Seattle Men's Chorus posters hit a sour note

When he developed the theme for this year's concert exploring the question of God and gays, Seattle Men's Chorus artistic director Dennis Coleman expected to generate discussion and debate.

The promotional material for this weekend's concert at McCaw Hall, for example, features two protesters hoisting picket signs that proclaim: "God hates fags" and "You're going to hell."

Coleman's intent was one of humor, a spoof of the very religion with which many gays struggle and to which so many have found a closed door. He titled the performance "Scared Faithless: God and Gays in the 21st Century."

What Coleman didn't expect was the powerful, sometimes vitriolic reaction to the words and images of his campaign.

Merchants — primarily suburban ones — who for years have carried posters promoting the chorus, refused to hang this one on their walls, telling a distributor they were offended by the words "hell" and "fags."

One Capitol Hill church cut out the images of protesters and their picket signs to avoid offending congregants.

Even among members of the chorus, the images stirred huge controversy. Some said the posters would violate their employers' company policy and they would not or could not put them up at work. For some gays, the images were a stark, raw reminder of their personal struggle with religion.

Eventually, the chorus developed "Censored" strips that could be taped across offensive parts of the posters, but the move may have come too late. Early sales of tickets for tonight's and Saturday's concerts were trailing last year's.

"I probably made a mistake," Coleman admitted Thursday. "I guess I was naive and just didn't realize that people would be that uncomfortable with that image and those words. After all, we live with this all the time."

The concert will explore — through song and performance — the pain some members have faced in seeking acceptance in their church. But it will also celebrate the warm welcome gays have felt in other communities of faith.

While many of their songs are religious, the Seattle Men's Chorus is secular, its mostly gay members hailing from many different faiths — or none at all.

Jeff Haven, co-owner of Keep Posted, said his company has been distributing posters in coffee shops, delis, restaurants and bookstores for the chorus for at least 20 years and had never had one rejected.

This time, merchants in the city were largely receptive, but, "All of a sudden I hit the suburbs, and merchants are looking at me like I'm from the moon," Haven said.

J.D. Fugate, a member of the chorus and an attorney at Microsoft, said he hung the poster on his office door but decided not to put it in the break room.

"Ultimately, I decided that even if it was something we could get permission for, I didn't feel like it was something I could push on a personal level."

Lornet Turnbull: 206-464-2420 or lturnbull@seattletimes.com