All language subtitles for Gay.Chorus.Deep.South.2019.1080p.WEBRip.x264.AAC5.1-[YTS.MX]

Downloaded from
YTS.MX

♪

Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX

[bell tolls]

[bell tolls]

[bell tolls]

TIM SEELIG:
There is a storm,

and we have to learn to dance
with the storm.

[chorus vocalizing]

[vocalizing continues]

CHORUS:
♪ I have struggled

♪ Through the rain

♪ Felt the sting

♪ Of every pain

♪ Do I take a step

♪ And follow?

♪ Do I trust that

♪ All is well?

♪ If I dance

♪ With the storm

♪ I'll be safe

♪ In your arms

♪ I can see

♪ Past tomorrow

♪ I can feel

♪ All your love

♪ If I dance

♪ With the storm

♪ I'll be safe

♪ I'll be whole

♪ I can run, I can rise

♪ I can face all goodbyes

♪ If I dance

♪ With the storm...

♪ With

♪ The

♪ Storm.

TIM: I would have never thought
to go back home

to my roots in the South
with this chorus.

And when the election happened
and our board chair said,

"Why don't we go to the South?"

I was like, "Really?"

'Cause it's, like, my people.

So I get to go
and sprinkle water

on some pretty dry land.

♪

STEVE HUFFINES: Take that big,
deep breath. Go...

Say thank you and turn around.

ALL:
Thank you.

Well, we watched the vitriol

that was pervading
the entire election process

and the way people were

disregarding
human worth and dignity,

and the way
they treated each other.

And what I realized

was actually that hatred
is the hatred I grew up with.

I grew up in
Birmingham, Alabama,

and it was okay to be
openly racist.

And it was okay
to be homophobic.

[chuckling]:
And, boy, they were.

They were when I was
growing up in Birmingham.

And-and I thought
we had gotten past that.

And now here we are seeing it
on a national scale,

recurring in a way that I never
dreamt was possible.

So we just all

woke up.

♪

And there are two things
that we can do.

We can sing, and we can love.

And so that's where we got the
idea for the Lavender Pen Tour.

♪

♪ Amazing grace

♪ How sweet the sound...

TIM:
Living and walking in the shoes

of an LGBTQ person
is not an easy thing.

We fight perceptions.
We fight bigotry.

We fight discrimination.

Walking into the room
of a gay men's chorus is home.

It's family.

We shed all of that.

There is no one in here that's
gonna discriminate against you,

make fun of you,
bully you or tell you

you don't have the same rights.

It's an amazing place.

Many of you have asked,

why are we singing
religious music?

Because, in the South,
you don't get to making

any kind of effective change

without going
through the church.

For me, when I say, "I once
was lost, but now I'm found,"

was the day that I came out.

Because I was no longer lost.

I was found.

And the rest of my life
has been about truth-telling.

And that's why we're singing
religious music in the South.

-Amen?
-CHORUS: Amen!

-Do I hear a "amen" up in there?
-Amen!

We're gonna sing now.
Don't ... it up.

-Okay.
-[laughter]

♪ I can run

♪ I can hide

♪ I can face all goodbyes

Jesus.

♪ I can chase...

That's not the right words.
... me.

-[dog yaps]
-[laughing]

This is not what I do.

I'm not a cabaret singer

that sits at the piano
and sings. Okay.

♪ I can run...

So, I like to surround myself
with my people

when I'm in here
working or singing.

So I have...
I have queens everywhere.

Just queens and queens.

I have Harvey Milk,
who was, like,

the most famous elected queen.

I have myself meeting the queen.

And, uh, the caption was
"lucky queen,"

meaning whichever one
you wanted to choose.

I grew up in a family full of
Southern Baptist ministers.

My father was a minister.

My mother was a singer
with Billy Graham.

And I was expected to follow
in the footsteps of the family

and become a professional
Southern Baptist.

So, then I did become
the associate minister of music

at First Baptist Church
of Houston,

a tiny church
of 22,000 members.

When, at the age of 35,
I could take it no more.

I was living a lie,
and I couldn't live with myself.

And so I came out,

and I've been conducting

gay and lesbian choruses
ever since.

Early on in my career,

having come right out
of the Baptist church,

I did not know anything
about the gays.

Didn't know about a gay choir.
Had no idea.

And I came to
my first rehearsal,

and there was a young man
on the front covered in sores,

and I had no idea
what that was.

And I asked a friend of mine,
um, "What is that?"

And he said,
"Okay, you're really stupid,

"and you don't know what
you're doing, but I'll tell you.

"It's, um, KS.

That's...
he has full-blown AIDS."

And I-I was like,
"What is he doing at rehearsal?

"This is so weird

that you're that sick
and come to rehearsal."

And he goes,
"Because it's keeping him alive.

It's what's keeping him alive."

And it was one of the moments

that changed my life
dramatically.

And I realized that,

by dealing with men
who have been so wounded,

I had found the vehicle where
my life could find meaning.

TIM:
You're so sweet. Thank you.

I needed that
extra cup of coffee badly.

JIMMY WHITE: The South is
desperate right now

for what we have, so...

Two days ago,
Department of Justice

is arguing in court
that it's okay to...

to fire people
for simply being gay?

-Absolutely. Yeah.
-This is ridiculous.

I was living in New Orleans
with my partner.

I was working as a social worker
at a psychiatric hospital.

They found out I was gay.

And so, suddenly,
I could not have any contact

with the patients,
'cause I think homosexually...

[stammers] homosexuality might
rub off on them or something,

and... or they might catch it
or something? I don't know.

So I was basically reduced
to answering the phone.

I couldn't talk
to any of the patients.

All I could do is answer
the phone and direct the calls.

So we sold everything we owned.

I walked into my job
and said, "... you.

I'm-I'm done."

And we moved out here.

Now, here it is, 20 years later,

and we're still dealing
with this shit.

Correct.

JIMMY: I have family
back in the South.

Spent the first half
of my life there.

I came out

in Jackson, Mississippi,

which is the first stop
of our tour,

so it'll be kind of
interesting to go there.

Haven't been there
in a long time.

TIM:
How long has it been

since you and your dad
have had a conversation?

Hmm.

Six or seven years.

I have cancer now,

and that's where
my energy needs to be.

Not trying to mend something

that's not gonna
ever get mended.

Two days before
my 50th birthday,

he said he wished
I'd never been born.

So, this is the issue for him.

And it would be great
if he came to this concert,

'cause it could maybe open
some things up for him.

-Jimmy...
-Yes.

-I'm calling you on your shit.
-Okay.

Here-here's the deal.

You know, right now
you're assuming

your dad knows how much...

-how-how much it means to you.
-Mm.

And now you're acting
like a Southerner.

-Mm.
-Stop it.

-Right.
-Say what you need,

say what you want,
and you tell him

how important it is
that he is in the audience.

-[dogs barking]
-MITZI WHITE: Quit barking.

Quit barking.

[barking continues]

Okay, that's enough.

-[indistinct chatter]
-[barking, howling]

Doggy... that's not

Southern hospitality.

Quit barking.

Okay.

You see my dog graveyard?

MITZI:
Hasn't been out there yet.

Behind us, there's...

Uh, I've had Boston bulldogs
since I was six years old.

And I've got four
buried back here.

This one is the smartest.

Well, I'm sorry he bit you.

He has a bad attitude.

You got to realize
that I'm from the old school.

I'm from the Bible Belt.

It's not a way of life
I was brought up with.

And...

progress has been made
throughout the whole country,

but the South has always been
a very religious-type deal.

What he does
with his lifestyle is...

that's his business.

It's not mine.

It's not something I'm gonna do.

MITZI:
His dad, he knows

the chorus is coming
to Jackson.

And he hasn't really
mentioned it.

It's probably gonna take a
little doing to get him to go.

In fact,

it probably would be any chorus.

[chuckling]:
He's-he's not real big on...

