Video Interview, Larry Champoux, November 1, 2012

  • KEVIN INDOVINO: (unintelligible) This is the tough question.
  • How do you want your name to be spelled out on screen?
  • First and last name. (unintelligible)
  • first and last name.
  • LARRY CHAMPOUX: Let's do Larry, L-A-R-R-Y, Champoux,
  • C-H-A-M-P-O-U-X.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: So first thing we're
  • going to talk about, because you talked about
  • with Evelyn earlier is, is the gay rights
  • movement and the arts, it seemed to me, particularly
  • at the crux of the whole AIDS crisis
  • where we were really out there.
  • The whole gay rights movement kind
  • of (unintelligible) the whole AIDS awareness movement.
  • But we were also then getting attacked
  • from all different directions.
  • And you come from the many experiences,
  • you were with the Pyramid Arts Center at the time.
  • And we know of that whole Piss on Christ thing,
  • the controversy that that created.
  • Can you just talk to me briefly a little bit
  • about how even the arts were being attacked,
  • in regards LGBT issues, and that kind of thing.
  • CREW: Someone's phone is on.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Someone's phone is on?
  • LARRY CHAMPOUX: Oh, maybe.
  • CREW: (unintelligible)
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: (unintelligible)
  • LARRY CHAMPOUX: One of the things
  • that I think is really interesting about the 1980s
  • in terms of arts and art activism
  • is that when the AIDS crisis hit it required the gay community
  • to respond in some really unique and creative ways.
  • And when ACT UP started it was comprised
  • of a great many individuals from a community
  • and a great many artists.
  • And political activism at that time
  • sort of merged with performance art.
  • When you look at some of the actions
  • that ACT UP took in the streets and in the cities
  • across America, it was a very creative movement.
  • So throughout the 1980s, I think that the gay community
  • began to be infused with a political activism
  • and a creativity.
  • And that political activism and creativity
  • crossed over into arts organizations at that time.
  • Many of whom began to develop supportive mechanisms
  • for gay and lesbian artists because they were under attack.
  • And because they recognized that there
  • was something important creative happening here in this crisis.
  • At that time, I worked at an organization,
  • Pyramid Arts Center which is now Rochester Contemporary.
  • And we were an artist space in a multi art center what
  • that means is primarily we developed programs and support
  • services for a wide range of artists.
  • OK.
  • I'm going to pick you back up where you started with.
  • Don't worry about the camera.
  • Just talk to me.
  • OK.
  • At that time I was the executive and artistic director
  • of Pyramid Art Center and we were an artist space which
  • means we develop programs in support of artists
  • and we are multi arts organization, which
  • meant that we had programs in a wide range of disciplines
  • from theater and performance art, music, dance
  • as well as the whole range of visual arts.
  • And it was a great time.
  • It was exciting.
  • There was an explosion of creativity coming out
  • of the East Village in New York and there
  • was an emergence of performance art in ways that
  • had never been seen before.
  • And the hybridization of art forms
  • was a time for lots of invention.
  • And we were fortunate that we had mechanisms
  • at the New York State Council in the Arts
  • and the National Endowment for the Arts
  • that was supportive of this Avant-Garde experimental
  • components in our culture and also supportive
  • of lesbian and gay artists.
  • and diverse artists.
  • There were funding mechanisms in place in support of that.
  • So at Pyramid Arts Center we were
  • able to secure a lot of that funding
  • and I worked as a panelist at New York state
  • Council on the Arts and a consultant
  • for a few other programs there and also
  • a consultant for the National Endowment for the Arts
  • to develop a regrind programs for diverse artists.
  • So it was exciting to be in this mix and what opportunity that
  • provided for our community was we were able to bring
  • a lot of these artists into Rochester,
  • Artists' like Holly Hughes, lesbian theater
  • artist, and Karen Finley, not a lesbian herself, but sort
  • of a hero of the gay movement out
  • of East Village at that time.
  • And provide supportive mechanisms for these artists
  • as well.
  • We presented the early work of Todd Haynes
  • early in his career.
  • And even other wonderful groups like Blue Man Group,
  • we presented early on.
  • So it's an exciting time in our space there
  • and we had crowds of people that came in.
  • Unfortunately not everyone viewed this experimentation
  • with the same enthusiasm that we did.
  • In the beginning in the late 1980s,
  • there began to be a backlash.
