Video Interview, Claire Parker, September 12, 2013
- KEVIN INDOVINO: You're a social worker?
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: Yes, I'm a psychiatric social worker.
- I'm a psychotherapist for Clifton Springs Hospital.
- CREW: Alrighty camera.
- We're rolling.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: Are you rolling?
- CREW: I am.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: OK, first and foremost,
- this is the most difficult question.
- I need you to give me the correct spelling
- of your first and last name, of how you would
- like it to appear onscreen.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: Claire, C-L-A-I-R-E,
- and then in parentheses, Chic, C-H-I-C. And then Parker,
- P-A-R-K-E-R.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: Chic, C-H-I-C, no K.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: Right.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: OK.
- And if we were to put a title under you,
- Claire, what would you put?
- Would we put GAGV president from 19--
- what were the dates?
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: Oh god, you would ask me the dates.
- GAGV board member from I'm going to say, I'll have to look,
- 1982 to 1992.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: We can double-check.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: Yeah, I was picnic coordinator
- for four years.
- And I was board president for two-and-a-half years.
- So--
- KEVIN INDOVINO: Yeah, probably the board president years
- are probably going to be the most important.
- But--
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: Probably.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: --but we could simply
- put Gay Alliance 1982-whatever.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: Right.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: Right, okay.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: Right.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: OK.
- So I want to actually, let's start at the beginning,
- then, because I want to actually start with the CETA funding.
- I think you were at the Urban League at the time.
- Was this your first introduction,
- or your first encounter with the Gay Alliance at that time?
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: Yes.
- The CETA funding was my first encounter.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: OK, so set that up for me--
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: Was it?
- KEVIN INDOVINO: --you know, my first introduction to the Gay
- Alliance really was with the CETA funding.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: No it wasn't.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: No?
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: No, it wasn't.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: OK.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: I actually came to the Alliance--
- to a few board members.
- There was some difficult Alliance board members.
- And friends of mine, Sue Slate and Ginny Shear,
- were on the board.
- And they asked me to come to board meetings.
- And I also, I came to LRC once in a while.
- So I had a little bit of contact with the Alliance,
- but not much.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: But something happened in 1977
- that really got you involved.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: It did.
- I was working for the Urban League as a CETA monitor.
- And I was just coming out in that time,
- kind of thinking about it.
- And when the CETA grants came out,
- it was given to the United Way.
- Is that right?
- The United Way.
- And they had included a proposal from the GAGV.
- And there was such an uproar in the community
- that they threw up their hands and they
- said, "We won't do it at all."
- And it was picked up by the Urban League of Rochester.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: OK, I'm going to pull you back kind of--
- I'm going to help guide you to give me
- a cleaner sound bite on this--
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: OK.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: --something, you know, in 1977
- I was working for the Urban League
- when the controversy with the CETA funding and United Way
- came up.
- Something along those lines.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: OK.
- When the United Way would not honor the CETA funding and--
- screw it, I'm sorry.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: That's okay.
- Take your time.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: When the Urban League took over the CETA
- funding because the United Way couldn't resolve their issues
- with the Gay Alliance, the Urban League
- hired a bunch of monitors from the CETA pool.
- And I actually got hired before any of the applications
- were reviewed.
- So I was actually a CETA monitor who
- was reviewing the first grants that the Urban
- League was going to give out.
- So I had a hand in looking at those grants.
- And probably because the United Way would not
- honor the Gay Alliance, the Urban League of course
- passed it through as somebody that they wanted
- to involve in the grants.
- So I was actually a part of preparing everything
- to go before the--
- KEVIN INDOVINO: City Council?
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: City Council.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: Yeah, OK.
- Why don't you take that back, and just start that over again.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: OK.
- So I was part of going to City Council with the grants.
- And I was behind in the chambers when the Bible thumpers
- were up there.
- And I was just trying to come out myself.
- It was so frightening.
- I can't even tell you the hatred that was in that room
- that night.
- And I remember standing beside Bill Johnson.
- And I saw the look on his face as he
- watched those hatemongers.
- And he said, "I have seen this before.
- I understand this.
- There is no way that we are dropping the Gay Alliance.
- They are going to be funded."
- And you could just see the passion in that man.
- And you could see that he got it, suddenly.