Unless it's the Eagles

or Three Dog Night
or Neil Diamond,

he don't go to see 'em.

You know, he's not gonna
just go see a chorus.

It is his son singing
in the chorus.

And that's why I'm going to try
my darndest to get him to go.

Because, you know, you don't
know what the future holds.

You don't know...
this might be the only time

he would ever see him perform
and hear him,

and that's what
I'm gonna stress to him.

That, you know,
you need to do this.

You need to do this for Jimmy,

and you need to do it
for yourself.

TIM: This chorus has
an amazing history.

And in that very beginning,

the first thing we did was,

in week number four,
gather and join

the tens of thousands of people
at the candlelight vigil

for Harvey Milk
the day he was assassinated.

So we're gonna go back

to that very first song
that the chorus sang,

and we're going to sing
"Singing for Our Lives."

In the most troubled of times,

singing and music has carried us
through those times.

And this music--

this very music,
this very song--

has helped carry this chorus
for 40 years.

♪

♪ We are a peaceful

♪ Loving people

♪ And we are singing

♪ Singing for our lives

♪ We are gay and straight
together ♪

♪ And we are singing

♪ Singing for our lives...

[phone beeps]

MAN [over phone]:
No, you're gonna bring

the fight to the South.

No, you're gonna bring
a bunch of city-slickin',

evil Sodom-and-Gomorrahites

living in these wicked cities
in America.

You people need to get back in

your little stupid closets
where you belong.

Quit acting like everybody
wanting to accept you,

'cause that is never
gonna happen.

You're not persecuted.

This isn't a civil right.

It's called what's right
and what's wrong.

Bunch of perverts.

There's no amount of singing
that's gonna fix that.

♪ We are a land of many colors

♪ And we are singing

♪ Singing for our lives

♪ We are a gentle

♪ Angry people

♪ And we are singing

♪ Singing for our lives

♪ We are gentle, we are angry

♪ We are young and we are old

♪ We are gay, straight, trans,
cis, a land of many colors ♪

♪ We are
justice-seeking people ♪

♪ And we will keep on

♪ Singing

♪ Because we're singing,
singing, singing ♪

♪ Singing

♪ Singing for

♪ Our lives...

-[song ends]
-[cheering and applause]

♪

-MAN: You can kind of all
cram on two chairs. -Yeah.

-Can you cram
on two chairs? -Yeah.

You guys just drove in a car
together, right, for, like...?

-We did.
-Okay.

Great.

You're gonna be looking
right at him.

-Right straight in.
-Okay. Yeah.

[laughing]:
Have y'all hit record?

-It's... we're shooting.
-Oh, okay, okay.

All right, ask me a question.

The political system right now
is just in complete turmoil,

and anything that can be done

to push people
in the right direction

is excellent, in my opinion.

MAN:
When you're listening to music,

you don't see black,
you don't see white,

you don't see man,
you don't see woman,

you don't see gay,
you don't see straight.

It's... the-the music
just rolls over you.

Music is a universal language.
Everyone speaks that language.

And we are dealing
with a very divisive

political climate right now,
so what I want to do is,

let's enjoy each other,
embrace each other's differences

and just, like, look,
let's learn from this.

It's, uh,
heartbreaking at times.

But, uh, that's one thing
about our community,

is we are good at celebration

and finding ways
to keep hope going around.

You know, but it is
an uphill battle.

CHRIS VERDUGO:
This last summer,

when we came on our advance
tour, we had the opportunity

to meet this beautiful
transgender woman.

She is the coordinator
for the ACLU's

Transgender Education
and Advocacy Program.

And it is an honor
to be able to take

some of our funds
and benefit the ACLU.

Please help me in welcoming
Malaysia Walker.

[cheering]

MALAYSIA: If Mississippi
is the Hospitality State,

like they say they are,

then everyone needs
to be included.

You know,

a lot of our rights
are being violated

because of 45... or whatever.

You know, commander in chief,
whomever the hell he is.

You know, a lot of, um, issues

have come with him
being elected.

Because they're steadily
snatching away our life.

MAN: We have a person
who's been elected

to the highest office
in our land

who got there
because he appealed to fear.

-WOMAN: Yes.
-But how powerful it is

that you come to the place

where we have historically
embraced a fear of one another.

-Yes. -WOMAN: But you
still have fearmongers

who are codifying hate,
um, in our state.

WOMAN 2:
That terrible bill.

That terrible bill, HB 1523,

is the reason
that we are kicking off

the Lavender Pen Tour
here in Jackson.

We know that it is
the most heinous

anti-LGBT legislation
in the country.

You know, our hope is to be able
to magnify and amplify

what it is that you all
are doing in the community.

MALAYSIA: HB 1523 is a law that
allows legal discrimination

because it violates their, uh,

"religious beliefs."

Because, of course,
in Mississippi,

you say anything about, uh,
you know, anti-LGBT,

everybody finna jump on it.

But what happened is,
they persuaded folks

to think that it was, you know,
anti-LGBTQ people,

but it's anti-everyone.

GOSPEL CHOIR:
♪ Somebody's calling my name

♪ Oh, my Lord...

MALAYSIA: This is just like
the civil rights movement,

what we're going through now.

CHRIS:
In 30 states, you can still be

fired or kicked out
of your home

for being gay, lesbian,
bisexual or transgender.

So, are we really equal?
No, we're not.

What we're looking for is
equal protection under the law.

Period.
And once we have that,

we as a community will breathe
a deep sigh of relief.

[cheering]

♪

CHOIR:
♪ I will sing unto the Lord

♪ A new song

♪ Hallelujah,
sing praises to thee ♪

♪ I will lift the Savior up
for all men to see ♪

♪ Hallelujah,
sing praises to thee ♪

♪ For there's no other place
I'd rather be ♪

♪ Hallelujah,
sing praises to thee ♪

♪ Hallelujah...

TIM:
On the day after the election,

the Oakland Interfaith
Gospel Choir contacted us

and said,
"We would like to go with you."

So we got on the phone

with their executive director,

and we're like,
"Really? Really?"

He goes, "Oh, this is...
this is our mission.

"We sing gospel music,
but our singing membership

"represents 13 religions
and some with no religion.

"This is not about Jesus.

It's about--
we love gospel music."

TERRANCE KELLY: We share
the need to bring love, hope

and acceptance to the world.

And that's why we needed
to go on tour

with San Francisco
Gay Men's Chorus to the South.

♪ Everybody dancing

♪ Everybody giving it up
to him ♪

♪ Everybody dancing

♪ Everybody giving it up
to him ♪

♪ Dancing.

-[song ends]
-[whooping, clapping]

TERRANCE: Being a gospel choir
can open doors in the South

that SFGMC can't.

Even though a full third
of the choir is gay.

[chuckles]

Hmm.

JIMMY: This has been
kind of a dream of mine

for a-a while, to bring chorus

to the communities
in this country

that are suffering.

You know, maybe we should
take a minute

to imagine the impact
that we're gonna have here.

A big wave of love.

Lavender ripple effect
going out.

My family's coming to see me.

So, here we are, finally.

I'm hoping my dad

will become a little bit
more open-minded.

Maybe it'll crack open
a little bit of that...

right-wing...

...hate anything that's
different from the norm,

you know, veneer that he has.

I doubt it, but one can hope.

-Hey!
-MITZI: Hey.

[chuckles] Hey.

I thought this was
a one-man show.

-[Jimmy laughs]
-Now's your chance.

-You look lovely.
-Well, thank you.

-Mm.
-You look very handsome.

-Thank you. -So excited
we all get to be here.

-Me, too.
-Mm-hmm.

Hey there, old man.

Hey. How you doing?

-I'm good.
-[grunts]

Y'all just look alike
more and more each day.

-Do we really?
-Yes, you do.

JIMMY SR.:
Hmm.

JIMMY:
Cool.