  • Senator D'Amato of New York state
  • ripped up a catalog that contained Andre Serrano's work,
  • an infamous piece called Piss Christ,
  • which has gone on to be hugely misinterpreted
  • for political purposes.
  • And following up on that began to be
  • attacks from Jesse Helms regarding funding for lesbian
  • and gay artists and others associated with experimental
  • and Avant Garde art.
  • People like Holly Hughes, and Karen Finley, Tim Miller,
  • John flack were de-funded.
  • This created the need for all of us
  • within this artist's space movement in the United States
  • to organize around what can we do to stop this.
  • We believed that these artists deserved
  • to have their viewpoints known and that their work should not
  • be censored.
  • So it became a crisis of censorship
  • within the lesbian and gay community
  • starting in the late 1980s and proceeding into the 1990s.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: So at some point, you and a couple
  • other people came up with an Idea
  • to confront censorship within the gay and lesbian art
  • community.
  • Correct me if I'm wrong, but that
  • led into what became pink flamingos and (unintelligible).
  • Can you kind of walk me through that a little bit.
  • What was your reaction to this attack and the idea that
  • came out of that?
  • LARRY CHAMPOUX: There are a few values
  • I think that we have within the lesbian and gay community that
  • are unique to our community because we love our country.
  • We love our communities.
  • We love our families.
  • But I think one of the values that we
  • have is a commitment to self-sufficiency
  • within our community.
  • We've been attacked for centuries.
  • And our response to that has been
  • to organize however we could to be supportive of each other.
  • So looking at how to respond to this issue of censorship,
  • in my own mind I'm thinking somehow we
  • have to develop programs that make use of that.
  • We had seen that throughout the AIDS crisis
  • as our community came forward in support of itself
  • when no one else was there.
  • When we did not have medical treatments, when we did not
  • have politicians backing us up, when there was not
  • money flowing for research or medicine,
  • we supported each other and organized
  • around that to change the environment
  • and to change policies.
  • So looking at the crisis in censorship
  • it seems like there are similar mechanisms that
  • could be put in place for that.
  • Within Pyramid Arts Center we had small lesbian and gay film
  • festivals of various kinds and had
  • had dialogues about lesbian and gay film
  • festival in a larger community.
  • It was a movement that was probably really only about
  • five years old at that time.
  • I don't think there's many film festivals of its sort
  • that are more than a generation old now.
  • And an opportunity for that arose when a couple of women
  • named Lee Andrews and Martha Leonard came up
  • with a wonderful idea to develop a convention for lesbian, gay,
  • transgender, and bisexual people who live in our community.
  • Sort of a multi purpose convention and conference
  • with workshops and great entertainments with some
  • of the top performers within our community at that time
  • like the Flirtations and I think Chris Williamson was there.
  • Martha Leonard was on our board at Pyramid Art Center
  • and she and Lee approached me about organizing a film
  • festival for as a test in a sense for Pink Flamingos
  • and Purple Hearts conference.
  • And this seemed like a good opportunity
  • because it was funded.
  • They were going to pay Pyramid Art Center to produce this.
  • And so the funding was in place for it
  • and it allowed us to move forward with plans
  • that we had wanted to initiate and it
  • seemed like we would have an audience built in for it.
  • The staff at an art center and myself
  • developed a film festival for this conference.
  • It was a small film festival.
  • Maybe I think maybe a dozen films set up just
  • in a room with a 16 millimeter projector
  • and I think with some video equipment
  • with chairs set up and promoted it at the conference
  • and had a wonderful response at the conference.
  • And it was such that we used it as a sort of focus group
  • essentially.
  • Because after each film, we would talk about the film
  • and with audiences we would also talk
  • about the possibility of creating a film
  • festival within our community.
  • How could that work?
  • Would you go to it?
  • What would you think would be barriers
  • to getting people to go to it?
  • Because the audience was not huge for it and so
  • it was manageable to have these sorts of discussions
  • about how a film festival could begin to function
  • within our community.
  • And it was great fun.
  • I mean, people couldn't make it to one screening,
  • so we just set the camera back up again at 11 o'clock
  • and showed films again as late as people
  • wanted to stay there and just show them over and over again.
  • It was pretty casual but very effective.
  • And so that became the first reckoning
  • of that we could, in fact do a film festival in our community.