- He just totally understood the oppression.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: You though, just newly coming out,
- talk to me a little bit more about what you were feeling.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: Oh my god.
- I didn't go to the Gay Alliance.
- I didn't go to the Riverview.
- I didn't go to Rosie's for about two months.
- I was miserable.
- I was so scared.
- It was just frightening to me.
- I guess I was naive.
- As I was coming out into the gay community,
- I'd always been accepted in my life.
- I mean, it never occurred to me that that wouldn't happen.
- And that was the first time that I ever
- experienced that sort of nondescript hatred of somebody
- that you don't even know.
- So that really affected me.
- I went into a deep depression, and I stayed there
- until, finally, I thought, this is crazy.
- I'm lonely.
- I'm isolated.
- I'm scared.
- And I started to reach out to people again.
- And then it was OK.
- I had never seen something like that.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: Okay.
- I'm just going to wrap this up, then
- I'm gonna go right back to the very beginning.
- I still need a little sound bite from you
- that sets it up for me that, in 1977, you
- were working for the Urban League
- when the CETA funding came into it.
- Kind of just, really, kind of just throw that back at me.
- So you're setting it up for the audience, of the date
- and where you were at the time when
- this whole controversy started.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: Yeah.
- In 1977, I was working for the Urban League
- as part of the CETA grant.
- And I was a monitor for many of the contracts.
- And I had asked my boss, Betty Dwyer,
- if I could be the monitor for the Gay Alliance.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: Okay, let me ask you that.
- So, repeat that back to me.
- You went to Betty Dwyer to ask, specifically asked her to,
- to be the monitor of the Gay Alliance.
- Tell me that, but also add to that, why?
- Why did you specifically ask?
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: I went to my boss, Betty Dwyer,
- and I asked if I could be the monitor for the Gay
- Alliance in the CETA grant, because I was coming out,
- and I wanted to make sure that they didn't suffer
- any oppression, and that they got the right kind of help
- that they needed.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: OK.
- I'd like to jump forward now.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: Um-hm.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: We're going to talk about buying the building.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: OK.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: So again, set it up for me.
- It was what, it was '91, was it?
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: I think it was '91.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: Yeah.
- Set it up for me.
- In 1991, you know, I was the current president
- in the board of of the Gay Alliance when
- we bought our first building-- we bought our building.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: When I came on as president of the Gay
- Alliance in 1990, we had had the back room of the Co-op.
- And then what happened was they decided
- that they would take over the pottery
- downstairs in the Co-op.
- So they started that process, but they started it too soon.
- And when they looked at the space,
- they didn't realize that the floors were made out of brick,
- and the bricks were sticking up out of the floor.
- And it was just untenable.
- So they gave up that project.
- They gave up the project, but didn't have a place to go.
- So then, the only place to rent in the Gay Alliance
- was the sunken room.
- And that was a means of egress for fire drills.
- So there were no locks on it.
- So our space literally didn't have locks.
- And stuff was getting stolen, things were missing.
- It was horrible.
- So at that point, I set out to find us a place.
- And I thought you know, it's really silly that we continue
- to rent, because this is a wealthy community.
- And we should be able to buy the building.
- So I started looking, and I found,
- there was a gay man on Clinton Avenue,
- and he had a big double.
- And he said that we could have the downstairs,
- and he would have the upstairs, and we could buy it together.
- So I was excited about it, because it
- had a fenced-in backyard, and you know,
- I didn't know where we were going to go.
- So I had the board members come over and look at it.
- And it was Arnie Pegish who said, "No, we
- don't want to own a building with somebody.
- We have to own our own building outright."
- And I was so frustrated, I actually
- did the finger in the chest.
- And I said, "You find me a building, Arnie.
- You find me a building if you're not going to let us come here."
- And he said, "I will find you a building."
- He was working-- he had a bar, the Bachelor Forum.
- And that bar was being taken over by urban renewal.
- And so he also was looking for a place.
- So he found his bar on University Avenue,
- and he found another place just up the street, which
- is how we ended up at the 179 Atlantic Avenue, the Gay
- Alliance building.
- So, it was pretty exciting.
- I remember looking at it, thinking well, we can do this.
- It's a good first step.
- I always thought it would be our first step.
- I would like to have us have something like the JCC.
