[5] The group claims to have originally assembled for "aesthetic rather than political purposes," as was described by former Director Lee Ridgeway in an interview.

Music Director Reuben M. Reynolds III commented, “coming at the end of Boston Pride Week, this also sets a wonderful example for mayors from around the country of what it means for a city to be truly inclusive of its LGBT community.

This performance was part of a larger tour of South Africa during which the Boston Gay Men's Chorus raised money for causes such as HIV/AIDS awareness and support of LGBT youth and asylum seekers.

Chorus member, Kilian Melloy, reported that the group's reception in the Middle East was widely positive, although the permit for the gay pride parade in Istanbul was revoked and the event was cancelled.

The concert received a standing ovation and demonstrated the generational difference in opinion that existed surrounding gay marriage.

[13] Nick Adams, Nancy Armstrong, soprano, Laura Benanti, Nell Carter, Ann Hampton Callaway, Lea DeLaria, Linda Eder, D’Anna Fortunato, Sutton Foster, Todrick Hall, James Maddalena, Katharine McPhee, Alex Newell, Faith Prince, Stephen Schwartz, Fenwick Smith, Lillias White.

The following day, the Istanbul pride parade was cancelled and chorus members who planned to march were turned away by riot police.

During the same tour, a New Hampshire paper, The Dartmouth Review published an editorial piece in which it referred to the chorus as a "traveling sodomy circus."

These protests came shortly after Vermont Governor Howard Dean signed a gay rights bill into law.