Audio Interview, Alan Davidson, June 1, 2012

  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Auction.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Auction days.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: When we used to do auction on the air.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Oh dear god, a lot of fun.
  • Fun, fun.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Alan--
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: I remember you and your crazy hat what was it?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: My hats?
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Yeah crazy-- or you had more than one right.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: I still have and wear crazy hats.
  • I'm the hat man.
  • I was going to wear one of my crazy hat--
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Every night during an auction
  • he'd wear some crazy hat.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: I still do that.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Where you were born in Rochester?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: I was born in Chicago,
  • but I came to Rochester when I was six weeks old.
  • I'm a twin to a sister.
  • And I have remembrance of my mom,
  • coming off the train in her fox coat, fur coat, with both of us
  • in her arms.
  • So yes, I am a Rochesterian.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: So you grew up here?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Oh yeah.
  • I only came here when I was six weeks old,
  • so I don't remember Chicago very well.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: OK.
  • And when would that have been?
  • I mean when were you born?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: I was born in '36.
  • I'm seventy-five happily young years old.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Wow.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: I can't believe it but yes I am.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: When did you come out?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: I came out in the late 70s.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Really?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Yeah.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Did you know before?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: No that's another story.
  • We could do a story on this if you're interested,
  • Kevin, someday.
  • But in the Reader's Digest version,
  • I was married for twelve and a half years.
  • Wonderful, wonderful marriage.
  • Straight as an arrow.
  • Did the typical suburbanites things.
  • Had a great marriage.
  • Fortunately, I have a wonderful eight and a half year old,
  • I had an eight a half year old daughter.
  • But my wife died, when she was thirty-two years old,
  • from cancer.
  • And when she died it took me a little time
  • to get myself organized.
  • People told me that I have to keep going
  • and I realized I had to keep going because of my daughter.
  • And I'm a Jewish boy, and there was a group forming
  • at the JCC called Our Gang.
  • And this was for singles, and divorcees, and separations,
  • and anybody single.
  • So they asked me if I would come to a meeting,
  • and I came to a meeting.
  • The second time that I came, I was elected
  • president of the organization.
  • It was a brand new kind of thing,
  • I got involved with that.
  • Just giving you a--
  • And then I started dating again.
  • But, a strange thing was happening, as I was dating.
  • This is talking about like mid- 70s then.
  • and I didn't really enjoy it for several reasons.
  • Number one, I felt very pressured.
  • All I was looking for was companionship, adult
  • companionship.
  • And the women that I were taking out--
  • and I enjoyed their company-- did want two things from me.
  • One they wanted to get married, and I wasn't looking for that.
  • Or they just wanted to have sex, and I wasn't looking for that.
  • I was a buyer for McCurdy's at that time.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Oh wow.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: So they wanted three things, clothes.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Pardon me?
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: So they wanted three things really.
  • Clothes.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Yeah, that's true.
  • So I took myself, my wife and I would drive by Jim's, and we
  • would always say, oh look at the queers.
  • You know that day queer was very wrong that was a bad word,
  • today it's a great word.
  • And we would say, look at the queers,
  • and we would make fun of them.
  • And then for some reason, and I don't know why,
  • and that I can't answer, I took myself to Jim's.
  • And Lo and behold, when I walked in there,
  • I saw at least eight people that I knew, quite well.
  • I'm going to throw out names, but we won't use names.
  • Just to give you the background here.
  • Joe--
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Joe.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Joe and Tom, from Edwards.
  • Joe was a salesman of mine, and that's how I knew him.
  • And Richard Mancini, decorator.
  • A couple other people that worked in the store.
  • And they said, what are you doing here?
  • I said, I don't know, and I started talking and meeting
  • a few more people.
  • A couple of weeks went by and I got a call from Joe
  • and said he was having a dinner party,
  • and would I like to go over there and join him?
  • And Lo and behold I did.
  • And I walked in and there were twelve men
  • around a dinner table.
  • I thought it was a little strange, but I sat down.
  • By the time the evening ended, I felt very, very comfortable
  • in the situation.
  • And a couple of weeks later, I got a call
  • from one of the gentlemen that was at the dinner party,
  • and asked me if I wanted to go out to the movies
  • and go to dinner.
  • And I said yes, and I did.
  • And I went to Jim's, after dinner, with him.
  • And had a wonderful time.
  • Let my hair down.
