Windy City Media Group Frontpage News

THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

home search facebook twitter join
Gay News Sponsor Windy City Times 2023-12-13
DOWNLOAD ISSUE
Donate

Sponsor
Sponsor
Sponsor

  WINDY CITY TIMES

LGBT music groups help Russian youths with 'Beautiful' project
by Gretchen Rachel Blickensderfer
2014-06-25

This article shared 3239 times since Wed Jun 25, 2014
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email


This month, LGBTQ communities and their allies across Illinois are celebrating a major step forward in the achievement of equality. Spectator numbers for the Chicago Pride Parade have grown exponentially with each passing year alongside the exuberance of LGBTQ participants and the number of companies, churches and political figures walking in solidarity with them.

Fewer than 5,000 miles away, those who dare to show their LGBTQ colors run the risk of fines, imprisonment, violent assault and murder. Three days after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled the Defense of Marriage Act as unconstitutional, a federal law was passed in Russia that essentially denies that country's LGBTQ community and their allies the right to answer dehumanizing speech or assertions—a law ultraconservative groups in the United States support. According to Russia President Vladimir Putin, the law was designed as a safeguard to Russian children.

A U.S. State Department warning to LGBTQ travelers in Russia reads: "Violence against the LGBT community has increased sharply since the law was passed, including entrapment and torture of young gay men by neo-Nazi gangs and the murder of multiple individuals due to their sexual orientation."

Further laws have been proposed that would remove children from LGBTQ families. Earlier this month, The Daily Beast reported that "Russian authorities are putting pressure on all kinds of institutions—banks, landlords, employers—not to do business with LGBT people and LGBT organizations."

The Nuremberg laws passed in Germany in 1935 began with the gradual erosion of Jewish liberties in order to "safeguard the future of the German nation."

In December 2013, the It Gets Better Project launched "You Are Beautiful," a campaign aimed at emboldening LGBTQ youth in Russia with videos containing voices of support. Moved by the stories coming out of Russia while—at the same time—wondering about the path down which the the anti-gay laws are taking that country, the Windy City Gay Chorus and Aria Women's Chorus ( known collectively as Windy City Performing Arts, or WCPA ) collaborated with Chicago filmmaker Jason Knade to create a song and video for the campaign that resounds with the message "You are beautiful, just the way you are."

The project began in early January when Windy City Gay Chorus member Tedd McTee brought up the "You Are Beautiful" campaign to WCPA Artistic Director Paul Caldwell during a discussion about the situation in Russia. "We don't know what life is going to be like for the Russian LGBTQ community," McTee told Windy City Times. "We can't really tell them it's going to get better. All we can say is 'no matter what happens, we're here and we believe in you and love you.'"

Caldwell wrote the song that was then translated into Russian by a musician friend of his—a task that proved more difficult than Caldwell had imagined. "He came back to me and told me that there are no Russian words for 'gay'," Caldwell recalled. "He said that the words that exist are so derogatory that they cannot be used in this setting. So he had to call us 'The Chicago Choir of Non-Traditional Sexual Orientation.' That was shocking to me."

"How does love get wings? How does love get wings?" Caldwell's song asks. "Love gets wings when the world sees and starts to sing."

Knade created a story line for the video and recruited Lucas Segovia and Graham Maverick—two dancers from the Joffrey Ballet—as performers. He shot it over the course of two days in locations across Chicago. It begins with a frightened man sitting alone in a living room. Slowly he comes to the realization that he is beautiful and begins to dance, gradually reaching greater and greater heights. He meets another man in a park and the pair move in synchronicity with each other. The images of the dancers are intercut with the chorus members, each of their faces coated in an expression of hope. Fear is finally replaced with joy.

When Caldwell watched the final product, he was awestruck. "I felt like it was the most beautiful thing I had ever been a part of," he said. "All I did was write a song and teach it to the chorus. Jason and the dancers were able to take that and run with it. That's the amazing thing about artistic collaboration."

"I read the lyrics and loved the whole metaphor of letting a voice be heard and singing for everyone to hear," Knade recalled. "I wanted to accomplish that visually. The dancers are adding on to that metaphor by expressing themselves in a physical and visceral way."

