With its members’ unceasing joy, artistic flair and proud-to-be-me mentality, it’s hard to imagine anything more quintessentially San Francisco than the Gay Men’s Chorus. But 37 years ago, the still-new singing group wasn’t welcome in all corners of the city. In a devastating blow that made headlines around the Bay Area, the chorus’ April 25, 1981, concert at St. Ignatius Church was canceled weeks beforehand by Archbishop John Quinn.

SF Gay Men’s Chorus to play St. Ignatius decades after church rejected it

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SF Gay Men’s Chorus to play St. Ignatius decades after church rejected it

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