  • We figured that this was a possibility, that there
  • were ways to figure it out, and people were ready for it
  • and they were interested in it.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: So eventually this idea
  • really moved into --what was it-- the political caucus?
  • Kind of under their umbrella?
  • LARRY CHAMPOUX: At that point I left Pyramid Art Center
  • and had the opportunity and the time
  • to devote to development of the film festival.
  • And began pretty much that became the central focus
  • of what I did.
  • I had been on the board at the Gay Alliance of the Yangtze
  • Valley at that time and I was also
  • Vise President at the Rochester Lesbian and Gay Political
  • Caucus, which is sort of a local predecessor to the Empire State
  • Pride agenda.
  • So I approached the gay alliance about the possibility
  • of being a sponsor of the festival
  • so that funding could be, there was a conduit for funding
  • to happen.
  • And also because I was affiliated
  • with the political caucus approached them
  • about also co-sponsoring the film festival.
  • So the first movement in the film festival
  • is under the auspices of GAGV with some co-sponsorship
  • from the political caucus.
  • And there was skepticism.
  • It's like any sort of new idea.
  • So I really had to do my marketing and selling
  • for people to see that this was a possibility.
  • And had to ensure that it would not be a fiscal drain on either
  • of those organizations, which was very important from the
  • get go.
  • So I had to present a mechanism for actually
  • how this could financially work with earned and unearned
  • income, how I could survive from ticket sales
  • and from grant money.
  • Because I had been a panelist at New York State
  • Council and the Arts, I understood
  • the funding mechanisms that worked there and early on we
  • had support from New York State Council and the Arts.
  • They knew me they understood that I
  • had the skills to do this.
  • So fortunately we had that support early on,
  • which meant a great deal in terms
  • of giving the film festival credibility at that time.
  • So I, through the gay alliance, began
  • to do calls for volunteers to organize around us
  • and this was a new project, a new organization.
  • The only thing we had some semblance that this could work,
  • but we had a lot of energy within our community.
  • What we had here that makes our community so special I think
  • is we have a long history of strong volunteerism.
  • Again based on our self-sufficiency
  • within our community to be strong.
  • And we had come through and we're
  • still in the AIDS HIV crisis at that time
  • and had learned a great deal about organizing
  • on a large scale moving our community,
  • not just in a small way but in a big way politically.
  • Plus we had begun to be more politically organized
  • in conventional ways to support for openly gay politicians.
  • And so we had grown a great deal at that point which
  • helped to the early organizing of the festival
  • to attract some really talented folks.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: So tell me, let's
  • just jump ahead over here.
  • Tell me about the first festival.
  • What was it like?
  • What are your most fondest memories
  • of that first Image Out?
  • Was even called Image Out yet, was it?
  • LARRY CHAMPOUX: No.
  • Early on the film festival was called
  • the Rochester Lesbian and Gay Film and Video Festival,
  • later changed to Image Out.
  • My strongest memories of the first film festival
  • was the overwhelming audiences that showed up for it.
  • And anyone that has been to the film festival
  • sees how great it is when the theater is full.
  • But in that first year, we had one of the smaller theaters
  • at the little and we had people sitting in the aisles even,
  • it was so full.
  • We were putting them in and we were like, I don't know.
  • What about the fire marshals?
  • And it was like there are controversy over them.
  • What do we do?
  • There's so many people here and we don't
  • have enough seats for them.
  • And it was like at that point, let's risk it.
  • It's important that we all stuff in here together to experience
  • this together and that added to the excitement of it
  • and the enthusiasm of it.
  • And I think early on was an indication
  • of the community's love for culture, and for each other.
  • It was a wonderful feeling to see all these people there
  • and was extremely exciting for us and was a success.
  • And we made money for the alliance
  • and made money for the political caucus.
  • And to give a sense of what it was
  • like at that time, the city of Rochester
  • was working towards trying to develop domestic denish benefit
  • partners.
  • To give you a sense of what was happening
  • in the community at that time, the gay community
  • was working with the city to develop domestic partnership
  • benefits for employees of the City of Rochester.
  • It was very controversial and took a great deal of convincing
  • of city council to go along with this
  • and we weren't sure what was going to happen.
  • But some of the money that was used for that
  • was film festival profits used for educational purposes
  • to promote the concept of the value of domestic partnership
  • benefits.