♪

[chorus vocalizing]

PHILLIP WHITELY:
♪ I've got the picture

♪ That you gave to me

♪ And it's signed with love

♪ Just like it used to be

-♪ The only thing different
-CHORUS: ♪ Ah♪

♪ The only thing new

♪ Ah♪

♪ I've got the picture

♪ And she's got you

♪ I've got the records

♪ That we used to share

♪ And they still
sound the same ♪

♪ As when you gave them, dear

-♪ The only thing different
-♪ Ah♪

♪ The only thing new

♪ Ah♪

♪ I've got the records

♪ And she's got you

♪ Ah-ah-ah-ah♪

[groaning]

[audience laughing]

[laughter, cheering]

[plays ascending notes]

♪ I've got the class ring

♪ That proved you cared

[laughter]

♪ And it still looks the same

♪ As when you gave it, dear

-♪ The only thing different
-♪ Ah♪

♪ The only thing new

♪ Ah♪

♪ I've got these
little things... ♪

♪ These little things♪

♪ And she's got you

♪ I've got these things♪

♪ She's got you.♪

[cheering and applause]

[indistinct chatter]

-Steve.
-Did you see your dad yet?

I'm about to go see him
right now to find out.

Yeah.

[indistinct chatter, laughter]

Judy said, "I can't see him."

And I said, "Watch that little
turtle head bop."

[laughing]

-Gopher, gopher.
-I think the last song

was probably my favorite.

Ask Pappy what
his favorite song was.

Which one was yours?

-Oh...
-MAN: Patsy Cline.

-Patsy Cline. -Yeah.
-[laughter]

It was great. Really good.

I enjoyed it,
believe it or not.

MITZI:
Oh, the... the spiritual...

Oh, she can rattle it with you.

MITZI:
Oh, my God.

-It was good.
-It was good.

I'm so glad y'all came.

I know, it was. It was good.

Thank you, thank you, thank you
for making the trip up here.

Thank you. Mm. Okay.

["You Can't Judge a Book by Its
Cover" by Bo Diddley playing]

♪ Can't judge an apple
by looking at a tree ♪

♪ You can't judge honey
by looking at the bee ♪

♪ You can't judge a daughter
by looking at the mother ♪

♪ You can't judge a book
by looking at the cover ♪

♪ Oh, can't you see

♪ Oh, you misjudge me

♪ I look like a farmer

♪ But I'm a lover

♪ Can't judge a book
by looking at the cover. ♪

♪

[song fades]

TIM: So, here's what I do
in the morning.

I am going to be a guest
on Real Newson WERT.

[cheering and applause]

From your applause, I can tell

-that you don't listen
to that station. -[laughter]

They espouse everything that is
the opposite of what I believe.

It is gonna be awesome.
I got an interview

-with the alt-right.
-[laughter]

RADIO ANNOUNCER: Thank you
for listening to the best

conservative talk in Knoxville.

NICK CRAWFORD:
He's got some passionate

feelings about health care.

MALE CALLER:
When people are listening

to President Trump talk
about health care costs

or they're listening
to the Democratic Party,

who wants to give everybody
everything,

uh, you know, what's next?

You know, so you got
health care right now.

Oh, and, you know,
the minute you're born,

you... you're owed housing.

You're not owed housing.

You got to work for it.

NICK: 8:08 here on talk radio
92.3 FM broadcasting live.

We have Mr. Tim Seelig.
He's the artistic director,

-uh, of the Gay Men's Chorus
in San Francisco. -Right.

You're going around to cities
all around the Southeast.

-We are.
-Promoting unity and peace.

-That's correct.
-Sounds wonderful.

-Isn't that great?
-I mean, A-- I, uh...

-I was in honors choir when I
was in high school. -Awesome.

And I just love... I mean,
love you out there, ladies.

Love you.
Love... I love you altos.

I love you sopranos and first...

especially first sopranos
and things like that.

But I love a good men's choir.

GRANT HENRY:
When you initially started this,

spread this message
of peace and unity,

it doesn't seem like
there's exactly a...

a reciprocation, if you will,
from the other side, right?

I-I guess what I'm asking is,
is there further things

to be done to sort of
bridge that unity?

And-and mostly importantly,
was there a specific moment

or cause or impetus
behind starting

such a movement like this,
at the time that you did?

We're hurting. We're scared.

We're frightened.
We woke up after the election.

And I'm talking about
the LGBT community

and other communities that
sometimes are called "other."

Anybody that's "other"
got scared.

And so, this is a concert tour
with activism behind it.

All the 300 singers
paid their own way

so that in every city,

every dollar we raise
from tickets or donations

stays with beneficiaries
in that... in that city.

So we are raising money,
and it will be divided,

um, among four beneficiaries
that we've chosen.

-NICK: Abso...
That is fantastic. -Yeah.

And also I want to say, too,
um, no matter who you are

and how you fell, uh,
during the election,

I think, after the fallout,

literally,
no matter who you are,

political persuasion,
wherever you come from,

there's been a lot of nonsense,
no matter who you are,

that has been in response
to the election,

and anybody out there using art
to spread the message of unity,

I think that's... and-and peace,

it's probably more important
than politics at the moment,

because we can't have
political discussions,

rational ones,

if people are swinging
baseball bats at each other.

-Right.
-Or even just angry epithets.

-Sure. -Uh, no matter
where you come from.

And I think it's a beautiful
thing and a beautiful sentiment,

and I hope that people
are touched by the sentiment.

-Yeah. Thank you.
-Got to take a short break.

Stay with us.

TIM:
Great.

This was not the show
we thought we were coming to.

-We were armed.
-[laughing]: Oh, okay.

-Dang it.
-NICK: See, I think you'll find

that the people who are hostile,

I think there's probably
a little bit of a, um...

a myth out in California that,
like, there's all these people

-down here in the South
that are hostile. -Abso... so...

-I know... I know we're leaving.
-Those are the...

-That is the extreme minority.
-Here's the cool thing.

-Absolutely true.
-It is the extreme minority.

The cool thing is, I, being...

I mean, we think
those people are weird.

-Mm-hmm. -You know?
-A lot of the false assumptions

on both sides create
these fake realities

that we all just exist in,
you know?

And unless you ever really try
and pursue real reality,

what we talk about
all the time...

NICK:
That's what we say all the time.

Reality's coming back.
We're all people.

We're all just trying
to make it, you know?

-Thanks.
-Hey, no, thank you.

-That was great.
-Thanks for coming out.

♪

JOSH BURFORD:
The South is a myth, right?

The South is
a distancing technique.

The South has been a place for
people to overlay their fear.

And I think the tour
has engendered

two very particular reactions.

There are plenty of people
that want this

to happen because--

let's bring attention to
the needs of local communities.

That's a great idea.

But then the other side
of it is,

after being ignored for so long,

the idea of a... of a prominent
national organization

doing a goodwill tour
in the South

feels very white, paternalist
and condescending.

And so it's like, I'm sorry,

you want to do what
in the South?

Like, did anyone ask
for this kind of help?

I'm of two minds myself.

I know that in the past
the experiences that I've had

with large queer communities
that are urban

and not in the South
has not been good.

The way we describe it locally
is that people show up

thinking we're a bunch of
dirt-eating cousin ...

There's no way to nuance that

with people
whose version of the South is

Gone with the Wind
or Uncle Tom's Cabin.

And that's all
the South they get.

But the South is radical
and pissed off

and anti-assimilationist
as much as it is friendly

-and eating cornbread and grits.
-Right.

And we're all those things
simultaneously.

There's no way for us to...

to fix that part of you
that is resentful

-that we're coming.
-[laughing]: No.

We can't fix it.

Um, however, uh,
what I can say is

it never was the intent.

And I think that-that people,

uh, that choose to look
at our tour here in that light,

there's nothing I can do
to change them.

But there are all these people
in the middle,

in Charlotte,
in Jackson, Mississippi...

-Yeah.
-...that really, um,

can... can be affected.

