Buffalo —The Buffalo Gay Men’s Chorus (BGMC) will break another barrier to community solidarity when they perform a planned February concert in a Buffalo African-American church. The concert, entitled “Love Unbound,” will be presented on Saturday, February 20th, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. at Unity Fellowship Church (UFC) at 1420 Main Street in Buffalo, N. Y. Admission is free and general seating is unreserved. Patrons desiring reserved seats may call the pastor, Rev. Gerard Williams at 347-238- 9299. A freewill offering will be taken to benefit the mission of the church. Refreshments and an opportunity to meet the clergy and the chorus will follow the program.
Rev. Williams and BGMC Artistic Director, Barbara Wagner, have collaborated for several months in the planning of this special event.
Progressive clergy from Western New York will also be featured to speak on the bounty of God’s love, its expression in same-gendered couples, and in the preciousness of ethnic religious traditions embraced by persons of color.
UFC stands alone as a church in the African-American tradition which accepts same-gender-loving congregants with full inclusion. The denomination began in Los Angeles in the 1980’s as an essentially gay African-American church, and Rev. Williams has been working locally under national directive to develop a congregation in Buffalo for the past year.
Entering its tenth year, BGMC seeks to support African-Americans who have been unwelcomed or pressured by a don’t-ask-don’t-tell atmosphere at their home churches. For the past three years, the chorus has designated $14,000 to be directed toward the following three goals:
(1) To stand up and show support for gay and lesbian African-Americans who endure the triple stresses of homophobia, racism, and social classism.
(2) To stimulate BGMC into becoming more culturally sensitive to and collaborative with the African-American community and its organizations in Buffalo.
(3) To achieve these ends by finding a presence in venues accessible to African-Americans.
—Staff
