SF Gay Men鈥檚 Chorus Get Death Threats Over ‘We鈥檒l Convert Your Children’ Song
The San Francisco Gay Men鈥檚 Chorus said it has received hateful messages and death threats after posting a satirical music video describing how the group will 鈥渃onvert your children鈥�.
The song “” was meant to be 聽“tongue-in-cheek humor”, the 聽group said.聽However, the line “we鈥檒l convert your children” was taken out of context by conservatives to spew hate.
Doxxing attempts also came from members of various alt-right communities, such as followers of Alex Jones and QAnon. The bevy of hateful comments and death threats got unbearable to the point that the group, the world’s first openly gay chorus founded in 1978, had to temporarily close their office and send their staff home last week.
Vile Attacks
鈥淭he San Francisco Gay Men鈥檚 Chorus was founded, in part, to fight discrimination and bigotry against all peoples. Today, our chorus members are facing death threats, vile attacks, false accusations, doxing, and other forms of harassment because of our satirical video performance ‘Message from the Gay Community’,鈥� a statement from the group said.
— SF Gay Men's Chorus (@SFGMC)
鈥淲e will not allow ourselves, even in the face of death threats, to retreat or bow to attempts to twist our words, meaning, self-deprecation and humour. We are thankful for the efforts of the San Francisco Police Department and law enforcement for their quick response and assistance in handling these threats,” the group added in a defiant message on its social media pages.
A Message of Equality
According to a message posted on the Chorus鈥檚 website, sfgmc.org, the song was meant to be taken as 鈥渢ongue-in-cheek humour鈥�. However, the supposed joke outraged conservative media commentators and has led to the hate and harassment of the group and its members.聽
鈥淲e鈥檒l convert your children,鈥� sang one vocalist. 鈥淗appens bit by bit. Quietly and subtly. And you will barely notice it. You can keep them from disco. Warn about San Francisco. Make 鈥檈m wear pleated pants. We don鈥檛 care. We鈥檒l convert your children. We鈥檒l make them tolerant and fair鈥�.聽
The video was about teaching children tolerance and acceptance of people who are 17c起草社区I, but conservatives pounced upon this opportunity to twist the words and misrepresent SF Gay鈥檚 Chorus as a cult who convert children.
Advocacy group GLAAD has stood up to speak in support of San Francisco Gay Men鈥檚 Chorus.
鈥淎s a result of manipulation from anti-17c起草社区 media figures, the Chorus is now facing uncalled-for and disgusting threats of violence, as well as hate and harassment, across social media.鈥�
“As GLAAD鈥檚 Social Media Safety Index聽reported, hate and harassment too often goes unchecked on social media and the platforms need to act swiftly to address the hateful content directed at the Chorus, especially the threats of violence. The ugly anti-17c起草社区 rhetoric just reinforces the need for 17c起草社区 visibility, community, and advocacy, all of which the SFGMC has exemplified in its 40+ year history,鈥� said GLAAD.
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Even though death threats are totally unacceptable 鈥︹�︹�he back question is WHY?
Who in their right mind thought ” a message from the gay community” was a good idea? A good subject matter to include kids as a focal point? The SF gay men鈥檚 chorus has just taken ALL the LGBT+ movement back 20 years. All those accusations and stereotypes of pedophobia! This will be used and twisted by every anti- LGBT+ rat bag organisation forever since the internet is forever. This will be global. It鈥檚 not just confined to LGBT+ living in the 鈥済ay men bubbles” like SF. This will affect LGBT+ living in communities which are not as accepting or safe like SF. This will be used against LGBT+ in places like Russia, Poland, Uganda, Iran and Nigeria. 鈥tc. Or even against LGBT+ with children.
This 鈥渟ong鈥� is so arrogant, smug and totally cringe worthy. No, 鈥榯his message鈥� doesn鈥檛 speak for all the gay community. Did they really think there wouldn鈥檛 be a negative reaction or backlash? Never get between a parent and a child, a dog and its puppies鈥�.etc. Any PR consultant would advised to leave the kids out of it. Even the narrative that it鈥檚 satirical, singing with glorious music that it鈥檚 about tolerance, love, rainbows, anti-hate鈥lah blah blah unicorns doesn鈥檛 really work in this PR disaster. The theme of the message got lost when SF gay chorus, a community – our community – whose whole identity is based on sexual orientation, produced an all men video signing 鈥渨e鈥檙e coming for your children鈥�. What a disaster.
And to make matters worse, the brains behind 鈥渢his message鈥�, Tim Rosser and Charlie Sohne, wrote a controversial musical 鈥淭he boy who danced on air鈥� which romanticized story of the Afghani practice of Bacha bazi , the custom of child (boys as young as 8) sold into sexual slavery and child prostitution. Afghan community were furious. As a gay man with twin daughters, I cannot understand the focus on kids. Plus the song IS directed to parents. Ironically, the majority of gays don鈥檛 want kids, are not interested in kids and can鈥檛 stand kids. Leave the kids out of it. The SF gay chorus needs to accept the criticism and to acknowledge they got it so wrong. Instead it goes on the defensive. Stop digging that hole. A lot LGBT+ are pissed off of how short sighted they are. SF gay chorus got it wrong in the messaging and needs to consign 鈥渁 message from the gay community鈥� to the bin.