  • And we did succeed in getting domestic partnership benefits
  • for the city of Rochester.
  • So there was a whole lot of really exciting things going
  • on at that time and sort of a dynamic overlap of how
  • these things all came together.
  • So it was a benefit of good timing and good people
  • early on that help make it successful.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Yeah, you just talked about something
  • that I want to explore a little bit more here.
  • Bringing people together for an artistic and cultural event
  • or activity, but still then tying that
  • into some sort of activism and, again,
  • using the arts and culture and using
  • that as a vehicle to then get legislation
  • passed or bring more awareness about gay and lesbian issues.
  • Thoughts on that?
  • LARRY CHAMPOUX: Well given that our community was under attack
  • in the 1980s and early 1990s, regarding our own culture
  • and we were facing censorship of our own culture,
  • it became imperative for gays and lesbians around the country
  • and in our own community to develop programs
  • where they took control of their own culture
  • so that it would be relatively safe from these attacks
  • on our culture, and would be free of censorship
  • as best as possible.
  • That self-sufficiency has allowed the film festival
  • to present a wide range of important topics
  • to our community.
  • The film festival has educated our community
  • about marriage, diversity, gender issues, women's issues,
  • children's issues, educational issues, all of which
  • have political and social components.
  • And so the film festival serves not just as an entertainment
  • vehicle, but a means for our community
  • to stay on top of what's happening locally, nationally,
  • and internationally.
  • Which is, to me, one of the most important components
  • right now is the international component to the film festival
  • because there are so many dramatic issues
  • facing our brothers and sisters around the world
  • that are largely invisible to us unless we take time
  • to learn about that.
  • And the film festival helps to make sure that that happens.
  • So culture and activism have really always probably
  • been connected.
  • But for us, it's intrinsic to our lives
  • right now that we need to maintain that activism
  • and maintain that cultural activism in order
  • to ensure that we aren't cast back into the shadows again.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: So looking back at 20 years of ImageOut-- this
  • is kind of a two part question.
  • As a founding father of this festival, question A,
  • why do you think it's been so successful for 20 years?
  • And then adding to that, what are you most proud of,
  • in regards to what you did to get it started?
  • LARRY CHAMPOUX: I look towards--
  • I need to start again.
  • There's a lot of confusion about our community.
  • And we have been under attack for so many years
  • and have had so many misconceptions relayed
  • about who we are and what we do.
  • We have been conveyed as evil and bad influences
  • and have been denied rights of association, rights to speak,
  • rights to marry, for so many years
  • that the film festival, within our own community,
  • brings to light I think what is really
  • essential about our entire movement
  • is that it's not really about sexuality.
  • Our movement really is about our capabilities and freedom
  • to love each other, to love our families,
  • to be respected at our jobs, to respect each other,
  • and to live in a environment where
  • children can grow up in that same spirit of love
  • and acceptance.
  • It's a movement-- really, when you
  • look beyond the politics of it, and when
  • you look beyond the movements of it and the activism of it,
  • it's a movement founded in our love
  • for each other and our desire to ensure we have that freedom
  • to do that in the future.
  • So when we come together in the film festival,
  • I think we all know that when we're sitting in the audiences
  • and we're watching films and we're all together.
  • I think we know, really, what the movement is about.
  • And that's why we love it so much when we sit there,
  • because we know in that environment
  • we have the freedom to love each other any way that we want to.
  • And so when I look back at 20 years of the film festival,
  • to me that's what is most striking about that.
  • And that after the funding is done
  • and the ticket sales are collected
  • and all of the hard work the volunteers
  • have put forward and that--
  • for one more year we've all gotten together
  • to prove that one point one more time
  • and to express that to each other, to our community,
  • and to the world.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: So let me ask you this.
  • From where it began to where it is now,
  • in those initial stages of putting this film festival
  • together, in 1990, 1992, '93, whenever it was--
  • did you ever imagine that, one, it would still
  • be here 20 years later but two, that it
  • would reach the heights that it has reached,
  • and reach the recognition that it has reached internationally?
  • LARRY CHAMPOUX: I think that one of the major reasons the film
  • festival has been successful is that it
  • has been, in many ways, a festival without a figurehead.
  • It has been a festival of our community.
  • It's been a festival of the volunteers.
  • It's been a festival of the audiences.
