Appalachian Equality Chorus

Knoxville Gay Men’s Chorus (KGMC) is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization founded in 2012 to strengthen and inspire the LGBTQ community in Knoxville, Tennessee.  KGMC’s mission is to use our voices, strengths, and individual gifts to create enriching musical experiences; promote inclusion, equality, and empathy; end hostility toward minority populations; and better our world through community partnerships. 

The Knoxville Gay Men's Chorus mission statement is to use our voices, strengths, and individual gifts to create enriching musical experiences; promote inclusion, equality, and empathy; end hostility toward minority populations; and better our world through community partnerships. 

We envision a world free of discrimination in which all persons are empowered to live authentic lives true to their identities, without fear.    

Bleu Copas and Christopher Hamblin were each passionate in their own right about equal rights for LGBTQ+ individuals. In March 2012, their two paths crossed at the Tennessee Equality Project’s annual Advancing Equality Day. In between meetings with state legislators, Copas and Hamblin met and exchanged their stories. They realized they both resided in Knoxville and both had dreams of combining their passion for equality and social justice with their love of music. Both dreamed of putting together a gay men’s chorus in Knoxville as a way to strengthen and inspire the LGBTQ community and create bridges with unlikely allies in the area. The Knoxville Gay Men’s Chorus already existed in their minds, but it needed to be brought to life.

They returned to Knoxville and recruited for KGMC’s first members and sought somewhere to perform. The opportunity came with the 2012 Breaking the Silence rally, where four men stood beside each other and gave the Knoxville community a taste of what was to come. 

KGMC has flourished into a well-established organization, emerging as one of Knoxville’s signature performance groups.  As a men’s chorus with over 65 active singers, KGMC is positioned to provide a unique experience to Knoxville’s diverse community with a commitment to professional musicianship, performance excellence and social advocacy.

KGMC is a proud member of the national Gay and Lesbian Association of Chorus’ (GALA) which represents over 10,000 singers and 190 choruses in the United States, Mexico and Canada.