That's the people
that we're going after.

[sighs] Sit up straight.

I think sometimes we get stuck

in thinking that things
are harder here

than they are other places
when, really, there is

a vibrancy
and a resiliency here.

And-and, in fact, sometimes,

because you have to work
so much harder at it,

the community feels stronger.

WOMAN: We're oppressed,
you know, obviously,

but we're also
such a close-knit community,

and-and that in itself
is really beautiful.

Finding community in a place

where it's not easy
to just be yourself.

Everyone assumes
that just because

you're a queer in the South

that you are not okay,
that you are struggling.

Um, we are incredibly resilient,

incredibly strong,
incredibly brave.

But there are those narratives
that still continue.

So the friends that I do have
that are in the gay community

or, like, any minority here,
pretty much,

it's, um, hush tones.

They have to hide
their identity a lot more,

it seems, um,

'cause they're afraid
of their neighbors.

Because of our very, very strong
religious background

here in the South, um,
a lot of people are still...

they still have the Bible
thrown at them

for all these terrible things.

And the hyp... hypocrisy

and the-the bigotry
still exists in a big, big way.

My grandparents are homophobic.

And, uh, I remember going
to my first Pride Fest,

like, two years ago,
and I brought home a flag,

and they just burned it
on our backyard.

[insects chirping]

STEVE: This is the place
where my life turned to hell.

That gym right there,

Mr. McDaniel,
who was our principal,

uh, made fun of a student
who was perceived to be gay

in front of the entire school.

[sighs] The worst thing
you could be called was a homo.

You could be a murderer,

you could be a rapist,
you could be anything,

but the one thing
that you couldn't be was gay.

I am angry when I come back
here, what happened to me,

but I'm more angry that
it didn't just happen to me.

It's happening
to a lot of other kids

and probably happening
to kids right now.

That's why I want to come here.

I want to come for those kids.

RILEY McLEOD: When I started
to date this trans guy,

just the reaction to it
was completely extreme.

You know, they took me
out of high school.

And at one point, they had
kicked me out of the house.

They put me in
a Christian school,

and they had me going
to a Christian therapist

and all these things.

Um, it was just
kind of explosive,

just the way that they reacted
to the whole situation.

My parents really...
they-they could stop me

from going to the concert.

Obviously, I really,
really want to go.

And I want to have
this experience with everyone.

I'll never forget
this conversation

that I had with my dad.

He gave up on his art
because his dad sat down

and told him that it was
making people, like,

perceive him to be weird,
I guess.

So he gave up on his art
to become more likable.

And I was sitting there
the whole time

thinking he's gonna
get to the point

where he tells me
that I shouldn't do that.

That I shouldn't give up on
being myself for other people.

And it didn't get to that.

It got to: "I think you
should change yourself,

"and you should be the way
that other people want you to be

"because that's how
you're gonna be the happiest.

"You're gonna be the happiest
when other people around you

like you and are
supportive to you."

When you come out,
you already have to accept

that suddenly all the movies
aren't about you.

All the songs aren't about you.

-Yeah.
-Everything isn't about you.

-You have to accept that...
-You can't relate.

You have to accept that

even in one of
the more accepting countries,

only about half the population
even supports gay marriage.

Yeah.

ASHLEÉ BLOW:
♪ I am changing

[cheering]

♪ Trying to...

ANNOUNCER:
Hello, hello, hello, everybody.

-How are you?
-[cheering]

Thank you so much
for coming out tonight.

What a great crowd.

Please give it up for Ashlé.

♪ I'm trying

♪ To find a way

♪ To understand

♪ But I need you

♪ I need you

♪ I need a hand

♪ I am changing

♪ Seeing everything
so clear... ♪

ASHLEÉ: I joined the chorus
under a different name

and looking a lot different,
so...

I'm transgender,
and I'm actually transitioning.

So, for the last year,

I've been transitioning
from male to female.

And when I started
transitioning last year,

I was very nervous that I
wasn't going to be accepted.

I was worried that I would
have to give up my community.

And what happened
was the exact opposite.

These men made it
very clear to me

that I was welcomed here

and I didn't have to go
anywhere.

♪ All over again, oh...

Being ashamed of who I was
as a feminine person,

after years of suppressing
all that,

at a later age,
all that finally came out,

and I was able to be myself.

And it's changed my life

so much.

It's almost like
this feeling of euphoria.

♪ Now...

[cheering and applause]

Whew.

Oh, that feels good. Mm.

[takes a deep breath]

When I first heard
about the tour

and I was going through
my transition,

I thought, well,
how do I fit into this?

Because there's no way
I can hide in the South

looking the way that I do.

And at first, I was like,
I'm not sure I want to go.

I'm not sure if I'm in
a good headspace for that.

And someone said to me this
could be transformative for me.

And one thing I thought about
is making connections.

We can make connections when
we go outside of our community.

-[dogs barking]
-[insects chirping]

-CINDY: Hi. Welcome.
-ASHLEÉ: Hi.

-I'm Cindy.
-Cindy, Ashlé. Nice to meet you.

-Nice to meet you.
-I'm Frank. Nice to meet you.

Frank, nice to meet you.
I'm a hugger.

Oh, wow.

-Welcome to Alabama.
-Hi.

-Hi. Come on in.
-Thank you so much.

-Thank you so much.
-You're welcome. Right on in.

MAN: Let's bow.
Our Holy Father in Heaven,

we thank you so much
for this day.

We thank you for the safety of
our friends as they've traveled,

and ask, Father, that you will
continue to give them safety

and, uh, help them as they are
going through the tour,

that-that all things
will go well.

And in all these situations
that we'll always

be like neighbors and help
one another out. Amen.

Mm...

I used to be in chorus
when I was in high school.

And, um, I... we... at our
congregation and our belief

is we don't use instruments with
the way we worship the Lord.

Because we don't find examples
of that in the New Testament.

But I have great memories
of being in the chorus.

While I'm not a terribly
religious person anymore,

you know, I still have
this spiritual energy,

this spiritual connection,

partly 'cause I grew up
in a church.

And it was just... it's so hard
for me to go back to that

because of the way
I was treated as a child.

Like, in the Pentecostal church,

I was prayed over,
like, every week.

Like, when I was...

when I came out as,
you know, gay at 16, 17,

"pray the gay away" and-and,
you know, "remove the demons"

and "you're a horrible person"
and that sort of thing.

And that just leaves
so many scars when you keep

trying to change
or be something different,

and you're like,
why isn't it working?

I keep doing this,
and-and it just...

it breaks your spirit.

So it's hard for me
to go back there.

CINDY:
We love everybody's soul,

and we hope to bring
as many people

to Heaven with us as we can,

and that's one of those feelings
that I think our...

that's why we have
the hospitality that we do.

MAN:
It-it-it's not that

we've got to agree
on a particular thing,

but as-as long as we can agree
to... to be civil,

as long as we can agree
to accept--

-that's your decision.
-Mm-hmm.

-My decision might be different.
-Yeah.

But you don't wake up
every morning

deciding your life based on
what I believe or what I think.

And I don't wake up
every day going, okay...

And-and that's where I think,
sometimes,

it's like, no,
you've got to accept this.

You know, you've got to believe
this instead of just going,

"Where's the way
where we could work together

where we don't inter...
interfere with one another?"

Being here, being able
to have a-a conversation,

whether we agree or disagree
with each other, is important.

And I wish that
we could see, like,

-more of this just in society.
-Yes.

-The fact that you opened
your home up to us... -Yes.

I could not imagine,
you know, years ago

sitting, um, you know,
in-in the South,

-in-in Birmingham, Alabama,
-[laughter]

with a family that...
just opening their doors to us.

And it's just beautiful,
so thank you.

-MAN: Uh, is that better?
-MAN 2: I don't know.

There. There we go.
That looks better.

[indistinct chatter, laughter]

[cheering and applause]

TIM:
How do you like it?

