Baltimore choir performance will highlight tragic, but important part of LGBTQ+ history

Baltimore's Emmanuel Episcopal Church is having a special performance this weekend to celebrate Pride Month.

The church's choir will be performing the oratorio Considering Matthew Shepard, a piece that tells the story of Shepard's 1998 death and its role in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights.

There will also be a special guest who had a big hand in Shepard's interment in the DMV region.

The show is at 4 p.m. on Sunday; tickets are still available and can be purchased here.

A welcoming, unifying art

For the Emannuel Choir, music is the great unifier, and the best way to tell stories -- even the heartbreaking ones.

WJZ got to see the choir practice on Thursday as they prepared to perform Considering Matthew Shepard.

The oratorio goes through it all, including Shepard's biographical history. Shepard was only 21 when he was murdered.

"[Matthew's story in the piece] starts talking about Dr. Suess, and I was picturing reading to my daughter at night. [I pictured] how he's like every other kid. He was in this beloved family, and they had to lose him," Claire Galloway, one of the choir's members, said.

The piece weaves through multiple other perspectives, including Shepard's family, community, and even his murderers.

"I think it's one of the most powerful parts of the whole piece, when we're doing the work to find in ourselves the things that are capable of evil, as well as capable of good," said choir member Robin McGinnes. "That one really sticks with me."

This is the choir's fourth time performing this oratorio. Christian Lane, the church's director of music, said it's meant to show what good can come from a tragedy like this.

Shepard's death helped lead to changes in federal hate crime law in 2009.

"Lots of people are feeling battered and bashed in so many different ways. That is what happened to this young man...but there is so much hope that transcends tragedy," Lane said. "I think this piece really speaks to that. We are all in this together. We are all one."

A special guest

Bishop Gene Robinson, the first openly gay consecrated bishop in a major Christian denomination, will be at Sunday's performance.

He also helped inter Shepard's ashes at the Washington National Cathedral in 2018. He said Shepard's story needs to be remembered.

"I think the queer community is ignorant about its own history. The only way that history gets communicated to the next generation and the one after is by storytelling," Robinson said. "This is one of the most important stories to tell."

By sharing Shepard's story, Emmanuel Episcopal Church wants to show that everyone is welcome.

"In our tradition, part of our Baptismal covenant is to say we will respect the dignity of every human being. We mean it," said the church's rector, Rev. Anne Marie Richards.

That's something the choir hopes to do with any piece of music they sing.