The Well-Tempered Ear
Celebrating LGBTQ+ Pride in 2024 through classical music | June 19, 2024
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By Jacob Stockinger
June is Pride month — an annual event to celebrate LGBTQ+ people, rights, history and culture even at a time when they are under attack by conservative politicians and the religious right.
Like many local media outlets in the West and in many places in Asia, Wisconsin Public Radio and PBS Wisconsin television programs will focus on features about queer figures for Pride Month.
There are more historical and contemporary LGBTQ+ figures in classical music than you might know of or believe.
Here is one example from a Virginia public radio station:
And here is another feature from the ClassicFM radio station in the UK:
https://www.classicfm.com/music-news/classical-pride-festival-returns-2024/
Also from ClassicFM here are 15 important LGHBTQ+ composers — including Jennifer Higdon (below top) and Leonard Bernstein (below bottom and in the YouTube video at the bottom conducting the appropriate finale “Make Our Garden Grow” from his opera “Candide”). You will see links to their music:
https://www.classicfm.com/discover-music/great-classical-composers-who-were-gay/
If you are looking to know more about LGBTQ+ classical musicians, here is a quick reference list on Wikipedia of gay composers with names, dates and selected fun facts — although ione doesn’t see as many Asian, Middle Eastern or African names as one might expect:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_LGBT_classical_composers
And here, also on Wikipedia, is alphabetic listing with links to longer biographies on Wikipedia. Notice that composer Chester Biscardi — a University of Wisconsin-Madison alumnus (below) — is included:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Gay_composers
Is there a queer composer or performer that has been overlooked?
Is there someone you think has been ignored and should be recognized?
The Ear wants to hear.
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The Well-Tempered Ear 
Dear Ear,
In response to this sentence — “although one doesn’t see as many Asian, Middle Eastern or African names as one might expect…”
Anti-homosexuality laws have been stiffened in several African countries, as you know, especially Uganda. See below (last paragraph) from Wikipedia. But it’s heartening this morning to read how many African countries are much more progressive (second paragraph):
“Out of the 54 states recognised by the United Nations or African Union or both, homosexuality is outlawed in 31 African countries as of May 2024. Human Rights Watch notes that another two countries, Benin and the Central African Republic, do not outlaw homosexuality, but have some laws which discriminate against homosexual individuals.[1] Many of the laws that criminalize homosexuality are colonial-era laws.[2] Most states which have legalised homosexuality do not have legislation specifically protecting homosexuals from discrimination in areas of life such as employment.[3]
“Homosexuality has never been criminalised in Benin, Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, Djibouti, Ivory Coast, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, and Rwanda, and has been decriminalised in Angola, Botswana, Cape Verde, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mozambique, São Tomé and Príncipe, the Seychelles and South Africa.
However, in 6 of these countries (Benin, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Congo, Niger and Madagascar), the age of consent is higher for same-sex sexual relations than for opposite-sex ones.”In November 2006, South Africa became the first country in Africa and the fifth country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage.
In May 2023, the Supreme Court of Namibia ruled foreign same-sex marriages must be recognized equally to heterosexual marriages.
LGBT anti-discrimination laws exist in eight African countries: Angola, Botswana, Cape Verde, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, and South Africa.
“In some of the countries with criminal punishments for homosexuality, governments have recently been enforcing the law more harshly, and many legislators have recently proposed stricter sentences for same-sex activity. Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2023, which allows the death sentence for certain types of consensual same-sex activities, has attracted international attention.[4]”
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Comment by Ronnie — June 19, 2024 @ 10:19 am
Hi Ronnie: Many thanks for your detailed and informative reply.
I will add that I also understand from friends in China that LGBTQ rights there are under attack by President Xi and his conservative, empire-inspired rule and by many citizens who consider gay rights as a Western plot or conspiracy to reduce the Chinese population and who are encouraged to think so by the regime.
I would also point out the general intolerance of Islamic countries when it comes to gay rights. Perhaps people will remember when the president of Iran spoke at the United Nations years ago and, when asked about gay rights there, replied, “There is no problem. There are no gay people in Iran.” Sure, there aren’t! And Egypt and Saudi Arabia have been cracking down. Closer to home, let’s not forget the Trumpy Republicans, white nationalists and Christian fundamentalist right-wingers and some member of the US Supreme Court.
But hypocrisy thrives and I bet many of them are more than happy to listen to the beautiful music of LGBTQ composers and performers.
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Comment by welltemperedear — June 19, 2024 @ 10:35 am