There are some ground rules

about a concert
when I'm there is,

you just never know
what to expect.

But, people, here's the deal.

I spent my entire life,

up until six and a half
years ago, in Texas.

Now, I know.

No, don't boo or hiss.
Don't do it.

-[laughter]
-So...

uh, until I was 35 years old,

I was the associate
minister of music

at the First Baptist Church
of Houston, Texas,

with a beautiful wife
and two beautiful children,

-when I came out.
-[scattered applause]

No, no, no, no, no.
No, you don't need to clap.

-It was shit, so...
-[laughter]

No, no, no.

"Oh, that's nice."

[laughter]

"I bet that went well for you."

Yeah, well, no, it didn't.

I could never say
what was bothering me.

I fought it as long as I could.

I knew it...

but did what I was
supposed to do.

And that was go to
a nice Baptist college

and marry a nice Baptist girl.

And my wife and I, we would
sing together in church,

doing pageants and dressing up

and putting on makeup,
which I don't even do now.

And I knew all along

that there was something
deeply wrong with this.

But I thought I could
certainly pray it away and...

and I was a strong person
and I could do this.

♪

As we traveled, many people
flocked around Jesus.

Many of them wanted
to be healed.

Many of them
wanted to see again.

When I professed that I am
a creature of God

and God made me gay,

the church chose
to throw me out.

A group from the church

sat me down and said,
"Here's what's gonna happen.

"You're gonna pack your car

"with whatever you can get
in your car.

"You're gonna say goodbye
to your kids,

"and you're gonna leave,
and you're not gonna come back.

"And we're gonna tell the kids

"that you're on a concert tour.

"And it'll give everybody
some time

to figure all of this out."

I will never get over
that pain.

The church made a very
conscious decision to fire me.

They were not going to stop
until I had lost everything.

My house was foreclosed.

Bankruptcy.

Lost both of my jobs.

So, what was there to live for?

I think my ex-wife
would have done a lot better

without the church behind her
saying, you know,

"Hurt him as much as you can.

We are going to make sure
that he's ruined."

And then she moved away
with my two kids,

and I was not able to see them.

I hate the church

for all of the things
they did to my family.

It would be really easy
for us to stay at home

in our San Francisco bubble

and say,
"I'm done with the hurt.

I'm done with the rejection.
Let's just stay here."

But we're not gonna
get anywhere

by just singing
to our own people.

[church organ playing]

One of the important aspects
of this tour is

-for our members to reconnect
to their roots... -Mm-hmm.

-...and to understand
that we can... -Mm-hmm.

-We don't sing in churches.
-Mm-hmm.

Actually, there are very few
churches in San Francisco.

-Mm. -So this is gonna be
a spiritual journey.

MAN: Well, it's-it's
a common thing here

for those LGBTQ+ individuals

to transcend the faith tradition
that they grew up with.

They learn how to let it go,

to leave it behind,
even leave the South.

-Like, "I'm-I'm getting
out of here." -Right.

And there are
so many people that...

they really do want that,
and they can't have it.

-It's been taken from them,
and so... -Right.

...they need to come back
and redeem it

and reclaim it
and make it their own again.

Because they can't be whole

until they can go back
and do that.

Yeah.

So, what did you all
have in mind?

We know that some people
are not gonna come

hear the San Francisco
Gay Men's Chorus.

And we want to provide
the opportunity to, um...

to reach out in churches.

What we need is a place to sing.

WOMAN:
Everybody right here

would absolutely love
to have you.

But the man that stuck
his hand in the door

is our new senior minister.
He has-has the final say.

-Sure. Of course.
-And, um,

we just don't know
what he's gonna say.

But we are going to ask him,
and it...

-and I hope he will say yes.
-Mm-hmm.

Because I'm going to be really
disappointed if he says no.

Thank you.

♪

TIM:
"I'm writing to let you know

"that the church that I love
with all my heart

"has said no to the request
for using our space

for the San Francisco
Gay Men's Chorus."

They have a new senior minister

who is homophobic
and discriminatory.

And he does not like

the direction
that the church was going,

which was toward inclusion.

And he was placed there
by the bishop to turn it around.

And so he started with us.

CHORUS:
♪ Love can build a bridge

♪ Between your heart and mine

♪ Love can build a bridge

♪ Don't you think it's time?

♪ Don't you think
it's time? ♪

MAN: The civil rights movement
came here.

The Brown Chapel became
the place where all the activity

of the civil rights movement
took place.

We marched into history.

And we inspired the world.

Today, we connect Selma
to Stonewall, to Castro.

We bring all of that together.

And what binds us together

is our humanity
and our personal hope.

MAN: We want to thank you guys
for coming to Selma.

And we know that, uh, Selma has

a lot of historical significance
to everybody.

And at the end of the day,
I like to say

they took that bridge for hate
and changed it to love.

-[applause]
-So thank you all for coming.

God clearly says
homosexuality is abomination.

He didn't create
people like that.

And then to, on top of that,

try to twist it
and say it's discrimination,

and then come to a place
that was known, you know,

of civil rights movements
and try to compare it,

I mean, that's just a fallacy.

If you think logically about it,

it doesn't...
it doesn't match up.

I've actually
gone through this before.

This was a struggle for me
for years

where I had felt like I was gay,

and I didn't want
to be that way.

Because I know for a fact
that it's wrong in the Bible.

And so I did my best to
stray away from that lifestyle.

Which is why I found
the best person on earth

right here next to me.

I've never actually been
with a girl,

but I've had these,
you know, feelings

like I belong with a girl,
but I know for a fact

my religion says that's wrong,
so I wasn't gonna

go against my religion for that.

CHORUS:
♪ We shall overcome

♪ We shall overcome

♪ Someday

♪ Deep in my heart...

TERRANCE: Bringing 200 gay men
into any church

is gonna test it,

along with a whole bunch
of non-Christians

singing on
the Interfaith Choir.

[chuckling]:
So that's pushing just about

every kind of button
you can push.

-♪ We shall♪
-♪ We shall

♪ We shall overcome someday

-♪ We shall♪
-♪ We shall

♪ We shall overcome

-♪ We shall♪
-♪ We shall

♪ We shall overcome

-♪ We shall♪
-♪ We shall

♪ We shall overcome

-♪ We shall♪
-♪ We shall

♪ We shall overcome

♪ Deep in my heart

♪ I do believe

-♪ We shall♪
-♪ We shall

-♪ We shall♪ - We shall ♪

-♪ We shall♪
-♪ We shall

-♪ We shall♪ - We shall ♪

♪ We shall overcome

♪ Some...

♪ Day.

[cheering and applause]

TIM: We don't expect that
within six months

Mississippi is gonna
change its mind

or North Carolina's gonna
change its bigotry

over the bathroom bill.

What we are focused on

is that every person
that we do meet

has an interaction
that changes them.

That's about it.

RILEY:
There she is. Hey.

-How y'all doing?
-What a hottie.

[laughing]

I've been looking forward
to this

for, like, months, I guess,
to be able to go to a concert.

Especially, like,
for a group that,

you know, are people like us.

Yeah, just be able to be open
in a public venue.

-Yeah.
-[laughing]

I think there's also, like,
a scary part to it.

Like, it's a huge risk
to go out and be openly gay,

because there's so many things
going on now.

-And it's just, like... scary.
-Especially in the Bible Belt.

Yeah, and...

RILEY: You just kind of
have to worry about people

taking something like this,
like this concert,

to an extreme level, uh,
and taking it as, like,

an attack on
a "Southern way of life"

or however they might
describe it.

The-the-the ratio of people
who are accepting

to the ratio of people
who are not accepting

-is very disheartening.
-Yeah.

Yeah.