  • It's not been a festival of a hero,
  • or the big museum director, or the big boss.
  • It's the film festival that is about all
  • of us that come together around it.
  • And that is essentially what has made
  • it survive and be successful, because we
  • know we're all doing it.
  • Everybody is doing it, contributing money,
  • buying tickets, helping at the feeder, helping promote it,
  • seeing films.
  • All of that work is done by everybody in our community.
  • And so we all end up with an ownership over that.
  • And I think 20 years ago, I knew that was in our community
  • because I had seen that same spirit grow so strongly as we
  • fought to keep our community healthy during the AIDS
  • crisis in the early years.
  • But I don't think I knew that it would
  • grow to be this wonderful event that it has become today.
  • I was thinking in the moment, let's do it right now.
  • This is what we have to accomplish right now
  • and let's see what happens with it.
  • So it is gratifying to see that it is still here.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Let's switch gears.
  • Let's talk politics a little bit.
  • Talk to me a little bit about the Rochester Gay and Lesbian
  • Political Caucus.
  • What was it?
  • More importantly, what was the mission behind it?
  • LARRY CHAMPOUX: The Rochester Lesbian and Gay Political
  • Caucus was an organization that was largely
  • an early predecessor to what we call the Empire State Pride
  • Agenda.
  • And I think the Pride Agenda has supplanted the work
  • that the Political Caucus use to do.
  • But it was a local organization designed to support and educate
  • and politically influence candidates for office, locally.
  • And it was, statewide, as I recall, probably one
  • of the most successful of those sorts of organizations
  • around the state, which is why I think
  • we have always had a strong representation also
  • at the Pride Agenda.
  • It's because early on, we had some good strong political
  • organizing,
  • And so I'm not the expert on the origins of the Political
  • Caucus, but it was extremely valuable
  • and allowed us to begin to develop
  • our own strong political base.
  • Like Bill Pritchard was an early--
  • he was president of the Political Caucus
  • when I was there.
  • And Don Belack and Tim Maines and Sue Cowell.
  • And so a lot of the political powerhouses in our community
  • worked their way through their lesbian
  • and gay political caucus as I recall, as I remember that.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Talk to me about, you
  • know, we were in this period like, say, well,
  • from 1969 on, maybe even a little bit before that.
  • But you know, basically with the Stonewall event.
  • And we started to become a more visible community
  • but we were visible, you know, marching
  • in parades and picketing outside the city
  • halls and that kind of thing.
  • But at some point, the gears switched a little bit.
  • At some point, the gay community realized
  • it's not enough to just be marching outside of city hall.
  • That we have to get face time with political candidates.
  • We have to get in line and support
  • political candidates who were going
  • to support us as a community.
  • Can you talk to me a little bit about that?
  • Because to me, that seems to be kind
  • of the crux of where something like the Rochester Gay
  • and Lesbian Political Caucus came out of.
  • That there was this realization that we
  • need actually one on one time with these politicals.
  • LARRY CHAMPOUX: Yeah, I can speak about that some.
  • In 1993 there was organized a march on Washington
  • the 1993 march on Washington.
  • I went to it.
  • Several other folks affiliated with the film festival
  • went to it.
  • I went down with Scott McCartney who was, as he continues to be,
  • a valuable volunteer for the film festival.
  • And at that time, there were controversies over,
  • what are we going to do as a community nationally?
  • And there were components that wanted
  • us to organize nationally and have
  • a strong national presence.
  • There was another track that said no.
  • We're all coming in here to Washington
  • and we're going to have fun and RuPaul is going to entertain us
  • and we're going to all feel great here and it's a big party
  • and it's political.
  • But no, you're going to go back to your communities now.
  • It's, don't think up here about the national issues.
  • Go back home and work in your towns and your cities
  • and organize there and influence your politicians locally
  • and develop programs at your homes
  • and develop organizations in support
  • of your own communities.
  • So it was fascinating because really it was like, OK,
  • come to Washington and go home and do your hard work.
  • And the film festival benefited from that
  • because this is precisely what the film festival was about.
  • It was going home and developing a program
  • that would educate and motivate within our own community.
  • Associated with that movement, which I think was powerful
  • and I think was under the leadership
  • of Urvashi Vaid, who was the head of the National Lesbian
  • and Gay Task Force at that time.
  • But it was a powerful movement to go back
  • to our own communities and organize there.