- And I think our community could support it.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: So let's pick it up from there in 1991.
- In 1991, we bought this building.
- Our next step, obviously, was then
- to apply for tax exemption, because we were a non-profit.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: Right.
- Right so we bought the building.
- And silly me, I just assumed that the city
- would be fine with granting us our tax-exempt status.
- So I got the paperwork, and I filled it out very quickly--
- KEVIN INDOVINO: Okay, I'm going to pull you back a little bit,
- because you need to set it up for a little-- a little bit
- to put a date on it.
- So if you could start it out--
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: Oh god, I don't remember dates.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: I think it was '91.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: But you know dates, huh?
- KEVIN INDOVINO: Yep.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: OK.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: So, yeah, if you just kind of start it
- out that way to put a date stamp on it.
- You know, in 1991, we bought the building on Atlantic Avenue.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: OK.
- In 1991, we bought the building on Atlantic Avenue.
- And it was wonderful.
- It was very exciting.
- And I remember arguing with the board,
- I want the name on the door.
- And they were so afraid that if we
- put the name on the building, it would get trashed.
- And I said, better buildings than people.
- Let them have a focal point.
- And I don't think the building was trashed,
- except once I think it was spray-painted.
- But in 1991, I just assumed with my naivete
- that when we applied for tax-exempt status,
- that they would just give it to us.
- I just expect them to do the right thing.
- So I got the paperwork and I filled it out very quickly.
- I mean, I think I filled that paperwork out
- in probably forty-five minutes.
- Good thing that I was thorough, because I
- checked the wrong box.
- And I think you had to be either religious, educational,
- or social--
- something like that.
- And I checked the wrong box, which I would have thought
- would be no big deal, because I very clearly stated everything
- we were doing.
- And I thought educational would be something like a school.
- And I thought, well, we're not a school.
- We're not really religious, although you
- could talk about the spirituality of gayness,
- and of having a community where you fit, and stuff like that.
- But I think I checked social, or something like that,
- and it should have been educational.
- And I was shocked.
- They denied it.
- So I, of course, appealed it.
- And we had a board member who was somewhat
- closeted at the time, but she'd come on the board,
- but she said she didn't want to be outed.
- I said, OK.
- So when the appeal came back, with the time, I went to her.
- And I said, Ellen-- it was Ellen Yacknin --and I said, "Ellen,
- I need you to come to this meeting with me
- for the appeal."
- And so we went in.
- And again, I expected them to say, "Oh, you
- checked the wrong box, you know, and fix it."
- But I took an attorney just because I thought I should.
- Well, I got in there, and there were these group of people
- around.
- And I'm like sitting up, and I'm all ready, and I state my case.
- And they immediately shoot me down.
- And I'm sitting there all professional.
- Ellen is sitting there looking like, Ellen
- looks kind of shoulder down, not saying much.
- I didn't know her well, but I did know her.
- And they shot me down, and I didn't know what to do.
- So I just said, "Ellen, do you have
- a few words you'd like to say?"
- And she sat up and she said, "Well yes, I do.
- And she let them have it."
- And I was like, oh my god, this woman is brilliant.
- And so after the meeting was over, they still denied us.
- And so the next thing we had to do
- was to appeal to the Supreme Court.
- And so afterwards I said, "Thank you, Ellen.
- I'll work on getting somebody who can take it
- to the Supreme Court."
- And she looked at me and she said, "Well frankly, this
- is where I shine.
- I would like to take it."
- And so she did, and she was brilliant.
- I was there when she took it to the Supreme Court.
- And she's just so bright and wonderful.
- And, of course, we got it.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: What were your initial thoughts when
- you left that meeting and realized,
- now look, this isn't going to be so easy.
- I mean, talk to me about that moment, and you know,
- I mean, even the conversation when you walked out
- of the building, and the two of you maybe standing
- on the sidewalk or something.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: Yeah.
- Well, I was incredulous and I was angry,
- because it wasn't fair.
- You know, I knew the kind of work we did.
- I know that we save lives.
- I know that we do a lot of educating.
- We do a lot of connecting.
- And so I very much knew that it was just another bit
- of unfairness.
- And how dare they think they can do that to us?
- KEVIN INDOVINO: But that decision to say, oh, we've
- got to take this to the Supreme Court, that's a huge decision.