♪ We feel, we hear

♪ Your pain, your fear

♪ But we're here to say

♪ Who you are

♪ Is okay

♪ And you don't have to
go through this ♪

♪ On your own

♪ You're not alone

CHORUS: ♪ You have more friends
than you know ♪

♪ Some who surround you

♪ Some you are
destined to meet ♪

♪ You'll have more love
in your life ♪

♪ Don't let go, give it time

♪ Take it slow

♪ Those who love you the most

♪ May need more time to grow

♪ It's gonna be okay

♪ You have more friends
than you know... ♪

TOM PAULINO:
To be able to meet you guys

and to sing to you guys
and share

what our love and appreciation
of music and art is with you

is probably the highest honor
that we have.

People who are out in places
where it's not easy to be out

is the coolest damn thing.

RILEY:
Yeah, so,

as I, like, mentioned,
I'm not really out yet.

And I wasn't even really able
to be honest

about where I am right now
with my family.

It is kind of hard for me to...

you know, to get to be myself
in my own home.

And, you know,
I haven't been very, like,

actively involved
in, like, this community

just because I-I haven't really
had the opportunity

just 'cause my parents have been
so closely monitoring me.

So, to be able to get out today
and come to this

is, like,
a huge opportunity for me.

And it's-it's amazing
because I'm just...

I feel so, like, grateful to be
around people who are so open.

And it seriously means
the world to me to be here.

We have a phrase
in the chorus that says,

"You have to be the one that
you needed when you were 14."

And...

I-I can't tell you
how many people

are gonna look out
into the audience and see that.

CHORUS:
♪ Some who surround you

♪ Some you are
destined to meet ♪

♪ You'll have more love
in your life ♪

♪ Don't let go, give it time

-♪ Give it time♪
-♪ Take it slow

♪ Take it slow♪

♪ Those who love you the most

♪ May need more time to grow

♪ It's gonna be okay

♪ It's gonna be okay

SOLOIST:
♪ You're gonna be okay

♪ You have more friends

♪ Than you know

CHORUS:
♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh♪

SOLOIST:
♪ More friends

♪ Than you know.

[applause]

WOMAN:
Your chest.

Anywhere you feel.

Any time the negative emotions
start to emerge.

[over speakers]:
Observe that emotion.

And repeat to yourself:

"This area is love.

This area is me."

And you need to breathe
deeply, right to

the very bottom of your belly.

WOMAN:
I hear from y'all a lot about

the relief that comes
from figuring out

that, like, internal identity

and external performance,
but I also hear talk

about having that responsibility

of other people's
perceptions on you.

ASHLEÉ:
It was a great thing for me

to learn that trans
is this umbrella

and-and everybody has
their own personal journey

and their own personal identity.

And I think, for some people,

they expected that
I was gonna transition

and also become, like,
Laverne Cox or something.

-[light laughter]
-You know, or my drag persona

with, like, all the hair
and the lipstick

every day and-and all that.

And-and I think people
are realizing that it...

it's not about hair and makeup.

It's interesting, also, Ashlé,
hearing you talk about,

like, how you look-- because you
look very feminine to me.

And so, I mean, again,
it's like--

for me to judge or say
anything like that,

but it's interesting again,
that internal feeling

-versus the external feeling.
-Yeah, yeah.

And whereas, like, for you,

for yourself,
I'm sure you are, um,

-like, looking at yourself
very closely. -Yes.

'Cause on any given day--
and it happens every day--

like, I'll be called
"ma'am" and "sir"

-by many different people.
-Right.

I have a hard time
understanding how other people

-see me because of that.
-Perceive you.

Like, I always feel like
I have to be

either on one side or the other.

Like there's not really
a middle place for me.

The tour has exposed

a lot of things
that I need to figure out.

Maybe there's somewhere
in the middle

that I can exist
as a gender-fluid person.

I see kids
younger and younger now--

they just don't care.

Like, they're playing
somewhere in the middle

or they're like,
they're this one day,

they're that one day.

And maybe it's
a generational thing,

and I feel like
it has to be this

or it has to be that.

And I'm not giving myself
a break and saying,

"You can be somewhere
in the middle. It's-it's okay."

A friend of mine

gave me this thing up here,

and he could see
that I was struggling.

And that's... I don't know,

that's what
"Love Can Build a Bridge"

means to me now.

It's just... it's bridging
that-that gap that I had in me.

[sniffs]

[sighs, sniffs]

And now I have to
sing that later. [chuckles]

[sniffs, sighs]

[inhales deeply]

Think I'm ready.

JIMMY:
The whole week has been taxing.

Made me realize the cancer's
making me weaker.

The energy level
has definitely dropped.

The hospital called yesterday

and bumped up the surgery
to next Tuesday, so...

-Yeah?
-Uh, start chemo next week.

-I'm just like, I'm ready...
-So you're wore out.

-You're wore out.
-I'm tired.

-But you're here, and there's
a lot of love. -I'm here.

-And this is... -And there's
a lot of stuff going on.

It's so uplifting, you know.

I'm just happy to see you.

-Oh, I'm so glad
to see you, too. -I'm so happy.

-I missed seeing you.
-Yes.

-And Mama said hey.
-Oh. Tell her I said hi.

-She was like...
-Tell her I said hi.

She was like,
"Are 'y'all going?"

I said, "We're gonna...
we're here right now.

We're gonna see him
in a couple hours."

-Awesome. Awesome. -So she was,
like, excited, so...

I just love you.

JIMMY:
I'm so happy.

-So, so happy you drove up here.
-I'm so glad.

You got to see
everybody in Jackson,

-then you get to see us here.
-I know, really.

My entire family now
has seen me sing.

-Can you take a picture
of us, please? -Yes.

Awesome. Awesome.

That particular concert
opened a door.

A little crack in the door

so that a bridge
could be built.

-[Scarlett squeals]
-Love it.

[chuckling]:
I look different. That's good.

Can't put it in words.

It's too profound.

I feel hopeful, though.

Definitely feel hopeful.

For mending relationships, um,

music heals, so...

It's healed me.
It's healing me.

Continues to heal me.

TIM:
All right.

Let's see. Oh, my gosh.

-Who are you people?
-[laughter]

Geez.

Every night, we've had,
like, three or four.

-What is this Charlotte thing?
-[laughter]

John.

Hi. These are my parents,

Tim and Melody
from Columbus, Ohio.

-[cheering, applause]
-MAN: My mother's best friend

and best friends of the family,

Mary and Chuck
are here from Topeka, Kansas.

[cheering, applause]

MAN:
This is my cousin Rhonda

and her husband Scott that I
haven't seen for 30 years.

[cheering, applause]

TIM:
Thank you for taking the trouble

to make this trip to support
your family member, your friend.

It's not an easy road with
a family member who comes out.

Nobody ever said that was easy.

You have stuck by us.
You have loved us.

You have made us your own.

And tonight,
you're getting 200 more

-gay brothers and sisters and
mothers. -[laughter, whooping]

So we sing this song,
and it started in the days

when there were so few
family members and friends

that would come
and stand by their loved one.

So thank you for your support.

♪ Mmm.

I miss my mom. That's it.

So I'm gonna invite her
to this family party.

CHORUS:
♪ May the road

♪ Rise up

♪ To meet you

♪ May the sun

♪ Shine warm

♪ On your face

♪ And the rain fall soft

♪ On your fields

♪ And until

♪ We meet again

TIM:
Hug 'em tight.

♪ In the palm

♪ Of his hand...

TIM:
Welcome to the family.

[murmuring, applause]

[cheering and applause]

TIM: We are so
incredibly happy to be here.

There were two states
we wanted to go to.

And those were the two,
sorry to say,

with pretty much the worst laws
against the LGBT community.

Yeah, yeah, you do.

-You're one of them, and...
-[laughter]

Yep, you are.

So we decided we had to go...

we had to go to Mississippi
and had to go to North Carolina.

Because I understand,
as well as many of you do,

that we are not going to effect
change in our legislation

until we effect change
in organized religion.

They are so
inextricably combined.