  • Thank god I wasn't promiscuous.
  • At that stage I wasn't interested in promiscuity,
  • or sex I should say.
  • I just wanted to be with adults, and get myself going again.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: What year are we talking?
  • What year?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: What year?
  • We're in about '77 '78.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: OK
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: And I really liked it very, very much.
  • So about six months I did this scene.
  • And then I said to myself you know,
  • is this what I really wanted?
  • So I decided to go back dating again, females.
  • And sure enough the same thing did happen,
  • I was perhaps even more turned off.
  • And I just wasn't comfortable with the situation.
  • So I went back to Jim's.
  • And met more and more people, and became very involved
  • in the community.
  • And then I don't know if this is what you want to hear,
  • but OK I'm trying to give you my chronological.
  • Then late 70s, I'll have to give a shout out
  • to miss Anita Bryant.
  • This starts my gay life.
  • Thank you Anita, for letting me see how ignorant and how stupid
  • and how uneducated people are on homosexuality.
  • Because if you recall she came out,
  • and she was very flamboyant about homos
  • being bad people, not good citizens,
  • and it just got to me.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Save the children.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Exactly, so I said to myself,
  • you know this is terrible, to have this woman say this
  • when I'm really one of these people
  • that she's talking about now.
  • So I called a couple of my straight friends,
  • and I called a couple of my gay friends.
  • And I said, hey you want to do something and get together
  • and see if we can maybe get people educated
  • on what homosexuality is about?
  • Or what discrimination is about, I'll
  • use that word but better off, because that was the term.
  • And we formed an organization called Coalition for Change.
  • I don't know whether this is in your records or not,
  • but it was Allen Copenhagen, Craig Nuo, Patti Evans,
  • I mentioned Patti's name, myself, can't remember some
  • of the other people, I'm sorry.
  • But we formed this organization Coalition for Change.
  • And this basically was an organization
  • to just let people know that there's people out there that
  • are gay, and that they have certain rights,
  • and they have certain feelings, just like normal human beings.
  • And one of the biggest things we did,
  • which was a tremendous success--
  • and I really felt rather than just going to Jim's and having
  • a good time--
  • I wanted to really do something besides just being a party
  • animal and having fun.
  • I thought that this was important to do it
  • at this time.
  • We had a rally downtown.
  • In Crossroads Park.
  • And the name Leonard Matlovich, I
  • don't know that means anything, might not mean anything
  • to Kevin, but let me tell you Leonard Matlovich,
  • was the very first military officer
  • to come out as a gay individual.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Right.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: And I said to the group
  • I said, you know wouldn't this be great to have Leonard
  • come speak to us at our rally?
  • They said oh you'll never get him.
  • At this time he was very popular in the news.
  • And I said, well you know lets--
  • I'm going to try it.
  • So I wrote him a letter, and I got an answer back from him.
  • And he said yes he would come.
  • And he came to our rally and we publicized it very well.
  • One of our adversaries was the name of Mancuso.
  • I don't remember his--
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Michael.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Michael, thank you.
  • Michael Mancuso, who was our if you
  • wanted to have the right corner and the left corner,
  • we were both in different corners if you know.
  • He had his group.
  • We had our group.
  • And he was there protesting when we
  • had Leonard Matlovich. there.
  • And we had hundreds, and hundreds of people
  • attend this rally.
  • It was just one of the most, first,
  • I would say demonstrations.
  • Or rally, rally would be a better word--
  • to be held in Rochester, New York,
  • and it was a very successful rally.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Now I want to stop you for a minute,
  • because I have done some research on this.
  • That rally was in opposition to Anita Bryant
  • coming to Rochester.
  • Is that correct?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: No, it wasn't in--
  • I don't believe that she had plans to,
  • you know what, now that you mention it--
  • EVELYN BAILEY: She was to perform at the Dome Arena.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: You know what?
  • You are right.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: In Henrietta.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: That is, yes.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Now--
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Al, you can have some water if you want.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Yup.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: The Empty Closet, records that.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Uh-huh, uh-huh.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: But one of my archival consultants
  • went out to the Dome Arena.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: OK.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: They don't have any record of her ever
  • saying she was coming.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: But yes what you're telling me
  • is true, because I do now remember that.
  • That was one of the reasons that we
  • were going to have the rally.
  • Whether she came or not--
  • my memory--
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: The easy answer to that
  • is, it maybe never got to the stage
  • of an actual contract signed.
