I listened to an inspiring TED speech on race injustice by Bryan Stevenson this morning. For me, this quote was particularly resonant:

'We love innovation, we love technology, we love creativity, we love entertainment. But ultimately those realities are shadowed by suffering, abuse, degradation, marginalisation. And for me it becomes necessary to integrate the two ...'

We tell all kinds of stories through song, and it is vital to entertain, especially in New York. But we must especially remember to tell the stories of suffering, abuse, degradation and marginalisation that will challenge people’s thinking.  And when those inner voices say, ‘That’s too shocking, people will leave, donors won’t give, keep it light, keep it fun’, our serious intent must continue to shine through.

As Stephenson says, the clever part is in integrating the two, so that people are entertained at an NYCGMC performance, but they also come away challenged, understanding more about who LGBT people are.