PASTOR WILLIAM PENDER:
Erwin reached out to me

-about maybe doing
a concert here.-TIM: Mm-hmm.

-Mm-hmm.
-And what I told him was...

it had a possibility.

As long as we could really play

that this is an act
of hospitality.

But I said, "Erwin,
I got to be honest with you.

"If it smells of demonstration,

"if it s-smells of in-your-face,

"if it smells of
anything like that,

then I'm gonna get resistance,
I'm gonna get pushback."

My job is to keep saying

there are ways for us
to hold a center here.

And so the idea of exclusion

just rubs wrong.

So that's my starting point with
anybody on this conversation.

I have, uh, in my older age, uh,
found that not to be enough.

It's absolutely not enough,
because I know what that means.

It means,
"Oh, bless your heart."

Yes, yes.

And then you go home
and just rail.

You know, and scream
into a pillow.

So the levels of, um,
being hospitable,

uh, that's not good enough
for me anymore.

-I... -Because you can
stab me in the back

-while you're hugging me.
-Yes.

And so there's that,
and then there's tolerance.

And I'm not interested
in tolerance.

-I don't need to be tolerated.
-Right. Tolerated.

And it's really hard to get

from, uh, hospitality
to tolerance.

The harder step is
to celebrate the uniqueness.

I just haven't felt
the nudge to do that.

[Tim groans]

I've lived that very painful

Southern veneer of--

"We're hospitable to all."

And, you know, that veneer
is basically bullshit.

It makes me so angry.

My ex-wife and I would go

and sing the special music
at our megachurch.

And the people would just go,
"Oh, it's so beautiful.

That is so beautiful."

And we had the perfect picture.

Wife, two children, lovely car.

We had the perfect life,

as long as we didn't ever say
that we had trouble.

And we would sing
this beautiful,

uplifting duet
in the morning church,

and we would get in the car
and start fighting.

And no one ever saw that part.

And so,
when that veneer cracked,

all that pain explodes
everywhere.

And for me, um,

having done that
in a church of 20,000 people,

uh, my...
when my veneer exploded,

um, it got everyone dirty.

Everyone was hurt.

And I will say that, um,
of those 20,000 people

who were so hurt
by me coming out,

none of them reached out
in compassion.

None of them
reached out in compassion.

♪

CHORUS:
♪ I ain't afraid

♪ Of your Yahweh

♪ I ain't afraid

♪ Of your Allah

♪ I ain't afraid

♪ Of your Jesus

♪ I'm afraid of what you do
in the name of your god ♪

♪ I ain't afraid

♪ Of your churches...

PATRICIA TODD:
In the Deep South,

the Bible is more important
than the Constitution.

Every state has tried
some of these

religious, quote,
"freedom bills."

You know, it's fine
if you believe that,

and you can practice your
religion any way you want to.

But how dare you assume

that everybody in this country
is a Christian.

CHORUS: ♪ The ones who say
they know it are the ones ♪

♪ Who will impose it on you,
I ain't afraid... ♪

PATRICIA: I know that we're
gonna win this battle

for full equality.

Every social movement
has used music

to both soothe the souls
of the activist

and communicate their message.

Gospel during
the civil rights movement.

And I think these choruses have
empowered the queer movement.

CHRIS: The San Francisco
Gay Men's Chorus was born

with a deep sense of artistry
and artistic pride,

but also a deep sense
of social justice.

This chorus and the LGBT
choral movement itself

started out with the AIDS
epidemic in the early 1980s.

And in the '90s, it was
Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

In the 2000s, it was really
marriage equality.

And here we are.

Having an equal protections bill
in this country

would go a long, long way.

♪ Oh, I ain't afraid

♪ Of your children

♪ I ain't afraid

♪ Of your stories

♪ I'm afraid of what you do

♪ In the name of your

♪ God...

-[song ends]
-[cheering and applause]

WOMAN: You can reach
somebody through song

sometimes faster than you can
reach them with a conversation.

And so that is gonna
bridge a gap.

I think they're reminding us
that we celebrate.

That we celebrate life.

And that, in the middle of all
the oppression and the hatred

and-and the discrimination
that we face,

that we still can raise
our voices and sing

and that we can still
gather in unity.

WOMAN:
I think it's gonna hopefully

open some eyes to some
of those people in this state

that are so prejudiced
against, you know,

the gay and lesbian community.

To be tolerant
and to be accepting

has nothing to do
whether you're gay or straight

or fat or thin
or pretty or not pretty.

It's because we all need
to get along.

STEVE: When I came out,
it was pretty much

a complete rejection
from both parents.

I had done what they perceived
to be the worst possible thing

that anyone could do to them--
having a gay son.

And they had done to me
what I perceived to be

the worst possible thing
a parent could do--

rejecting their child.

And we had really good reasons
to be angry for each other...

with each other for ten years.

But God, I wish we hadn't.

They're gone now.

And I-I'd love to be able to...

[sighs]
...be a little kinder.

To them.

And I think...

there's a part of that
that this story's about, too.

It's about wanting us all
to be a little kinder.

I feel like it's so easy
when you experience

those moments
that feel like a betrayal

to shut someone off.

Whether that's a family member

or someone who's voted
for somebody else

or somebody who believes
differently than you do,

it's so easy to just shut
that person out of your life.

And it's so destructive.

CHOIR:
♪ Ooh...♪

♪ Lord

♪ How come me here?

♪ Lord

♪ How come me here?

♪ Lord

♪ How come me here?

♪ I wish I

♪ Never was born...

[whooping, applause]

TIM:
Each of the singers

comes with special
painful baggage,

but nonetheless, we try to
take care of each other.

VALERIA:
♪ There ain't no

♪ No freedom here

♪ Lord

♪ How come me here?

♪ Oh...♪

♪ I...

[whooping, applause]

♪ Born...

♪ Ooh...♪

-[song ends]
-[cheering and applause]

[bell tolling]

WOMAN: Good morning.
You want a program?

-There you go.
-Thank you.

-MAN: Hi.
-Hi. Welcome.

♪ If I dance with the storm

♪ I'll be safe

♪ I'll be whole

♪ I can run, I can rise

♪ I can face all goodbyes

♪ Ooh...

PASTOR ROB LOWRY:
I got a phone call

out of the blue
a few weeks ago saying,

"Some of us would like to come
sing in a church.

Would you be willing
to welcome us?"

And I said yes.

I think it was important
for the chorus

to feel welcome in a church.

Too many of us
in the LGBTQ community

don't feel welcome in church.

If you don't preach about

what's happening
in the world,

take off your robe
and quit your job.

'Cause if a church

does not preach about the world

and what is happening
in the world,

the church has no business
being the church.

I think that it's
a mistake to conflate

religious freedom with
the freedom to discriminate.

This week,
a law will go into effect

that takes us back
half a century

to one of the darkest chapters
in our history,

to tell your pastor

he can't have lunch
in their establishment.

To tell me I can't buy
from their shelves.

We have a decision to make
as a culture.

Where will our faith reside?

-Amen.
-CONGREGATION: Amen.

[organ playing]

MAN:
Thank you so much.

We in the red state
need all the help we can get.

That's why we chose
to come here.

And I was eyeing this scarf
from up in the loft.

-It was beautiful.
-Thank you. I thought today

-was a good day for wearing it.
-Very appropriate.

WOMAN:
Your smiles are almost

-as wonderful as
your voices are. -Aw.

-Thank you.
-Thank you for welcoming us

-into your community.
-Oh, thank you so much.

MAN:
There's pecans in the Jell-O.

No.

-I've had pecans with
every meal so far. -[laughter]

I'm not complaining.

Are you gonna be able
to make it tonight?

-We're gonna try to.
-Okay.

ROB:
What you're doing

is making an enormous
difference.

And thank you
so very, very much.

An 83-year-old woman
in this church,

she has made it very clear
to me since I got here

that she voted against me
at the congregational meeting.

Not in a mean way.

