupt your kids,” and “we’re coming for them”:
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