- That's something-- it's not something
- that you make lightly.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: Well, I'm betting
- that that was Ellen's decision.
- I don't remember.
- But Ellen is a fighter, and she does not give up.
- She does not give up.
- As a matter of fact, the night before court.
- When I picked her up to go to court,
- she was working for a not-for-profit law firm that--
- not a law firm, a group, and I can't even
- remember the name of it, probably
- like a legal aid group.
- And she'd been working all night.
- And she told me, she would be working all night on a brief,
- and then I would come in and pick her up,
- and we'd go to court.
- And so I actually stopped at Dunkin' Donuts
- and got her coffee and breakfast, and took it up,
- and literally she was like, "Oh my god, that's
- the nicest thing anybody's done for me this week."
- And she literally, she was taking off her sweats
- and putting on her suit as we're running out the door.
- And that's who Ellen was.
- So the thought to go to the Supreme Court,
- I don't remember, but I would assume it's Ellen.
- She would not have dropped it.
- And they might have said that we could go to the Supreme Court.
- I can't remember.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: Yeah, and I think--
- she talks about taking it to State Supreme Court,
- but before that, you had to go to Judge Siragusa's court,
- right?
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: Um-hm.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: Okay.
- Siragusa, is he Federal?
- Is he, what is he?
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: Chuck.
- I don't know.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: Yeah.
- Because-- or is he State?
- I don't know.
- It doesn't matter.
- Let's--
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: But he's very gay-friendly.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: Yeah.
- But I want to--
- I want to kind of get your impressions
- of standing before his court first, before it
- got appealed up to the state.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: I don't remember.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: You don't remember?
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: I don't remember.
- I'm sorry.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: No, it's not a problem.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: She talks about it enough.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: Does she?
- I went.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: Yeah.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: I was there, but I don't remember.
- And, do you know Rich Ognibene?
- KEVIN INDOVINO: Yes.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: Chuck is his uncle.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: Oh, I didn't know that.
- Okay.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: So, he's very gay-friendly.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: Yeah.
- Yeah.
- I've got two questions here, and I'm just
- trying to figure out which one I should ask you first.
- Well, actually, by the time it arrived at the appeals court
- at the state level, you were no longer involved, right?
- Because wasn't it Peter--
- somebody, who took over as president of the Gay Alliance?
- Peter or Paul?
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: Yes--
- KEVIN INDOVINO: So did you--
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: --Paul and Peter.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: --did you ever get
- a chance to really follow it through completely?
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: Oh, it went to court, yeah.
- But no, I handed it on.
- And when Paul-- it was Paul Scheib.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: Paul Scheib, right.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: When Paul Scheib was president,
- I was still on the board.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: OK.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: And I was on the board for a year.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: So you saw this whole thing right
- through to the end.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: Right, I did.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: OK.
- So when that final decision came down from the state appeals
- court, you know, saying they didn't really
- say you were being discriminated against,
- but they did say you deserved to be non-profit status.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: Yeah.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: Talk to me about that.
- Talk to me about that moment when the decision came down,
- and how you felt about that kind of decision.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: Well the way
- I felt about that was just--
- when the decision came down, it was like, finally.
- We had to take it that far to make people do the right thing.
- That is ridiculous.
- They should have done the right thing in the first place.
- It would have saved a lot of time and a lot of money,
- useless money spent at taxpayer expense.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: So in this whole process,
- from the very beginnings of trying
- to go to appeal with the City Assessor's office, all
- the way up to the State Supreme Court
- of Appeals, what kind of sense did
- you get from the city's office, of what was really going on?
- Did you ever get a really strong sense that yeah,
- this is-- they're really just trying
- to discriminate against us.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: Of course they were.
- Of course they were.
- They were trying to-- they've always
- tried to discriminate, always.
- And that's been-- that's been when
- we tried to book our annual meeting
- at the Chamber of Commerce, you know,
- and they wouldn't have us there.
- And so, instead of dealing with us, instead of saying,
- we made a mistake, they got rid of their entire conference room
- at the Chamber of Commerce.
- I mean, what lengths do people go to not accept?
- Do you know what I mean?
- It's just silly.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: Can you give me a sound bite
- or your thoughts on this.
