Several students attended the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington’s fundraiser with AHS’s Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA). They were offered eight free tickets after the Chorus’ recent visit and performance at AHS in early April.

“The Gay Men’s Chorus offered us the opportunity to go to their fundraiser because we’ve worked a lot with them in the past,” GSA sponsor Bethany Slingerland said.

Members of the GSA attended the gala at the Grand Hyatt Washington on April 27th at 8 p.m. to watch the Gay Men’s Chorus perform a small concert, after which there was dancing and an auction.

Before the visit many GSA members were intently excited for the event.

“I’m expecting to have a good time,” GSA president sophomore Todd Le said. “[We’ll see] some of the member of the Gay Men’s Chorus that we met before. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing them again.”

The AHS GSA is actively involved with the Chorus and frequently attends their concerts, participates in Generation Out programs, and other opportunities. Recently, an AHS student and member of the GSA had a walk-on role in the Chorus’ musical.

The Gay Men’s Chorus has even come to AHS to perform; their visit in April featured not only several solos, but also discussion between the Chorus members and GSA students.

“[The visit] went really well, it was a good discussion…” Slingerland said. “People talked very openly about bullying and the experience of growing up as lesbian or gay or bisexual or transgender.”

“[Experiences with the Gay Men’s Chorus have] been really wonderful. They’re all ridiculously nice and they’re all really talented,” Le said.

GSA students will wrap up the school year with their trip to the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington’s fundraiser gala.

“I think it’s just a nice way to end the year. They’ve worked really hard, the GSA students have worked really hard and I think it’s just really nice to continue with the positive relationship we have with the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington,” Slingerland said.