  • If there's already opposition for her coming here,
  • maybe their people went, OK we're not going to Rochester.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Possibly.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: So that's why there'd be no record of it.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: I don't know, but you are so, so right
  • by refreshing my memory.
  • I don't remember everything.
  • But this rally, I know, I can just see it right now.
  • And this Leonard Matlovich, was such a gentleman.
  • I mean he stood up for his rights, you know?
  • And this was a big thing back then because this was--
  • EVELYN BAILEY: There were close to 1,000 people.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Yes absolutely, you do remember.
  • You remember that?
  • EVELYN BAILEY: I've read.
  • I wasn't there.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Oh you read, you weren't,
  • you couldn't of been there, no.
  • OK you read.
  • Oh OK, OK.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: In The Empty Closet,
  • you see forty years are online now
  • at the University of Rochester.
  • You can access them.
  • But in preparing for this documentary,
  • and preparing to write the history.
  • These are the incidents' that the community responded
  • to, in such a way that it was extraordinary.
  • The DNC even had an article about it.
  • Which the Democrat and Chronicle,
  • did not usually report on gay activity or--
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: That is correct.
  • So that was very successful.
  • And what happened to the group I'm
  • not quite sure how we ended.
  • But the next step with me, which was shortly after that,
  • was that Rochester, New York believe it or not
  • was the first city to want to put in law
  • an anti-discrimination law.
  • Which was anti-discrimination against homosexuals
  • in housing, education, schooling, jobs,
  • anything that had the same rights as quote
  • "the straight community."
  • This had to go to city council.
  • So once again, we had a little group
  • that went to city council.
  • Now this you will find believe it or not,
  • because I remember this picture, in the Democrat and Chronicle
  • of me speaking to city council and telling them
  • why they should pass this law.
  • After several debates, and that several meetings,
  • this law became--
  • this act, became a law in Rochester, New York.
  • Rochester, New York was one of the very first cities
  • in the country, not just the state but the country to pass
  • an anti-discrimination law--
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Protecting.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Protecting our rights.
  • And this was--
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Is this under Ryan?
  • Mayor Ryan?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Mayor Ryan.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Or was it Johnson already?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Oh no--
  • EVELYN BAILEY: It was Ryan.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: It was Ryan, it wasn't Johnson.
  • No, no this is-- you're talking once again, early 80s so
  • to speak.
  • But we were, are you aware of this?
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Yes.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: That we were one of the first cities--
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: One of the first yeah.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: One of the first cities to have this law.
  • Thanks to, I think, our efforts of being forceful and being
  • forthright and coming forward.
  • So that was a tremendous thing.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Do you recall the opposition to that?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: It was still Mancuso believe it or not.
  • Oh yeah, definitely I remember him.
  • He hung in there.
  • I got to give him credit for that.
  • He hung in there, but he very rarely won the battles.
  • We won the wars.
  • Maybe he won a few battles, but we won the wars.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: I wonder if I'm related
  • because I have a lot of Mancuso's that are cousins.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: I don't know.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Were you involved at all
  • or do you recall the CETA funding?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Mm-hm.
  • Mm-hm.
  • I wasn't involved in any of that, but I do recall that.
  • Mm-hm.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: And that was in the late 70s.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: That is correct.
  • That is correct.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: So we have Anita Bryant coming.
  • we have the CETA funding.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Correct.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: I think out of that came
  • the anti-discrimination laws--
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: You are absolutely
  • correct in your chronological--
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Was Charlie Schiano still on city council?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Yes Charlie Schiano Someone
  • that still is, what is his name?
  • I just love him, but I can't think of who-- he just
  • was in the news recently too.
  • Who was it?
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Still on city council?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: No, not on council
  • anymore, but still active.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Paul Haney.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Yes, thank you.
  • Thank you.
  • Thank you.
  • Thank you.
  • Yup, oh Yeah that's how I got to know Paul.
  • Through city council as a matter of fact.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Yeah yeah, he's been around a long time.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Then--
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Was he an advocate or?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Oh he was on council,
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Yeah, but--
  • EVELYN BAILEY: He was an advocate.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: He was an advocate.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: For us?
  • OK.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Yeah, but he also had to be very, very--
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Discreet.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Discreet in being an advocate,
  • but everybody knew he was an advocate at least our side knew
  • he was an advocate.