Knade added that, although he was honored to be a part of the project, he was also overwhelmed by the importance of it all. "I knew I really had to do it justice," he said.

Christy Hasselson is an alto with the chorus who contributed her talents to the song. "The whole situation over there is bigger than me. Bigger than us," she said. "An admonishment of the Russian government in the media is just not going to do it and Putin doesn't care about sanctions."

"When the Olympics games were going on, everyone was talking about it," McTee added. "Now I feel like people here in the United States have gone back to talking about marriage rights and not about how LGBT people in other countries are being treated."

The video has been uploaded to YouTube and the You Are Beautiful campaign website. Caldwell also transmitted it to a media source in Russia. However—to protect that source—he asked Windy City Times not to reveal any further information about it. "Russian Americans who I know are telling me that Putin is eventually going to curb access to websites," he said. "I've even heard that you won't be able to check Facebook without first leaving the country."

"Just because no one is talking about it doesn't mean it's still not an issue," McTee said. "Things over there are getting worse."

The song and video can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxgLHLx42o0.

For more information about the It Gets Better Project's "You Are Beautiful" campaign go here: www.itgetsbetter.org/content/russia .


This article shared 3239 times since Wed Jun 25, 2014
facebook twitter pin it google +1 reddit email

Out and Aging
Presented By

  ARTICLES YOU MIGHT LIKE

Gay News

'Rumors' performers create alternative drag playground 2024-03-24
- At first glance, Dorian's Through The Record Shop (1939 W. North Ave.) looks like a brightly-lit shop with a handful of records on the wall, but there's a secret world behind those unassuming shelves. Visitors are ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Queer musicians, Marvel situation, Elliot Page, Nicole Kidman 2024-03-21
- Queer musician Joy Oladokun released the single "I Wished on the Moon," from Jack Antonoff's official soundtrack for the new Apple TV+ series The New Look, per a press release. The soundtrack, ...


Gay News

THEATER Chicago's City Lit has anxiety on tap with 'Two Hours in a Bar' 2024-03-21
- Two Hours in a Bar Waiting for Tina Meyer by Kristine Thatcher with material by Larry Shue Text Me by Kingsley Day (Book, Music and Lyrics). At: City Lit Theater, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr Ave.. Tickets: ...


Gay News

Lollapalooza announces lineup; SZA, Skrillex among headliners 2024-03-19
- Lollapalooza has released its line-up for the event that's taking place Aug. 1-4 at Grant Park. Headliners include SZA, Blink-182, Skrillex, The Killers, Hozier, Melanie Martinez and Stray Kids, among others. Some of the other acts ...


Gay News

Jamie Barton brings nuances of identity to her Lyric Opera 'Aida' performance 2024-03-18
- Chicago's Lyric Opera is currently featuring a production of Giuseppe Verdi's Aida starring Michelle Bradley as Aida, Jamie Barton as Amneris and Russell Thomas as Radamès. The opera runs through April 7, 2024, with Francesca Zambello ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Lady Gaga, 'P-Valley,' Wendy Williams, Luke Evans, 'Queer Eye,' 'Transition' 2024-03-15
- Lady Gaga came to the defense of Dylan Mulvaney after a post with the trans influencer/activist for International Women's Day received hateful responses, People Magazine noted. On Instagram, Gaga stated, "It's appalling to me that a ...


Gay News

House-music festival on Aug. 30-Sept. 1; icons, Idris Elba to be part of it 2024-03-13
- The ARC Music Festival—an event celebrating house music—will take place Aug. 30-Sept. 1 at Chicago's Union Park, per WGN-TV. This will mark the fourth year that the festival will celebrate the genre at Union Park—less than ...


