Formed in 1983 for the Lesbian & Gay Pride march, we have grown to become a group of over 100 amateur singers who come together to sing, perform and campaign for their community. We represent a diverse range of sexual orientation, ages and gender identities from all walks of life who are united by a passion for singing great choral music. As a registered charity, we exist to promote the love and appreciation of music and to promote equality and raise awareness of LGBTQ+ issues in wider society.
The Pink Singers was formed by journalist Brian Kennedy in 1983. 29singers attended the first rehearsal. We backed Jimmy Somerville and Bronski Beat on two songs on their first album in 1984. We took part in the first European Lesbian and Gay Festival of song (now Various Voices) in 1987 and hosted the festival in 1989 and again in 2009 alongside other London based choirs. We went on to form Hand in Hand (an LGBT+ choir festival for choirs from UK and Ireland) in 2013.
We were the first “European Gay” choir to sing in the US in 1990. In 2009 We visited Malta: an amazing collaboration between a British LGBT+ choir and a Maltese Christian choir. In Malta, where Catholicism holds sway, the LGBT rights movement was then almost non-existent. Following our visit the Maltese Prime Minister established a lobby group to promote gay rights on the island and the Malta Gay Rights Movement set the wheels in motion for the formation of a gay choir. Ten years later an opinion poll indicated that 67% of Maltese supported same-sex marriage and 73% believed queer people should enjoy the same rights as heterosexual people.
In 2017 we ran a yearlong project to highlight LGBT rights in India, in partnership with India’s first ever LGBT choir, Rainbow Voices Mumbai. This included bringing them to London to sing at Pride in Trafalgar Square in June. In 2021-22 we ran our outreach focus was on LGBT+ lives in Eastern Europe and during lockdown we collaborated with two other LGBT+ choirs: Voces Gaudii based in Warsaw, Poland, and Obochina, based in St. Petersburg, Russia. In June 2022 we visited Warsaw to sing and take part in their Pride March. During the 2020 lockdown we recorded two virtual videos “Fix You” and “Together in Electric Dreams”. The latter video featured 130 singers and musicians including 50 former members from around the globe. This year we are celebrating our 40th anniversary and are looking forward to the next 40 years!