by Peter R. Thomas

      I have been playing the saxophone since the fall of 1978, and been a member of the Green Mountain Freedom Band since its founding in 1993. I also play in the Williston Town Band and often play with the wind ensemble at UVM.
      So when I got a chance to represent the Green Mountain Freedom Band at the Lesbian and Gay Bands of America (LGBA) conference in Melbourne this fall and play at the Gay Games, I jumped at the opportunity! I had joined LGBA for their trip to Amsterdam for the Games in 1998. It was wonderful to travel and perform with other gay and lesbian musicians, so I knew I wouldn’t want to miss the trip to Australia.
      On this trip, I was reminded that traveling with an instrument can be difficult. In addition to the usual jacket, backpack, large camera bag, really big suitcase and another bag for what didn’t fit in the suitcase, I had to bring my saxophone. Thank goodness for those airport luggage carts!
      Then there’s the big decision. Should I check the instrument with the airline or take it onto the plane as a carry-on? Technically, my alto saxophone is too big for carry-on, but checking anything delicate like a musical instrument can be risky.
      Once, I was traveling with my much larger and heavier baritone saxophone. The airline refused to allow me to treat it as a carry-on. As I was waiting to check it, a woman in front of me told me about the time that she checked a guitar with an airline only to see it later fall off of a luggage cart onto the tarmac and then get run over and crushed by a truck. That was the last thing I wanted to hear, but my bari sax survived the trip. On the way to Australia, I decided to carry-on my alto.
      LGBA conferences usually have workshops on topics like fundraising, diversity issues, leadership, and nonprofit status, as well as music clinics, but due to the tight rehearsal and performance schedule, the Melbourne conference was limited to two board meetings and an assembly of delegates meeting. There was really only one meeting I had to attend: the assembly of delegates where I represented the Green Mountain Freedom Band. Representatives of each member band (there were about 20 represented) stand and speak about the accomplishments and plans of their bands. It’s a great opportunity to share ideas and get to know people from all over the U.S., Australia and Canada.
      As part of the Melbourne Festival, we performed as a massed LGBA band of about 100 (we called ourselves “Team Band” – 59 US musicians, 39 Melbourne Rainbow Band musicians, and one musician from Amsterdam, Netherlands) along with 20 of the cheerleaders of Cheer San Francisco (an affiliate of LGBA). We took part in two outdoor noontime concerts and an evening concert in Melbourne’s beautiful Victorian Town Hall. The noontime performances attracted large crowds of lunch-hour listeners, and we were very pleased to have an audience of 700 at the evening Town Hall concert.
      While in the Melbourne area, we also went to Healesville Sanctuary to see native Australian animals, to a winery, and to Phillip Island to watch the penguins return from the ocean at nightfall.
      We arrived in Sydney on November 1, the day before the Gay Games Opening Ceremonies. We checked into our hotel and immediately left for the site of the ceremonies to begin rehearsing with an additional 18 musicians from the Sydney Homotones for about six hours (the Melbourne Rainbow Band and the Sydney Homotones bands are members of Lesbian and Gay Bands of America). The next day, we arrived at the stadium about four hours early to rehearse some more.
      For the opening ceremonies, we marched onto the field just before the contingents of athletes and played a medley of Village People music, including the gay classics “Y.M.C.A,” “In the Navy” and “Go West.” We wore all-black uniforms with lengthwise rows wearing either green, orange, pink or yellow fluorescent cowboy hats. To fill the stadium with sound, miniature wireless microphones were clipped to some of the musicians’ hats. It was a bit scary knowing that there were thousands of people watching and hearing us play, but it was also exhilarating. Afterwards it was nice to hear that we looked and sounded great.
      Throughout the rest of our time in Sydney, we went on to perform at a Federation of Gay Games reception on the North Foyer of the Sydney Opera House, at Darling Harbour, at the Olympic Park, Fox Studios, in Sydney Town Hall, at the Gay Games basketball finals and at the Gay Games Closing Ceremonies.
      In my free time, I went to the ice hockey finals, the diving competition, some volleyball games, the Royal Botanical Gardens and Bondi Beach. I also took a day trip to the Blue Mountains, which at the time were very dry and are now experiencing forest fires.
      On the way back to the US, I decided to check the sax because it was just too difficult trying to keep track of everything, find space for it and negotiate the narrow aisles getting on and off the plane. Fortunately, it was fine.
      Upon entering and departing Australia, immigration officials asked us why we had traveled to Australia. They didn’t give us any reaction, positive or negative, when we answered that we were there for the Gay Games. Generally, I think that Sydney was glad to have so many visitors filling its hotels, restaurants, stores and attractions.
      Many registered participants wore their Gay Games credentials everywhere, so we were very visible all over town. I didn’t hear that anyone wearing their credentials was harassed.
      The best part of the Gay Games is the way gays, lesbians, bisexuals, and transgender persons from all over the world can come together in a spirit of respect and celebration. At the opening ceremonies, it didn’t matter where the team was from. Every country’s team was applauded and made to feel welcome.
      For LGBA’s Team Band, it was really great for the American and Australian musicians to get to know each other better. We don’t get to see each other very often, as our yearly conferences are usually in the U.S. But I think that the wonderful performances and experiences that we had together in Australia will mean that we will be seeing a lot of them again in Montreal in 2006 if not before.

Peter R. Thomas is 34, lives in Essex Junction, and works for a federal agency in St. Albans.