ANNA Crusis was founded in 1975 as a community choir with the mission of uplifting the voices of women. It became a safe space for lesbians and straight women alike: a feminist women’s choir. As diversity in gender identity and expression became more and more visible, the make-up of the choir changed with it, but without a clear understanding of what that meant to us as a community.

In an effort to be more welcoming to our transgender community, we began to make changes. Our language shifted; singers were no longer ‘women and sisters,’ but sopranos, altos, and siblings. The restrooms in our rehearsal venue lost their gendered designations. Our concert costuming expanded to include more options. But along with these changes it became clear that some members felt concerned and fearful about the potential loss of their women-centered space. We realized that a more intentional choir-wide process was needed.

Read more about ANNA's Evolution