THE VOICE OF CHICAGO'S GAY, LESBIAN, BI, TRANS AND QUEER COMMUNITY SINCE 1985

The reflective, articulate Webster retains a hint of the southern twang ( he was born and raised in Nashville ) and was eager to talk about everything from music to his upbringing in the 'golden buckle of the Bible belt.'

WCT: Were there any gay composers in the baroque period?

RW: Scholars say that Corelli was discreetly homosexual—you certainly had to be discreet in those days. Jean-Baptiste Lully is probably one of the top two French composers of the era. I've read that his career declined because of a homosexual scandal. He was a member of the court at Versailles and you know what was going on down there in that basement every night. But the one that really blew me away in doing a little research—and I'd never heard this before—Handel.

WCT: Mr. 'Messiah' himself?

RW: Yes—and that's the scandal—he wrote the most famous piece of Christian music ever! Of course he never married and his private life was within the confines of an all-male social circle and he kept strict silence about his personal life. So, what else would you conclude?

WCT: What about being gay in the classical music world today?

RW: Twenty years ago I would be playing in certain very well known ensembles in town and the homophobia was palpable. But now, in some of those same ensembles it's the absolute opposite. Being gay means nothing in the classical world of music. Classical music is filled with gays and lesbians—performers, composers, historians—the music world would collapse if it weren't for gay people.

WCT: Let's just say the whole world and be done with it.

RW: ( laughs ) Right.

WCT: To what do you attribute that?

RW: I think a lot of society has dealt with this issue and put it to rest. In the artistic world you judge people on their merit and not on anything else. Now, in the Christian world it's a whole different story. I've been very fortunate to work in the Episcopal Church which, even though it's been in the headlines a lot since the consecration of the gay bishop in New Hampshire, has always been tolerant and prided itself on openness. That's been my experience. I grew up a Baptist—a southern Baptist.

WCT: That's a little different.

RW: Yes, a very different experience. My mother is still a southern Baptist. When she goes to church she might be subjected to the kinds of homophobia that we know goes on in these places and I grieve for her. But she's dealt with all of this and she's my biggest fan.

WCT: So this hasn't affected your personal relationship with your parents?

RW: I would say that my story is not unlike everyone else's. When I came out to my parents I was in my early 30s. Their world was rocked and they're deeply religious. But I have to hand it to them. They took this issue on and they dealt with it. My dad ( who is now deceased ) gave me a card in which he had written Romans: Chapter 8. The passage that says that, 'Nothing can separate us from the love of God.' He wrote this out in his beautiful handwriting and at the end of it he added, 'And that's how I love you and that will not change.' They struggled but boy did they come around. They joined P-FLAG and really became radical in their support of gay and lesbian people. Radical. These were two card-carrying Bible-toting southern Baptists.

WCT: That's an amazing story.

RW: Well, it's about love.

WCT: Your story's ironic in light of what's been happening on a national scale. It seems OK to again demonize gay people.

RW: Do you know why I think that is? I think that those people in the red states—and I'm from a red state and all of my people are still back there and they think like that ( except my parents ) —I think they see that they're losing the great battle. That, yes, tolerance and acceptance is not just something that happens in Massachusetts but it happens everywhere and they're scared shitless and they're trying to reclaim the territory that they've lost and they're getting desperate.

WCT: I don't think it's territory that they ever really had.

RW: Well, ultimately I think their efforts will fail. Even if they get some of this written into law. It's going to ultimately collapse because it's based on fear and it's based on Us vs. Them and that's demagoguery—it's not going to hold up.

One other point I want to make on that topic, and I think it's a very important one in my specific case. For 30 years I was the director of music in this church and the central choir in this church was a choir of men and boys—modeled on the English cathedral tradition. I was the choir master for all these little boys age 8 up through 18 and the parents knew what they were getting into. I never made it an issue because it didn't need to be, but everybody knew I was gay, they knew my partner and when these little boys would come into the choir the parents were saying to me, 'We know who you are and we trust you with our children. We know that this whole thing about gay people not being appropriate role models for children—particularly little boys—is baloney. Here's my child.' And I would have these kids for years and I was—with the exception of their parents—the most influential person in their lives, because they saw me several times a week for 10 years.

So, now, my conclusion here is that one of my callings was to show people in a Christian setting that you can be gay—not only that—but you can be a role model for people who are young in the faith.

WCT: That's a beautiful example.

RW: Well, when I go to my grave that's what I'm going to be most satisfied with. I loved that.

See www.bachweek.org .