Different choirs and communities will face different challenges and be at different stages in a journey to LGBTQ+ inclusion and equality. This guide is intended to provide guidance and support by providing prompts and actions for consideration.
Written resources
- How to make your choir more inclusive and welcoming to LGBTQ+ people – download this helpful written resource commissioned by abcd and created by Jeremy Haneman which includes links to terminology and glossary of terms (updated 2024).
- Working with trans singers: practical approaches to musical inclusivity – a written resource commissioned by abcd and created by CN Lester.
abcd webinars
We’ve a large section of recorded webinars covering many aspects of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. If you’re a member and logged in, you can download these to watch free of charge – look for the ‘member download’ button. If you’re not a member, each webinar is just £8 to download.
View the full series here, or choose from the ones below which particularly cover LGBTQ+.
Useful websites
- Proud Voices, a network of LGBTQ+ choirs in the UK and Ireland: http://uk-ireland.proudvoices.org/
- Legato, the European Association of LGBTQ+ choirs: http://uk-ireland.proudvoices.org/
- Stonewall, the UK LGBT rights charity: https://www.stonewall.org.uk/ As well as providing information and resources, they also publish best practice toolkits for workplaces and education settings.
- The Genderbread Person is an online educational resource for exploring and understanding gender identity, gender expression and sex: https://www.genderbread.org/
- Gendered Intelligence, a UK charity committed to increasing understanding of gender diversity and improving the lives of trans people: https://genderedintelligence.co.uk/ They publish resources for professionals: https://genderedintelligence.co.uk/professionals/resources.html
- Mermaids is a UK charity that works with trans children, young people and their families: https://mermaidsuk.org.uk/ They also provide excellent resources for professionals who work with trans children and young people: https://mermaidsuk.org.uk/professionals/resources-for-professionals/
- The National Education Union has published guidance for supporting trans students in education settings: https://neu.org.uk/advice/supporting-trans-and-gender-questioning-students
Gender neutral language statement
Many abcd conductors will work with trans singers in choirs, schools or other settings. We strongly encourage all conductors to not make assumptions about an individual’s gender based on their voice section or their appearance. Many choirs will, for example, have singers of various genders that sing within a vocal section, e.g. a tenor section might include singers who identify as cis men, cis women who sing comfortably within a tenor range and trans singers who also sing comfortably within a tenor range.
We believe the following guidelines to be best practice when working with all singers:
- Refer to sections by voice part, rather than by gender (e.g. ‘sopranos’ or ‘basses’, rather than ‘men or ‘women’).
- Adopt a gender-neutral language statement for events, rehearsals and concerts in order to model inclusive language. This includes adjusting the language on signage for toilets and changing rooms, where possible.
- Consider how you address the choir as a whole – using ‘everyone’ or ‘folks’ as opposed to ‘ladies and gentlemen’.
We recognise that gender-specific language is embedded in our culture, but we believe that adopting gender neutral language is an important step in making choirs feel like an inclusive and accessible space for LGBTQ+ singers.