The Glória choir are wearing black tonight, accented with a rainbow of ties in solid colours for the men and big red-silk flowers for the women. When word goes out that someone isn’t happy with his tie, a flamboyant fashion director opens up his own suitcase of colourful ties. “What would you like? Silk? Silk mix? Red, blue, pink?” The ensuing laughter is one of the reasons people join Glória.
But when the choir's musical director, Ian Packham, takes charge, it's down to business. He is a lecturer in music education at the Church of Ireland College of Education and principal of Kildare Place Church of Ireland school, where the choir practises in Rathmines, and can certainly command a group.
“When I met the school parents for the first time I warned them that music would go up-up-up and sports would go down-down-down,” he jokes. “My husband, Niall, is a choir widow: I eat, sleep and make music.”
The joy of experiencing a performance by Glória, apart from the glorious music, is watching its members’ faces, each telling a story. Over the past 18 years the gay, lesbian and transgender members of Glória have seen each other through celebrations and mourning, civil partnerships and the births of children.
When the choir began, in 1995, same-sex relationships had only recently been made legal, so it was an act of courage for them to sing publicly.
The choir's longest-serving member, 73-year-old Jim Rafter, is a barman in Rathmines and a part-time extra in the BBC drama Ripper Street. He was at Glória's first meeting, 18 years ago, after he answered a newspaper ad that asked, "Fancy hitting some high notes?" The choir's nervous first performance was in the safety of a gay-friendly bar, Mother Redcaps. "Nowadays the young people think it's trendy to be gay," he says.
The chance to socialise outside of pubs and clubs was a draw for Lorna Rouse, a 33-year-old who joined last year after returning from several years in London. A primary teacher originally from Ballina, Co Mayo, she didn't know many people in Dublin. "It's the enjoyment of singing, but it's also a social outlet, like a family, where you get to meet like-minded people."
Glória has performed all over Ireland and internationally, singing with the Garda Band and Male Voice Choir at the National Concert Hall, at both Church of Ireland and Catholic Church events, civil partnerships and birthdays, and at Aids memorials. Next year it will host Various Voices, one of the largest choral festivals to be held in Ireland, with 2,500 singers coming to Dublin City University from all over the world. It is expected to bring €2 million in business to Dublin over four days.
Role models
Walt Kilroy, a former RTÉ reporter who now teaches at DCU, came out in 1981, at the age of 19, and joined the choir shortly after it was formed. "Glória is a good way to bond. People are very focused before the concerts, but they do become very close friends," he says.
The choir is also “giving people role models, showing that there are happy lesbian and gay people all over the country with families and relationships”.
Barry Dowling, who is 35 and in his 11th year with Glória, is the choir's chairman. "There was a time when I would have hidden in the corner of the rehearsal room from a journalist. Now here I am talking to you. Belonging to Glória has had a massive impact on me. It's kept me sane and helps me through the bad times, and gives me a lot of good times," he says.
The choir has been shaken by the suicide of members and former members. “There is a connection between being gay and mental-health issues, particularly in rural Ireland. I don’t think that in small towns people are able to scream, ‘I am what I am,’ ” Dowling says.
Richard Deane, another member, says, "Glória is committed to singing as a medium for helping people feel better, to smile more, cry more and, at times, get out of the house. Sadly, we are only too familiar with the effects of depression and poor mental health."
Glória has become increasingly involved in mental-health outreach. Performing in rural Ireland, often with extensive local media coverage, helps to make the LGBT community more visible in those areas. This year, for example, the choir performed at Siamsa Tíre, in Tralee. "We tried about 17 years ago to hold an outreach concert in Kerry, but at the time we couldn't find anybody or organisation down there to help," says Deane.
The first couple in the choir to have a civil partnership, Niamh and Jess Webbley O’Gorman, became parents when Niamh gave birth to their daughter, Harriet, during the summer. It’s just one example of the breathtaking social changes that have occurred for gay and lesbian people in less than a generation.
Glória’s Christmas Celebration concert is at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin, on Friday at 8pm. Tickets €11; gloria.ie
