Marriage equality laws were only very recently passed in America.
Although many people have adopted a more progressive, compassionate view towards same-sex couples, many members of the LGBT community still feel nervous about coming out.
There’s no telling how someone will react, or if they will become the subject of uncomfortable ridicule and judgement.
At Hingham Middle School, located in Massachusetts, Christopher Landis faced one such dilemma.
He’s the school’s choir director and is one of the favorited teachers most loved by students all throughout the school.
He has a partner named Joe, and the pair were planning to tie the knot very soon – something Christopher hid from the choir of students he taught.
He was worried that they would see him differently and think more negatively of him.
Of course, choir members soon noticed that Joe visited Christopher fairly often, but the choir director lied and referred to Joe as a friend.
He was genuinely worried that his students would not approve of his marriage to a man, and that their parents may react badly to such news.
So, he decided not to tell them the truth about his relationship with Joe.
Things went on as usual, and soon Christopher was attending his wedding rehearsal brunch with Joe and a few guests.
He soon picked up on something unusual.
A lot of the guests he had were standing with their phones at the ready, as though waiting for something recordable to happen.
He had no idea what the surprise would be.
That’s when one of Christopher’s students came into the venue. But it wasn’t just one student – it was all of them.
The entire choir of middle school students strode into the venue, holding music scores, dressed to the nines, and stood before him.
Someone got on the piano, and they began to sing a song for Christopher – a touching, sweet rendition of The Beatles’ All You Need Is Love.
The message in their music couldn’t be clearer to Christopher.
The choir had spent the past month practising and rehearsing for this performance in secret.
It all started when some parents approached Joe and asked what he thought about such a surprise.
Joe thought it would be amazing, and he was right. Christopher was completely caught off guard by the heartfelt, kind gesture.
As the choir sang their hearts out, letting it be known that it was okay for Christopher to be open about his relationship and sexuality, the choir director was brought to tears.
It wasn’t long before the whole room was teary-eyed while the 50-something students performed.
The beautiful melody soaring through the room, touching the hearts of everyone as they serenaded the husbands-to-be.
Christopher always does his best to promote a safe environment of love and acceptance in his classes, and it’s clear that his students have learned that lesson from him.
This video, taken at the moment the surprise was sprung, beautifully and perfectly captures the incredible moment when this amazing surprise was gifted to Christopher.
It’s a wedding gift he won’t soon forget!
