On Sunday morning a group of men traveling from Mexico City to Los Angeles were held up temporarily by the Department of Homeland Security as they moved through customs and immigration at Houston’s William P. Hobby Airport.
The travelers are members of the Coro Gay Ciudad de México (Gay Men’s Chorus of Mexico City). In L.A. as guests of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles, the group’s itinerary for this week is jam-packed with rehearsals, sightseeing and a much-anticipated trip to Disneyland.
On Saturday it will perform alongside GMCLA and the Mariachi Arcoiris de Los Angeles at the Alex Theatre in Glendale in the opening concert of GMCLA’s 40th season.
GMCLA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and all of the members of Coro Gay Ciudad de México are volunteers. The Mexican choir’s trip was underwritten by sponsors including Southwest Airlines, who covered its airfare. The group is also being welcomed to Los Angeles by a host committee that includes actor and philanthropist William Shatner and U.S. Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Kamala Harris.
Yet as has happened to other artists from abroad, the Latin American gay men’s choir fell under the scrutiny of the Department of Homeland Security.
According to Coro Gay Ciudad de México executive director Oscar Urtusástegui, the trouble at the airport Sunday began because one choir member, Jorge Gutierrez, has the same name as an individual suspected of stealing a truck. Gutierrez — a university literature professor — was waiting in an office for his identity to be verified when some […]
Read the full story: The Gay Men’s Chorus of Mexico City fought immigration scrutiny to bring their songs to L.A.