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One day later, the SWGMC performs Sweetest Kick<\/em> and When She Loved Me<\/em> at Cardiff\u2019s Reardon Smith Theatre, dressed in black, with red ribbons fastened over the hearts for World AIDS Day. <\/p>\n\n\n\nTheir hauntingly beautiful melodies are in stark contrast to the \u2018Holly Jolly Christmas\u2019 of Llanelli.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s not only a reminder of the sadness and joy that sit hand in hand at Christmas but within the reality of LGBTQ+ history. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Their performance is not just a testament to the breadth of the choir\u2019s repertoire, but yet another way that the group stand in solidarity with the queer community.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\u2018I know I\u2019m gonna walk into a room full of people that actually care whether I\u2019m dead or alive\u2019<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
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At their weekly rehearsal at Roath Church House, the choir breaks for tea and biscuits. In the large-yet-cosy space, members spanning from the age of 18 to 66 natter away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thirty-two-year-old Lawrence Fletcher says that cross-generational friendships can be hard to come across in queer spaces. \u201cThat\u2019s completely not the case here, people span all sorts of different lifestyles and ages,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mark Achurch has been a ‘real-turner upper’ at rehearsals for the past 12 years. \u201cI joined for the singing really rather than the social but found both and met a family,\u201d the 61-year-old says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lawrence says that a fixed point of contact is important for the choir: \u201cThat regular week on week on week no matter what is really helpful for some people\u2026that sense of \u2018I know I\u2019m gonna walk into a room full of people that actually care whether I\u2019m dead or alive\u2019\u2026there\u2019s certain people who need that.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This sense of care also extends beyond the rehearsal room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Part of Lawrence\u2019s role as the SWGMC\u2019s Accessibility & Inclusion Officer involves establishing a support network for members who might be struggling. The choir also regularly holds social events, from meeting in local bars to hosting cabaret nights. This summer proved particularly memorable, when a walk up Pen Y Fan ended with the choir in a sing-along in a pub, with a group of ladies and their terrified husbands.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Lawrence Fletcher, 32, and Mark Achurch, 61, enjoy the cross-generational friendships that the choir can bring. <\/strong>Credit: The Cardiffian.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u2018I\u2019ve really found my place. This is where I belong\u2019<\/h4>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Adam Donelly has enjoyed getting to know everyone in the choir.<\/strong> Credit: The Cardiffian<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n
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One week later, Storm Darragh thunders its way through Wales, but the choir refuse to let this get in the way of their sold-out Christmas concert: \u2018Yuletide Treasures and Gay Apparel\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At Capel Salem in Canton, members bustle around erecting lighting, adorning mismatched tables and chairs with Christmas decorations, stacking mounds of mince pies and fruit cake onto plates and filling jugs with tea and coffee. They even find time to add The Twelve Days of Christmas<\/em> to the already-packed programme.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFor Adam Donelly, the concert marks his first official performance with the group since joining in August.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 25-year-old says he found it \u201cquite daunting at first\u201d, but being part of the group has increased his confidence. When he sings with the choir he knows he isn\u2019t on his own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019ve really found my place,\u201d he says. “This is where I belong\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the concert\u2019s two-hour run-time a festive feast is served, with the audience listening to dreamy acappella performances of Christmas classics, from Nos Galan to Fairytale of New York. In breaks between songs, the choir members top-up drinks, restock plates of food and chat to friends and family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite the wonderful music, it is these moments of human interaction that evoke the true spirit of Christmas. The smiles, hugs and laughter show the deep bonds of friendship and community the choir have created not just between themselves, but across Wales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nick describes it best: \u201cWe\u2019re just a choir that happens to be gay\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n\nThe audience helped the choir to sing ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’. Credit: The Cardiffian<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nLaughter and smiles filled Capel Salem as the choir served refreshments to the audience. Credit: The Cardiffian.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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