Our History
Serving LGBTQ+ community bands with Music, Visibility and Pride since 1982.
The first Gay Games event was held and featured a joint performance between the San Francisco and Los Angeles bands.
Millennium March on Washington. The original LGBA member bands were from Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York City, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C.
In June 1984, the first LGBA massed band event, "A Gay Night At The Hollywood Bowl," included more than 100 musicians on stage, guest conductors, and the fabulous Rita Moreno.
During the second Gay Games Sports & Cultural Festival in in San Francisco, over 200 musicians gathered on the stage at Davies Symphony Hall for a circus-themed concert called "With The Greatest Of Ease." The massed band also performed at the opening and closing Ceremony, the gold-medal basketball game and at a mid-week parade.
The massed LGBA Band marched in the March on Washington for LGBT rights. The band also performed at sold-out DAR Constitution Hall in a concert called "Let Freedom Ring" during the fall conference.
Held on the MS Scandinavian Sun departing from Port Everglades.
LGBA played for Gay Games III with performances at the opening Ceremony, the closing Ceremony, a Pride Parade, a jazz/dance band concert and the enormously successful "Beyond The Rainbow" concert at downtown Vancouver’s ornate Orpheum Theater.
LGBA celebrated its 10th anniversary with a major concert called "Dreams: Toward the Next Rainbow," with celebrity emcees Dick Sargent and Margaret Cho in San Francisco, CA.
LGBA performed at the Inauguration celebration for President Bill Clinton's first term in office, becoming the first openly gay group to perform at a Presidential Inauguration. The band received a double "thumbs-up" gesture from the President as they played “America the Beautiful.”
The massed band again performed in 1993 for the March on Washington. The concert, “Americans We,” was held at the restored Warner Theatre and included celebrity appearances by Robin Tyler and Judith Light.
At Gay Games IV in New York City, the LGBA band performed for both the opening and closing ceremonies, various pep band performances and a major concert, called “Here and Now” at Madison Square Garden’s elegant Paramount Theater.
Jointly hosted by the Houston Pride Band and the Oak Lawn Band of Dallas, the featured performances were a pair of outdoor concerts at the historic Alamo in San Antonio, TX.
With President Bill Clinton's second election, the LGBA band again performed as part of the Presidential Inauguration.
During Gay Games V in Amsterdam, LGBA performed several times at pep band events, during closing ceremonies and at two free outdoor concerts.
For the Millennium March on Washington the LGBA band played at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial for a massed same-sex wedding ceremony. The massed band had a major role in leading the actual March down the Mall toward a massive stage that was built for the speakers and entertainers. Two groups of band members provided live music for the various speakers and entertainers.
Despite the terrorist attacks of September 11, just three days before the “Meet Me in St. Louis” LGBA conference was supposed to begin, the concert still took place before a highly appreciative audience at the Art Museum Auditorium. The reduced attendance, however, put conference business on hold.
Prior to Gay Games VI in Sydney, the LGBA band spent a week in Melbourne, rehearsing, performing and sightseeing. The band reprised the “I Love the Nightlife” concert at Sydney Town Hall, along with performances at opening and closing ceremonies, as well as a performance for Federation of Gay Games leaders in part of the Sydney Opera House.
The LGBA massed band marched in the Superior, WI, Pride Parade and at the Minnesota State Fair. During the Annual Meeting, members voted to change the organization name to Lesbian and Gay Band Association.
The LGBA massed band concert, “SF4 – Fourth Dimension,” in Fort Lauderdale at the Broward Performing Arts Center featured guest conductors Robert Longfield and Alfred Reed. The band was honored to play some of the works of these composers under their batons.
The Great American Yankee Freedom Band of Los Angeles and the Desert Winds Freedom Band of Palm Springs co-hosted the “Sunshine Summit” with a massed band concert featuring composer Frank Ticheli on the podium. The band also performed in the Palm Springs Pride Parade.
At Gay Games VII LGBA performed a field show during opening ceremonies, several pep band performances and at closing ceremonies. In addition the concert, “When The World Listens,” was held at the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park.
With nearly 250 musicians, the largest LGBA massed band yet performed at the Scottish Rite Cathedral in St. Louis in celebration of LGBA’s 25th anniversary for the “Silver in St. Louis” conference.
LGBA conference in New York City, NY
Washington, DC
New Orleans, LA
Indianapolis, IN
Cologne, Germany
Seattle, WA
Dallas, TX
Washington, DC
Atlanta, GA
Salute to Rock and Roll / Personal Best
Cleveland, OH
Houston, TX (cancelled due to Hurricane Harvey)
Kansas City, MO
Paris, France
New York City, NY
Orlando, FL
Portland, OR (cancelled April 2020 due to COVID-19)
Online Conference
Houston, TX
Chicago, IL