Gay News

COBRAH slithers into Chicago and brings Feminine Energy 2024-03-08
- COBRAH snaked her way into Thalia Hall, 1807 S. Allport St., for two nights March 7 and 8 for her Succubus Tour. This Swedish-born talent has a way with naughty words and ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Jinkx Monsoon, Xavier Dolan, 'Frida,' Lena Waithe, out singer 2024-03-08
- Two-time RuPaul's Drag Race winner Jinkx Monsoon is headed back to the New York stage, joining off-Broadway's Little Shop of Horrors as Audrey beginning April 2, according to Playbill. The casting makes Monsoon the first drag ...


Gay News

Queer Eye's Jai Rodriguez is set to slay at The Big Gay Cabaret 2024-03-05
- Out and proud performer Jai Rodriguez is set to play at The Big Gay Cabaret this March for three days. Presented by RuPaul Drag Racer Ginger Minj, this monthly series highlights the wide world of cabaret ...


Gay News

THEATER 'R & J' puts a female, queer spin on Shakespeare 2024-03-05
- Romeo and Juliet is the theatrical gift that keeps on giving. It's been reworked for the masses numerous times, whether in direct adaptations or musicals such as West Side Story. Shakespeare's plotline points have even inspired ...


Gay News

THEATER When growth is paramount: Jim Corti helps fuel Aurora theater expansion 2024-03-01
- Out actor/director/choreographer Jim Corti made his Broadway debut in 1974, in the ensemble of Leonard Bernstein's musical Candide. Director Harold Prince's acclaimed Tony Award-winning revival is often cited as a ...


Gay News

SHOWBIZ Queer actors, icons duet, Hunter Schafer, Oscars, Elizabeth Taylor 2024-03-01
- Queer actor Kal Penn is set to star in Trust Me, I'm a Doctor—a film that chronicles the final days of actress/model Anna Nicole Smith, whose overdose death in 2007 at age 39 sparked a tabloid ...


Gay News

'Always Olivia' celebrates Olivia Newton-John at Raue Center 2024-02-26
- From a press release: Always Olivia, a tribute to one of the most celebrated and beloved pop culture icons of all time, the late Olivia Newton-John comes to Raue Center in Crystal Lake on Saturday, May ...


Gay News

Samuel Savoir-Faire Williams's violin stylings help COH mark Black History Month 2024-02-23
- As part of its celebration of Black History Month, Center on Halsted, 3656 N. Halsted St., presented a solo jazz performance by violinist Samuel Savoir-Faire Williams on Feb. 21. The two-hour long performance presented a showcase ...


 


Copyright © 2024 Windy City Media Group. All rights reserved.
Reprint by permission only. PDFs for back issues are downloadable from
our online archives.

Return postage must accompany all manuscripts, drawings, and
photographs submitted if they are to be returned, and no
responsibility may be assumed for unsolicited materials.

All rights to letters, art and photos sent to Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago
Gay and Lesbian News and Feature Publication) will be treated
as unconditionally assigned for publication purposes and as such,
subject to editing and comment. The opinions expressed by the
columnists, cartoonists, letter writers, and commentators are
their own and do not necessarily reflect the position of Nightspots
(Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay,
Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature Publication).

The appearance of a name, image or photo of a person or group in
Nightspots (Chicago GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times
(a Chicago Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender News and Feature
Publication) does not indicate the sexual orientation of such
individuals or groups. While we encourage readers to support the
advertisers who make this newspaper possible, Nightspots (Chicago
GLBT Nightlife News) and Windy City Times (a Chicago Gay, Lesbian
News and Feature Publication) cannot accept responsibility for
any advertising claims or promotions.

 
 

TRENDINGBREAKINGPHOTOS







Sponsor


 



Donate


About WCMG      Contact Us      Online Front  Page      Windy City  Times      Nightspots
Identity      BLACKlines      En La Vida      Archives      Advanced Search     
Windy City Queercast      Queercast Archives     
Press  Releases      Join WCMG  Email List      Email Blast      Blogs     
Upcoming Events      Todays Events      Ongoing Events      Bar Guide      Community Groups      In Memoriam     
Privacy Policy     

Windy City Media Group publishes Windy City Times,
The Bi-Weekly Voice of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Trans Community.
5315 N. Clark St. #192, Chicago, IL 60640-2113 • PH (773) 871-7610 • FAX (773) 871-7609.