  • And out of that, we actually were
  • able to have greater political influence locally.
  • In our own community we've seen that dramatically,
  • but in communities across the country.
  • Now, I think that that thrust has pushed us forward
  • for a generation and has helped where
  • we have been able to achieve marriage
  • equality in certain states.
  • It has all been based on that localization of our efforts
  • to bring about that change, with a parallel level
  • to influence things nationally where you see
  • repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell.
  • By that localization of our efforts is important.
  • That only was able to come about because of a demographic change
  • within our community.
  • After Stonewall, people began to realize
  • they did not have to move away from where they grew up
  • in order to begin to have an influence
  • or to change their lives.
  • As a gay person or a lesbian person,
  • you didn't have to move to New York anymore.
  • You didn't have to move to San Francisco.
  • You didn't have to move to a big city
  • in order to find the community where you belonged.
  • After Stonewall, you began to be able to find that community
  • where you lived, where you grew up, where your family may still
  • have lived.
  • And so that sort of demographic change within our own community
  • was really important because we were no longer isolated
  • within pockets anymore.
  • We were everywhere.
  • And we are everywhere.
  • And we always have been everywhere.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Well, speaking about the community
  • again and working locally, when you look at a city
  • the size of Rochester, you've got a Gay Alliance
  • Organization.
  • We have a film festival.
  • We have political caucuses.
  • We have 30 or 40 different gay organizations
  • listed in The Empty Closet.
  • What is it about Rochester that allows all that to happen here?
  • Because no other community is like this.
  • LARRY CHAMPOUX: In Rochester, we're
  • fortunate to have pretty rich history of support
  • for diversity.
  • Much of the time it's used purely
  • for advertising purposes.
  • We're the home of Susan b Anthony.
  • We're the home of Frederick Douglass.
  • Where the home of religious revivalism and diversity.
  • But for our community, it means something.
  • That is our local history, that diversity.
  • Our own movement within the LGBT community
  • is an outgrowth of the work that had
  • been done by women in the suffrage movement,
  • and the work that Frederick Douglass did.
  • We're the beneficiaries of that work,
  • though we do not always support that diversity as strongly
  • as we need to these days.
  • I mean, we have been able to grow because those
  • are early models of our community
  • that have been presented to us.
  • So our community has a rich history of diversity
  • that has allowed us to develop our own programs.
  • We're fortunate in many ways because we
  • have enough economic vitality that we can do this.
  • And we're fortunate in that way.
  • What's important is that we remember
  • that our origins within our community
  • are based upon diversity, women's movement, the movement
  • of African-Americans to gain dignity, the respect, the vote.
  • And we really need to pay that back as well.
  • And we need to honor the diversity
  • within our own community in order
  • to continue that legacy forward.
  • The film festival helps to do that.
  • But we always need to be reminded of that also.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Well, and that brings up
  • an interesting question that, it hasn't always
  • been a bed of roses and it will never be a bed of roses.
  • There's been some significant challenges
  • that we've had to face from year to year.
  • Being who we are as a community here in Rochester,
  • we do face those challenges and we do win the battles.
  • Your thoughts on regards to, where do we go from here?
  • OK, we've got marriage equality in New York state.
  • Rochester helped in a big part of getting that passed.
  • What are the challenges ahead?
  • Where do we go from here?
  • What do we need to be looking at from this point on?
  • LARRY CHAMPOUX: This is an exciting era
  • to be alive in if you are a lesbian, gay, bisexual,
  • or transgendered person.
  • We have seen a period of a change in world history--
  • not just our community's history, but a change in world
  • history.
  • And we've had success after success after success.
  • And we're winning these battles.
  • But all of that needs to be taken with a bit of caution
  • because we're still in a very tenuous position.
  • We still face significant challenges.
  • Marriage equality we have in New York state
  • and we got that by a very slim margin.
  • And we have to remember that.
  • And we're in an election year.
  • And we face significant barriers to a conservative movement
  • that would roll back any of these rights and privileges
  • that we currently enjoy.
  • And our biggest challenge isn't these conservative attacks
  • on our lives, or our being.
  • Our biggest challenge going forward
  • is our own complacency and sense of satisfaction
  • that we have achieved what we want to achieve
  • and turning our backs on our need to be cautious, and aware,
  • and active, and moving forward on behalf
  • of our own community and other communities
  • facing similar discrimination.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Let me just look at my stuff here.