-She just wanted me to know
where she stood. -WOMAN: Yes.

And I-I... this morning,
she came up to me after worship,

and she said, "I get it,"
and she hugged me.

And said,
"I'm glad you're my pastor."

And that was largely because
you all were here.

♪

[truck horn blares]

BELINDA TASAICO:
We are here tonight

because of a friend I have met
only through Facebook.

His name is
Julian Francis Clift.

And we have a lot
of differing opinions,

but the one thing
we always agree on is respect.

JULIAN:
You enjoyed yourself?

Very much.

It was such a blessing.

I felt like...
I-I was telling them earlier,

I felt like I was in the...
in church.

I always had
my church arms going on.

-[laughing]
-My Pentecostal arms going on.

It was so wonderful.

It is a very different...

I mean, our concerts
are always fun.

This has a different spin on it
that's really incredible.

And it's been a really
unbelievable experience for me.

-This is a gift for you.
-Okay.

And let me tell you
a story about it.

Giving a gift is difficult
with so many unknowns,

so I made a quilt for you.

The fish on the face
of your quilt,

it represents the
Deep South Bible Belt, baby.

[laughing]

What a challenging area
to take on

to spread the message
of equality,

compassion, inclusiveness

into areas still known more
for their intolerance

than for understanding
in equal rights.

Your quilt is made of soft,
brushed cotton flannel

as a reminder that you will
always find people,

even in the most unlikely
of places,

that you want to wrap you
in the warmth of friendship

and understanding
and acceptance.

You see, quilt pieces,
they're diverse and unique

when you view them individually.

Then they become
stitched together,

accepting how their differences
can work together,

become a stronger,
unified group.

This is the world
that I dream of.

A world of acceptance,
tolerance and unity,

and a world I'm glad
to share with you.

♪

♪

TIM:
Tomorrow's our last show.

We're singing at a mega
Southern Baptist church

in South Carolina.

We have had acceptance
from the Episcopalians,

the Presbyterians,
the Unitarians,

but to go in
the Southern Baptist church

is frightening.

The Baptist church absolutely
left no stone unturned

to ruin my life.

So I carry all that
tomorrow night

as I walk in to that altar

and lead 300 people
that I love,

and I hope it's not
to the slaughter.

'Cause it's really,
really frightening.

It's frightening for me.

♪

This is the first time
in 30 years

that I've entered
a Southern Baptist church

at their invitation,
knowing full well that I'm gay.

PASTOR JIM DANT:
Welcome to South Carolina.

I have no idea
who's coming tonight

or how many people
are going to show up.

TIM: Jim Dant, the pastor,
has welcomed us.

But it remains to be seen

if the whole church
welcomes us.

♪

[indistinct chatter]

-It's gonna be full. It is full.
-We'll get some people.

[applause]

I-I need to answer
two questions.

I've obviously gotten
a lot of phone calls

-in the last couple of weeks.
-[laughter]

And I thought I would
just wait and answer

the two primary questions
tonight.

Uh, the answer to the first
question is: no, I'm not gay.

[laughter]

But the second question is: why?

And, uh, my simple answer
to that each time has been:

because I am a Christian
and a follower of Christ.

-That's why.
-[applause]

The only people that Jesus never
was really comfortable with

were self-righteous,
judgmental religious people.

[applause]

There is no way we could
thank you for this experience.

I will tell you
that many of us up here

have been rejected
by our families,

by our churches,

and have moved away
from our home cities.

One of the most wonderful things
about this tour is that

we have been able
to be in places

where their LGBT community is
becoming part of the community.

And a church like this,

you may be getting
a lot of backlash.

I almost said
a dirty word in...

[laughter]

It is nothing compared
to what you have done

as a shining light to all of us,
to give us hope.

And we want to thank...
thank you for that.

[applause, whooping]

♪

♪ Amazing grace

♪ How sweet the sound

♪ That saved a wretch

♪ A wretch like me

♪ I once was lost

♪ But now am found

♪ I once was blind

♪ But now I

♪ See...

TIM: Grace doesn't
have to be from God.

Grace does not have to be
bestowed by religion.

Grace is a feeling.

It's a position of acceptance.

♪ My heart to fear...

The transformation for me
came in

an acceptance from
a whole group of people

I never thought I would gain
any acceptance from.

But I was wrong.
I've been wrong.

♪ How precious

♪ Did

♪ That grace appear

♪ The hour...

STEVE: It has been such
an enriching experience

for everyone on the tour.

We came thinking that we were
going to be sharing

an experience of our singing
with people,

but what we didn't anticipate

was how much we would...
we would be getting in return.

♪

♪ Through many dangers

♪ Toils and snares

♪ I have already

♪ Safely come

♪ 'Tis grace hath brought

♪ Me safe thus far

♪ And surely

♪ Surely grace

♪ Will lead me home

♪ I shall go home

♪ When we've been there

♪ 10,000 years

♪ Bright shining as

♪ The glorious sun

♪ We've no less days

♪ To sing God's praise

♪ Than since the day

♪ We first begun

♪ Than since the day

♪ We first begun.

TIM:
As long as the world continues

to discriminate against
the LGBT community,

we will fight
until our very last breath.

[song ends]

[applause]

♪

♪

♪ Pass me not

-♪ O gentle Savior...
-[song fades]

TERRANCE:
All right, sopranos.

Here we go. Here we go.
Sopranos.

♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah

♪ Hallelujah

-♪ Halle... Whoo!
-♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah♪

-♪ Hallelujah♪
-Altos, come on in.

-♪ King of...
-♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah♪

♪ Hallelujah♪

♪ King of kings
and lord of lords ♪

♪ Halle...
Keep going.

Tenors, come in.
♪ Halle...

♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah♪

-♪ Hallelu...
-♪ Hallelujah♪

♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah♪

-♪ Hallelujah♪
-Basses, come in.

♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah

♪ Hallelu...

Let me hear you.
Let me hear you.

♪ Hallelujah♪

♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah♪

The Jackson choir rehearsal
is on next Monday Night.

♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah♪

♪ Hallelujah♪

♪ Hallelujah

♪ Oh, hallelu...

-♪ Hallelujah♪
-♪ Hallelujah

-♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah♪
-♪ Hallelujah

-♪ Sing praise♪
-♪ Hallelu...

-♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah♪
-♪ Hallelujah

♪ Hallelujah♪

♪ Oh...

♪ Sing praise

♪ Sing praises to thee♪

All right, here we go.

Grab your dance partner.

You can take it to the floor

as long as you can get up
by yourself.

-Are we ready?
-[whooping]

Are you ready?

Are you ready, Jackson?

All right, here we go,
here we go, here we go.

♪ Everybody dance

♪ Everybody dancing♪

♪ Everybody giving it up
to him♪

♪ Everybody dancing♪

♪ Everybody giving it up
to him♪

-♪ Everybody dance
-♪ Everybody dancing♪

♪ Get your hands in the air

♪ Everybody giving it up
to him♪

-♪ Wave 'em like you care
-♪ Everybody dancing♪

-[vocalizing]-♪ Everybody
giving it up to him♪

♪ Everybody dancing♪

♪ Everybody giving it up
to him♪

♪ Everybody dancing♪

♪ Everybody giving it up
to him♪

-♪ Everybody dance
-♪ Everybody dancing♪

♪ Everybody dance

♪ Everybody giving it up
to him♪

-♪ Get your hands in the air
-♪ Everybody dancing♪

-♪ Whoa -♪ Everybody
giving it up to him♪

-♪
-[whooping]

♪ Everybody dance

♪ Everybody dancing♪

♪ Everybody giving it up
to him♪

-♪ Everybody dance
-♪ Everybody dancing♪

-♪ Whoa -♪ Everybody
giving it up to him♪

-♪ Dance
-♪ Dancing.♪

Whoo!

[cheering and applause]

Thank you. We love you.

[song ends]