- Because a lot of people that we talked to--
- it comes across that Rochester has actually
- been a very tolerant, very accepting community for gays
- and lesbians, and that it's always
- been a fairly good place for gays and lesbians.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: No, it has not.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: So I wanted you to put
- that in context for me, that yeah, you know,
- we've done a lot in regards to gay rights and civil rights,
- but it hasn't always been a bed of roses.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: No that-- this community is accepting,
- is a wonderful place to live for gays
- and lesbians, transgendered, because of the Gay Alliance.
- It is exactly because of the Gay Alliance.
- We have forced people to reckon with us.
- And we've always had strong advocates for ourselves.
- I remember, when I was just coming out,
- I remember being in the Riverview.
- And the police used to raid the Riverview quite often.
- And they would come through the parking lot.
- And they would check all the registration and inspections
- on all the cars, and give tickets.
- And that was, you know, pretty common.
- And one night I was in the Riverview, and a cop walked in.
- And there was this lesbian, dyke,
- sitting at the end of the bar.
- And she turned around, looked at the cop,
- and she gave this low cat whistle.
- That cop grabbed her off that bar stool
- by the back of her neck, and threw her out the door
- onto her face.
- I mean, the cat whistle was inappropriate,
- but that kind of reaction was totally inappropriate.
- And so a bunch of us went to the police.
- Now this woman would not file charges against the police.
- She wouldn't do it.
- She was scared.
- But a bunch of us went to the police, and we raised a stink.
- And we got a police liaison.
- You know, it's those kinds of things.
- You know, and that that's the one thing
- that I worry about with, you know, DOMA going down,
- and gay marriage being acceptable,
- and stuff like that, that we'll lose some of our community.
- Because a lot of the folks now don't understand
- what it was like, you know, being
- harassed-- walking on a street, being
- harassed --they don't get it.
- And I'm glad they don't get it.
- But there was a kinship and a bond forged because there
- was that oppression.
- So I-- Rochester is a good community,
- but it's because of the gays and lesbians
- that were willing to stand up and take a stand.
- And that's why it's a good community.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: Good.
- You had mentioned something before we started
- rolling that was another question I wanted to ask you,
- something a little bit more fun.
- You were coordinator for the Gay Alliance
- picnic for a few years.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: I was.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: So talk to me, just
- in general terms, a little bit about the picnic.
- And again, why the picnic is such a significant event
- for a town like Rochester.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: Yeah.
- I think the picnic is wonderful.
- When I took over the picnic, oh my god.
- There were fights every year in the parking lot.
- Traditionally, it rained every year, before the picnic opened.
- And so we set it up so that we would
- try and start calming it down.
- Like, we would get there, and we would set it
- up so that there was food.
- The minute those gates opened, there was food on the table.
- Whereas usually, you'd have to wait for the food to be ready.
- So--
- KEVIN INDOVINO: Watch your microphone.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: Oh, sorry.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: Yep.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: So that was fun.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: Um-hm.
- But, and aside from that, just the event itself.
- I mean, what does it say about, not even just
- the gay community of Rochester, but what
- does it say about the community itself
- that a small little city like Rochester
- can have such a huge and visible gay event?
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: Yeah.
- I think it says we celebrate.
- And I think having the parade, you
- know, having all of the, the weekend and the picnic,
- is wonderful.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: I'm going to ask you
- at a slightly different angle.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: OK.
- I'm not giving you what you want.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: Well, I'm just--
- I'm really just fishing here, so.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: OK.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: Tell me this.
- Why do we need a picnic?
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: We need a picnic--
- a couple of reasons --we need a picnic because we need money.
- It's a fundraiser.
- But we also need to get our community together.
- I think magic things happen when we get the community together.
- And we are a force to be reckoned with.
- I know we used to worry about getting people
- in and out safely, because the picnic was so safe that people
- would just feel so free.
- And it's a chance just to be free with ourselves.
- I think that's why it's so incredibly important.
- And we're such a diverse, beautiful community.
- It's amazing.
- And when I was coordinating the picnic, it was really funny.
- You know, the stereotypes, they're true.
- I have to tell you.
- I could not have the Rochester Rams guarding the food line,
- because they could not kick anybody out.