  • See if I put this down here--
  • I think we did.
  • I'm just going to throw these names at you.
  • Just quick thoughts about these people
  • that you've worked with particularly with the festival.
  • Give me your quick thoughts on Jamie and Sally Whitbeck.
  • LARRY CHAMPOUX: Jamie and Sally Whitbeck
  • have been remarkable addition to the film festival.
  • And it's hard to imagine that it could not have a Jamie
  • and Sally Whitbeck.
  • It's hard to imagine that the film festival could not exist
  • without these two great folks.
  • Concurrent to when I was working on this film festival early on,
  • Jamie was working on a similar film festival.
  • And as the story goes, I was sitting
  • in the offices of The Little Theater arranging
  • for screenings of the first film festival to happen there
  • and Jamie happened to call up Bill Coppard who
  • was the owner of the theater at that time
  • to talk to him about the film festival that he wanted to do.
  • And Bill Coppard said, well, Larry Champoux
  • is sitting right here and handed the phone over to me.
  • And Jamie and I began to have a contact there about well,
  • should we do one festival or two festivals?
  • And Jamie came on board and has been a wonderful contributor
  • ever since, as well as his great wife Sally.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Interesting perspective, though,
  • that it was Jamie and Sally who were not gay.
  • They were married husband and wife.
  • They don't have gay children.
  • But yet here they are, getting involved with gay lives.
  • Here they are getting involved with the gay film festival.
  • And I want to say, I don't even know how to ask this,
  • but was there any point where you were taken back by that--
  • or skeptical of that?
  • I mean, knowing these two people as I do,
  • it's hard to be skeptical of them.
  • But did it surprise you at all that,
  • particularly in those old days in the 1990s that,
  • here's this straight white couple coming to our
  • (unintelligible).
  • LARRY CHAMPOUX: One of the great things about the film festival,
  • from its early days and it continues to this day,
  • is it's open door.
  • You want to volunteer?
  • Come on in.
  • We'll find some place for you to volunteer.
  • And that open door is incredibly important.
  • And when Jamie and Sally got involved,
  • that was just the door open further.
  • And to ensure anybody could come in and help us out.
  • And we've had them, through the years, a lot of straight film
  • lovers who have been involved and other folks who
  • have come to the films because they're interested in it
  • from the cinematic perspective.
  • So I wasn't taken aback by that.
  • I was grateful for any help that wanted to come in
  • and was extremely grateful for the enthusiasm
  • that they brought to the festival
  • early on, which was really encouraging.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: David Emert, big part
  • of getting the jump up and running.
  • LARRY CHAMPOUX: David Emert early on was--
  • starting out in the film festival,
  • I was sort of a driver.
  • I bring the ideas in.
  • I'm a marketer.
  • I'm an advertise.
  • I try and bring people around together.
  • And David Emert and Susan Soleil had organizational skills
  • that I didn't have That was sorely needed within the film
  • festival.
  • So their early involvement was immensely
  • helpful toward ensuring that it had logistical success.
  • And that it could happen without a hitch,
  • that it ran as smoothly as it could.
  • And their lessons in that early on I
  • think continue to this day.
  • I think some of the flawlessness that the festival
  • has this day, this sort of flawless execution
  • that the film festival enjoys, is largely due to Susan Soleil
  • and David Emert's administration of it,
  • and administrative design of it.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: I need a quick soundbite from you
  • that helps me set this up.
  • Something in the line of, early on two key people
  • that really helped me (unintelligible)
  • success were David Emert and Susan Soleil.
  • LARRY CHAMPOUX: OK, OK.
  • Early on in the film festival, there
  • are some individuals whose help and experience and knowledge
  • and enthusiasm made the film festival successful.
  • Two those individuals, Susan Soleil and David Emert,
  • who brought administrative know how to the film festival.
  • And to this day, I think some of the flawless execution
  • that the film festival enjoys is because of the groundwork
  • that those two individuals did.
  • And the pride we take in terms of how well organized
  • and how well oiled a machine it is,
  • is because of the hard work of those two folks.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: (unintelligible) In the early days of the film
  • festival, trying to get audiences to a film festival,
  • there was risk for a lot of those people showing up
  • to those movies.
  • There was a risk of being exposed.
