INDIANAPOLIS – As Indiana’s GOP-led Senate Rules Committee once again moved to advance anti-LGBT legislation this week, the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles (GMCLA) is at the heart of the Hoosier State bringing its message of hope and inclusiveness to LGBTQ youth.
Through its “It Gets Better” tour, GMCLA, in collaboration with the It Gets Better Project and Speak Theater Arts, hopes to show young LGBTQ Hoosiers that despite the reprehensible and discriminatory bills targeting them in their own state, it does in fact get better.
Presented by Clowes Hall at Butler University, with underwriting tour support from AT&T, Southwest Airlines and Foresters Financial, the tour has traveled the country over the past three years producing weeks of educational content, including workshops, bookended by moving and empowering stage shows highlighting poignant real-life stories from other LGTBQ youth and powerful musical numbers from the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles that have brought people to laughter and tears.
The “It Gets Better” tour is currently in the state’s capital of Indianapolis, appearing at Butler University’s Clowes Memorial Hall, tomorrow evening (Saturday, Jan. 30) at 8 p.m.
Coincidentally enough, the tour had originally been scheduled to come to the state this week after being asked to bring it to Indiana following last year’s controversial passing of Indiana Senate Bill 101, known as the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, signed by Indiana Governor Mike Pence (R).
And while the tour has been traveling the state this past week presenting at high schools in Beech Grove and Indianapolis, state lawmakers were once again convening over advancing even more discriminatory legislation against LGBTQ citizens, this time focusing particularly on transgender individuals.
“Our performance tomorrow night features the extraordinary story of Jay, a transgender man, who has become a hero to many of us,” said Chris Verdugo, executive director of GMCLA. “It tells of Jay’s struggle, his attempt at suicide, his acceptance of his true gender and how through pain and joy, it has gotten better for him, his wife, his children and how he pays it forward. That’s empowerment!”
He continues, “I’m honored and grateful to be part of the transformative outreach we accomplish at GMCLA. We’re not just touching and transforming lives, we’re changing the future. Together we can be the bright light that illuminates the path of hope and love.”