- So I had to have the lesbians guard the food line,
- and have the Rochester Rams cook.
- They could cook, but they couldn't be the heavies.
- I had to have the lesbians do that.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: How has--
- just a general impression, looking at the picnic today,
- and what it is today, compared to what it was maybe fifteen,
- twenty years ago, how it's evolved, and how,
- maybe, it's changed.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: It's changed
- a lot It's changed a lot.
- I don't know as I like it as much.
- And I think, this year, I think Ev
- was going to have food there.
- Did she cook the food this year?
- KEVIN INDOVINO: I didn't go.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: I didn't go either.
- Isn't that awful?
- But, you know, we had the beer truck,
- and we would store everything in the beer truck,
- and it would come from Genny Beer, which
- is a community thing, and they'd always give us a good break.
- And they'd bring a large truck so we
- could store all the hot dogs and hamburgers in there,
- and stuff like that.
- And all the community groups, you know, they come.
- And they just talk to people, support each other.
- It's just a wonderful celebration of our community.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: Just trying to think of anything
- else we need to cover.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: There's one thing.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: Yeah, go ahead.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: In getting money to buy the building,
- it was very interesting--
- very, very interesting --one of the first groups that
- wanted to do something was the Rochester Rams,
- and then the drag queens at the Liberty
- wanted to do a drag show for a benefit.
- And everybody just got together, and gave what they had to give.
- Most of the money that came in to buy the Alliance building
- was little donations.
- I mean, we did get a wonderful grant of ten thousand dollars
- as a member item, and we had another member of our community
- give us ten thousand dollars, but most of it
- was people giving us small amounts of money.
- So it really was a community event, buying that building.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: So expand on that a little bit, then.
- Talk to me about the sense of pride
- that you had when you got the keys to that building.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: Oh my god.
- It was amazing getting the keys.
- First thing I did, there was a cocktail party
- at Hattie's, back when the Strathallan
- was doing their parties.
- And so I said to Evelyn, I said, "I
- think we should go and wash the windows."
- The windows were really dirty.
- So we went and we washed the windows.
- I don't know why that was important to me,
- but washing the windows was very important.
- So we washed the windows, and went to Hattie's.
- And somebody ran up to me and said, "Oh my god, I
- saw you washing the windows on the way in.
- We got it, didn't we?"
- And it was wonderful.
- So we announced at Hattie's, actually, in the Strathallan,
- that we had the building.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: Good.
- So I want to kind of go back a little bit, then.
- Just, again, just a little tidbit
- about why it was important to get this building.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: I think it was
- important to get this building because it gave us roots.
- You know, it gave us ownership of something.
- And I think it was a sense of pride.
- I mean the Alliance, for the most part--
- we've had a few bumps --but for the most
- part, has been in the black since we bought the building.
- And we're not even there now.
- But I think it was a rite of passage.
- Adults buy buildings.
- And maybe adult organizations buy buildings.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: OK.
- So one more quick bite.
- You've already talked about it, but I just
- want you to kind of try and wrap it up in a nice little sound
- bite for me.
- Again, just set it up with the date of,
- you know, in 1991, the Gay Alliance was still
- over at Genesee Co-op.
- We decided to buy a building, kind of thing.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: OK.
- So in 1991, the Gay Alliance was in the Genesee Co-op
- in a fairly--
- I'm sorry.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: That's okay.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: So in 1991,
- the Gay Alliance was in a very precarious situation
- in the sunken room in the Genesee Co-op.
- And we needed to find a place to be.
- So I thought, instead of renting, it was time to buy.
- And it seemed--
- OK.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: Yep, that's fine.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: OK.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: That's just that little introductory bite
- I need.
- You got something?
- CREW: Yep.
- Kevin, when she was first talking about,
- when she was in the City Council meeting--
- KEVIN INDOVINO: Um-hm.
- CREW: --she whacked her mic.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: OK.
- CREW: So I don't know--
- KEVIN INDOVINO: If you want to repeat that.
- Yeah, good.
- Good catch.
- And we're just going to go back to talk about that-- those City
- Council meetings about the CETA funding.
- Standing next to Bill Johnson--
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: Yeah.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: --just tell me that story again.
- Apparently, you'd hit your mic with your hand,
- and we just want to make sure we got it.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: Oh, I touch my heart all the time,
- don't I?
