Founded by Jon Reed Sims in 1978 in response to Anita Bryant‘s anti-gay campaign in the late 1970s, the San Francisco Gay Freedom Day Marching Band and Twirling Corps was the first openly-gay musical group in the world. Sims went on to create the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus, the Lesbian/Gay Chorus of San Francisco, and numerous other ensembles, while the Marching Band and Twirling Corps evolved into the celebratory San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band. Today’s concert features music spanning decades of American popular music, from jazz and swing standards of yesteryear to modern musicals and pop music of today, highlighting the musical versatility of the wind band.