  • Not so much today.
  • I think today it's almost a sense of, this is who I am
  • and I'm taking pride in going to this film festival.
  • But was there any sense of that in the early days about trying
  • to get those theatres filled with people who may not be
  • completely comfortable being out and associated with a gay
  • event?
  • LARRY CHAMPOUX: I think the film festival happened
  • at a cusp of movement within our community.
  • There was a time previous to the film festival
  • when it was very risky for us to associate with each other,
  • to be exposed as part of our community.
  • But I think the film festival is an indication of sort
  • of the sea change that we underwent in the 1980s
  • and into the 1990s, where we stepped out publicly,
  • not only within our own community but publicly.
  • And the film festival itself was and is a very public display
  • of our lives also.
  • We are not only getting together to enjoy these films
  • but we are broadcasting the stories of our lives
  • to our entire community.
  • And so the film festival was part of and was at the moment,
  • I think, when we fully wanted our stories to be told.
  • So we weren't fearful of that.
  • We thought we need to be courageous
  • on all levels of this.
  • Our stories are valuable.
  • Our stories need to be told.
  • Your stories are valuable.
  • My stories are valuable.
  • And our community needs to learn about these.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: In the same notion of risk,
  • was there any risk in say, the film festival
  • becoming too political, in regards to legalities
  • of a non-profit organization can become too political or being
  • looked at as a political lobbying effort
  • or anything like that.
  • LARRY CHAMPOUX: The film festival early on
  • walked a fine line between culture and activism.
  • And it's never overtly activist.
  • It is largely, and has always been, mostly educational.
  • And that educational component of it
  • has been a very important survival mechanism for it
  • as well, because we're educating our own community,
  • we are educating our larger community, even
  • when those subjects are very difficult and controversial,
  • even when they're not just politically
  • controversial but perhaps even in terms of the imagery
  • and the aesthetic notions of it, and when
  • they may depict images of sexuality
  • that people are not comfortable with.
  • But part of the purpose of culture
  • is to shed light in dark areas.
  • And that more than in other ways,
  • that's important for our lives since we have
  • had to come out of the shadows.
  • So that openness is really important
  • because we don't know what is going
  • to be the controversial subject matter next year.
  • We don't know who's going to object to something the year
  • after next.
  • So the film festival has always had to proceed forward,
  • even from its early days with, we
  • know some people are not going to like this
  • but we need to move forward with a sense of pride in who we are.
  • And we don't have to, even as individuals,
  • accept everything that's on the screen,
  • agree with every story that is told,
  • but use those stories as benchmarks for our own lives
  • no matter who you are.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: One question just because it comes to mind.
  • I usually have this question for everybody.
  • How do you want history to reflect
  • upon Larry Champoux, as regards to who he is
  • and what he's done?
  • That's a tough question.
  • LARRY CHAMPOUX: Yeah.
  • I never really thought about that.
  • I would want-- looking back on the film festival, what
  • I hope most people would remember from that,
  • or my involvement with it, or any of the volunteers
  • involvement with it is that it was happy and fun.
  • I want people to remember the joyfulness of being together
  • and how exciting that is and how great
  • it is for us all to have opportunities
  • to get together and enjoy each other and our lives
  • in this beautiful media of film and video,
  • and to embrace that and exult in that joy.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Can I ask the same question?
  • Because I don't think we want to just focus on ImageOut.
  • LARRY CHAMPOUX: OK.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: You did more than just ImageOut.
  • I mean, you were with--
  • LARRY CHAMPOUX: OK, OK.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Political caucus--
  • and you're doing things even today.
  • What do you want history to know in regards
  • to your contributions for the gay and lesbian community,
  • looking back?
  • LARRY CHAMPOUX: If I'm looking at my own life and look
  • at how my own life has impacted the film festival
  • or other work I've done in the community
  • or in cultural organizations, it's
  • that largely I've just dared to go do it.
  • You know, step outside of my comfort zone
  • and stick my neck out and embarrass myself
  • and make new friends and experience new things.
  • And that I dared to try and change my community,
  • hopefully for the better in some way.
  • So I'm a risk taker.
  • And I know that some people have not
  • responded to that well but most people I get abundant love back
  • from that.
  • So to me, that's what I think I hopefully have contributed
  • to my community here.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: OK, all right.
  • Let me get this microphone off of you.