- I'm sorry.
- So, when we had taken our proposals to the City Council,
- and they were voting on them, the Gay Alliance
- was in that group of proposals we were taking.
- There were about thirty of them.
- And I was standing beside Bill Johnson,
- back in the chambers, when the Bible thumpers,
- the something for decency--
- KEVIN INDOVINO: Yeah, I don't know.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: I don't know.
- So, I was standing beside Bill Johnson,
- and he was watching the hatred just flowing.
- And he said, "You know, I've seen this before.
- I understand this."
- He said, "I know exactly what this is.
- And there is no way that we will drop the Alliance.
- They come with us if we go at all."
- And I saw the commitment in him that day.
- It was amazing.
- CREW: I had just one question.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: Yeah.
- CREW: You were saying this is the same period you
- were coming out.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: Um-hm.
- CREW: Did it occur to you, well I'll just,
- maybe I won't come out.
- If this is how people are treating me,
- maybe I'll just fade back into the woodwork.
- Why didn't you?
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: Oh I did.
- I did for a couple of months, when I didn't go out,
- I just isolated, just did my home,
- did work, didn't do much of anything.
- It scared me.
- It scared me a lot, watching that hatred.
- I had never seen such hatred in my entire life.
- I guess I'd just been lucky, and been naive, to have had--
- I mean, I came out, I told people.
- You know, no big deal.
- You know, my parents didn't like it, but they didn't hate me.
- You know, those kinds of things.
- So it was just totally shocking to me
- to be hated by somebody who didn't even know me.
- And I knew I was a good person.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: How did you know,
- when you were monitoring the CETA applications
- and the funding, and particularly for the Gay
- Alliance, did you have a sense that, oh, you know,
- I'm doing something really good here.
- I'm doing something that's going to make a difference.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: Oh, yeah.
- I did know I was doing something good,
- but I've known that all my life.
- I mean, I'm a social worker.
- I love what I do.
- And there's a sort of a--
- there's a joy in being able to do it for our family.
- You know, so that's a little different.
- Because we often don't get to minister to ourselves.
- So, from that point of view, it was wonderful.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: Look at it from the point of view
- of-- in retrospect.
- You know I mean, back in 1977, it
- wouldn't have crossed your mind that oh, OK, this
- is going to be part of history.
- You know?
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: No.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: You know, but now
- in retrospect, when we look back at it,
- and we're doing this historical documentary--
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: Right.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: --that's a significant part of history.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: It was significant
- when we were doing it.
- I think about it now and it blows my mind,
- all the stuff we did.
- We were really on the front lines of a movement.
- And I don't think any of us knew that.
- We just knew that we were doing the right thing,
- making our lives better.
- And I always, with the Alliance I always said,
- there are two parts to the Alliance.
- There are being the wild advocates,
- the wild, kick-ass advocates for our movement,
- and nurturing the wounded people who have been hurt.
- So I've always seen the Alliance in those two ways,
- doing both of those things, which
- is very difficult for an organization to straddle that.
- Because the wounded that need nurturing
- are very uncomfortable with the advocates.
- And they advocates sometimes forget
- that we're bringing along some wounded people.
- So straddling that is very difficult. But I've always
- had the sense that that's what we do.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: What are your thoughts now,
- when we're looking back at forty years.
- The Alliance has been here for forty years.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: I know.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: What are your thoughts in regards
- to, again, in the small little city that we are, of Rochester,
- New York, you know, that we have one
- of the oldest gay organizations in the country.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: Yeah.
- It it's probably due to the U of R. And you know,
- that's where it all started.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: Um-hm.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: And wherever
- you have a sense of openness and university and free thought,
- you get those kinds of things.
- Like I would expect that of, like Rochester
- with the U of R and RIT, and Ithaca with Cornell,
- you know, the avant garde thinkers.
- And I think having Kodak and Xerox here helped,
- because there's money and creativity.
- And of course, gay people are very creative.
- So there are probably a high proportion
- of people that worked for both Xerox and Kodak.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: OK.
- Let's leave it at that.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: OK.
- KEVIN INDOVINO: OK.
- CLAIRE (CHIC) PARKER: Will you be able to use it?
- KEVIN INDOVINO: Oh god, yes.