Queer Culture
Bloomington's Quarryland Gay, Bisexual, and Ally Men's Chorus
The Quarryland Men’s Chorus is a Bloomington-area affiliate of the Gay and Lesbian Association of Choruses (GALA). GALA is part of a national musical movement taking its stylistic and organizational cues from lesbian and gay music of the past.
Early History
The Quarryland Chorus was founded in 2002, at the prompting of Sam Troxal, a Bloomington resident. Early in its existence, the chorus engaged in Christmas caroling as a way to maintain group momentum. On May 10, 2003, the chorus performed as guests at a Blommington Feminist Chorus concert. The members of the chorus decided in June 2003 that the experience they were having was positive and through the summer provided music for services at the Unitarian Universalist congregation in town and local cultural events to maintain cohesiveness. On January 24, 2004, the group performed its first full concert with ten members.
Development
As the chorus aged, it attracted more members and larger audiences. Following an April 2005 appearance on the BloomingOUT radio show, the chorus performed for an audience of around 100, with fifteen members on stage, at the Bloomington Unitarian Universalist Church. The chorus also began offering its services to activist groups, performing for World AIDS Day and the Bloomington Pride Picnic in 2005. More recently, the chorus has performed at the Bloomington Pride Film Festival, in addition to holding independent concerts drawing audiences of up to 230. Most recently, the Quarryland Chorus performed a concert, "A Tribute to Al Colbine," in April 2010. The group's rendition of "No Bad Hair Days in Heaven" won the 2009 Fox59 Summer of Glee contest.
Mission
The Quarryland Men's Chorus's stated mission is "To provide a Positive Performance-based Community for Gay and Bisexual Men and their Allies in South Central Indiana." The chorus's practical goals, however, reach beyond its mission statement; in November 2005, for example, chorus Director Barry Magee gave a presentation on "Performance as a Social Action" to an IU anthropology class, with a focus on the role of performing in raising awareness about AIDS. The music committee also works to expand the musical horizons of the performers and audience; a recent performance included a religious piece from Zimbabwe sung in the native language, Shona.
The Quarryland Men's Chorus maintains a website and a Facebook page to keep track of future concert dates.
BloomingOUT
"To educate, entertain, and engage listeners on issues and events affecting the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intesex, and queer (LGBTIQ) population of south central Indiana by facilitating communication both within the LGBTIQ community and between the LGBTIQ community and the rest of the Bloomington population." -bloomingOUT Mission Statement
Radio’s Midwest Queer Connection
The first-of-its-kind Midwest queer radio show is known as bloomingOUT, which began its rich history of broadcasting on October 9, 2003. This lone local queer radio show was the brain child of Ryan Bruce and Chad Carrothers, who wanted to bring discussions that would educate, entertain, and engage listeners in real issues and events relevant to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex people and their allies. They also sought to connect race, color, and class to the show’s topics, including the intersection of Black, Hispanic, Asian, and American Indian issues with queer issues.
A Winning Team
Host volunteers Helen Harrell and Mark Brostoff were the first hosts of the show. Mark and Helen had good chemistry; their strong personalities complimented each other well and made the show an engaging experience for the listeners. IU graduate student Jeffrey Bennett was the first producer of the show; when he received his degree in May 2004, local resident Carol Fischer succeeded Jeffrey as the producer.
"Getting to the Heart of People’s Lives"
BloomingOUT developed a format in which the hosts report the latest updates in local, national, and international news, discuss a calendar of local and statewide events, and interview community leaders, politicians, academics, students, celebrities, and entertainers from around the world in addition to locals with something to say. The show balances the local and the national. Carol Fisher strives to have an “issues driven” show; she does not focus on what is currently popular but on endearing topics that speak to the heart of people and their lives. The show strives to introduce to the listeners individuals who aren’t necessarily well known but are able to articulate their experiences and views in an interesting, informative and engaging fashion. It is a challenging opportunity to educate and enlighten the public regarding all kinds of issues dedicated to LGBTQI life: its history, current issues, news, culture, and a variety of queer topics that may be political and controversial. Carol says, “It is a team effort; the show is put together by a group of dedicated volunteers who believe that bringing queer issues and events to the LGBTQI and ally community is essential.”
Dedication to the LGBTQI Population
Helen Harrell is the cornerstone of the show, as the consistent host of the show since its inception. After Mark Brostoff left the show, Indianapolis photographer Mark Lee co-hosted with Helen for the next year or so. Mark had to step down due to increased business commitments; local resident Victor Kinzer stepped in for the next two years and now Helen co-hosts bloomingOUT and the spinoff podcast (b OUT2, News Views & More) with attorney Sean Lemieux. bloomingOUT airs every Thursday evening from 6 to 7 pm EST on WFHB, but recordings can be accessed anytime through the bloomingOUT website. This accessibility allows the radio show and podcast to be heard around the world via both live streaming and download.
To access the bloomingOUT homepage, click here (via Internet Archive).
Descriptions of past shows, including guests and subject matter, back to 2005, can be found here.
Bloomington Pride Film Festival
The Bloomington Pride Film Festival began as a class project in 2003, as a one-day event showing ten films.
The film list doubled, from ten to twenty-one, between 2004 and 2005, and the festival became a two-day event. The 2005 film festival also saw the introduction of a post-festival party at the festival venue, the Buskirk-Chumley Theater near the Bloomington town square.
The film festival's size doubled yet again between 2005 and 2006, with four days worth of activities planned and almost 40 films on the roster. The 2006 festival also saw the introduction of more full-length films, and a significantly increased number of documentaries, in addition to further inclusion of trans, bi, and lesbian-themed pieces. 2006 also saw the festival after-party moved to the end of the Saturday showings, after the success of the 2005 celebration.
The 2010 incarnation of the event featured the theme "Steer Queer!", and showed films with a focus on rural queerness. This particular theme resonates with the queer community of Monroe County, which is itself largely rural. The film has grown to become a major centerpiece of queer celebration in Bloomington and the surrounding area; in 2008, combined ticket sales to the various festival-related events topped 2,000.
Sources
Bauder, Doug. Interview by Jurion Jaffe. Bloomington, Indiana. 11 November 2009.
bloomingOut radio homepage, https://web.archive.org/web/20090327092345/https://wfhb.org/bloomingout/.
bloomingOut show archives, http://www.wfhb.org/news/bloomingout
Fisher, Carol. Interview by Chris Kase. 03 November 2009.
Harrell, Helen. Interview Interview by Chris Kase. 05 November 2009.
“Quarryland History and Archives.” Quarryland Men's Chorus. http://www.quarryland.com/apm/issue.php?id=3. (Link no longer active or archived on Internet Archive.)