In spite of social distancing and a new normal, MoFo ended its Pride Month celebrations on a high note. On June 30, 2020, the San Francisco Pride Committee hosted a delightful and informative webinar featuring the Kinsey Sicks, an a cappella quartet who bill themselves as “America’s Favorite Dragapella Beautyshop Quartet.”
MoFo Corporate partner Alfredo Silva opened the webinar by recalling the first time he saw the Kinsey Sicks live and explaining the meaning behind their name. The Kinsey Scale, also called the Heterosexual–Homosexual Rating Scale, is used in research to describe a person’s sexual orientation, ranging from a rating of zero, meaning exclusively heterosexual, to a six, meaning exclusively homosexual. The “Sicks” part of the troupe’s name is a reference to the six rating on the Kinsey Scale.
Prior to introducing the Kinsey Sicks members, attendees watched a video of their song “Scalia,” a parody about the late Justice Antonin Scalia, who wrote a scathing dissent to the Supreme Court’s 5–4 decision ruling that states must license same-sex marriage. In his dissent, he stated that “The Supreme Court of the United States has descended from the disciplined legal reasoning of John Marshall and Joseph Story to the mystical aphorisms of the fortune cookie.”
Afterwards, Winnie (Nathan Marken), Trixie (Jeff Manabat), Trampolina (Spencer Brown), and Rachel (Dragapella emiritus and Harvard Law graduate Ben Schatz) introduced themselves to the group using comical Zoom backgrounds, such as Trump’s golden bathroom and an abandoned daycare in Missouri.
Attendees also watched a monologue from Things You Shouldn’t Say, where Ben talked about how and why the Kinsey Sicks came to be, what it was like to live through the AIDS crisis, and how much things have changed socially and politically since then. They also answered a number of questions from MoFo participants, including how they joined the group and what they feel is left to be done in favor of LGBTQ+ rights and equality.
For over 25 years, the Kinsey Sicks have performed for audiences all around the world, using humor rather than confrontation in an attempt to change people’s minds about gender and sexual identity. They’ve appeared in a long-running Off-Broadway show in Vegas, two feature films, and numerous theatre and comedy festival performances.
Learn more about MoFo’s commitment to LGBTQ+ professionals and the broader community here.