DESERT VOICES

posted by James Reel

Is it Thursday already? I’ve lost track of time, what with all the deadlines I’ve had to meet (I know, losing track of time is not a good thing to do as deadlines approach … and recede). Yesterday alone, I cranked out three scripts for the Arizona Friends of Chamber Music radio series and a little 450-word magazine news item. Today all I really have to do is write a restaurant review, so I can surely find the time to direct you to my latest contribution to the Tucson Weekly:

Is it a sign of gay-rights progress that Arizona and California voters have denied homosexuals the right to marry? It's progress if you consider that 20 years ago, the issue would not even have been placed on a statewide ballot. Now, it's an inescapable question, because--whether social conservatives like it or not--gays and lesbians are part of the American mainstream. They're so mainstream, in fact, that they're integrating their institutions: You no longer have to be gay to sing in a gay chorus. Desert Voices is celebrating its 20th anniversary this season. It started out as a social activity for uncloseted Tucson gays and lesbians who didn't have many options beyond the bar scene. Today, it's a serious chorus that includes gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender members, and is even about 30 percent straight.

Read the rest of my Desert Voices story here.