  • People from the other side knew he
  • was but they didn't really pronounce it some
  • what, you know what I mean?
  • EVELYN BAILEY: He was closeted.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Yeah, yeah.
  • But in our side, very, very helpful.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Right.
  • Now I want to go back just a little
  • Alan, when you were invited to Joe and Tom's house,
  • On would you say or do you recall at that time
  • that most of the socializing that happened in the community,
  • if you weren't at the bars there were these small parties?
  • There were these social gatherings at people's homes,
  • and they were usually professional businessmen--
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Absolutely.
  • But not prior to going to Joe and Tom's home.
  • I had no idea that there was such a thing as that.
  • After going to Joe and Tom's home for dinner,
  • and being invited in that group, I
  • found that to be very prevalent.
  • As a matter of fact, I know this--
  • I'm going to say it, might sound strange--
  • but sex was not the concern or the interest
  • of most of my friends to be honest with you.
  • It was more of a camaraderie, bonding, male companionship,
  • kind of thing.
  • Does that make sense to you?
  • At that stage, you know at least in the group that I was with.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Were you still working at this time?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Yes, oh sir, I was the buyer
  • for McCurdy's and a buyer for Foreman's.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: OK so after the anti-discrimination battle--
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: OK.
  • Then we come to the next step in my activism
  • if you want to call it such.
  • I have a very good friend by the name
  • of Don Scillaia who went to New York City to become a doctor.
  • And he called me one day-- we're talking about like '81 '82--
  • and called me and said Alan, have you heard about AIDS.
  • And I said to him, I remember distinctly, I said AIDS?
  • You mean that diet pill that everybody is taking now?
  • That's what I said to him.
  • He said no.
  • In New York City, we have a disease--
  • did he say disease, I'm not sure exactly the word--
  • disease that has hit the gay community.
  • And it's called AIDS.
  • I said what are you talking about?
  • And then he went on the phone to tell me some of the details.
  • And he said I'm coming to Rochester next week,
  • and I'd like to get together with you
  • and talk to you about it.
  • So I said, sure.
  • You know I said it sounds rather interesting.
  • So I called Sue Cowell who Sue and I knew each other from,
  • just from the community per se.
  • And I called her and I told her--
  • because she was a friend of Don's also--
  • I said, well Don told me about this AIDS thing
  • in New York City.
  • And he's coming in to talk to me about it.
  • Do you think you would like to partake in our conversation?
  • Because she was a nurse at that time.
  • And she said, oh my god, yeah why don't you guys come over
  • to the house and we'll talk about it
  • and have a little snack or something.
  • I said fine.
  • So we arranged a meeting on Sue's porch.
  • The three of us.
  • And we talked about AIDS.
  • And Sue and I decided--
  • Don was in New York City, that's where he lived--
  • that we would try to do something, to maybe--
  • I meant, at that time, it was strictly
  • like an educational kind of thing because she was a nurse,
  • but I certainly didn't have any medical things.
  • But if we could educate people what was
  • happening around the country.
  • And it looked like, from what he said it was not only going
  • to be a New York City, but it was spreading
  • throughout the country.
  • And that's our concern was.
  • So she and I got together with oh I'd
  • say about eight people roughly.
  • And we talked about it.
  • And what we would have to do to actually form
  • a legitimate organization.
  • And get in touch with New York state
  • and get bonded and funding, because that's
  • what we would need to do.
  • We took the ball and we did that.
  • And we met at people's homes as we started.
  • And we grew and then we met in top of Tara's.
  • They had a room upstairs.
  • And that became sort of our headquarters.
  • And we did it in a way that basically our thrust
  • was education and telling the public what
  • it was about, and also from a medical standpoint
  • that if people needed help medically because they
  • got sick, what we could do.
  • So I'll take credit for this I organized the very first AIDS
  • benefit at Friar's Inn on Monroe Avenue,
  • to raise money for the event--
  • or for the purpose of helping out the community.
  • And it was very successful.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Do you remember which year?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Believe it was like '82 '83 roughly.
  • And once again, you should find this in the archives you know?
  • EVELYN BAILEY: The EC, yes.
  • Now what I wanted, '82 '83--
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Right.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: You really didn't begin the hot-line
  • though until a little later.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Oh absolutely not till later.
  • These were just little ad hoc kind of little things
  • that we were doing.
  • But once again that came shortly afterwards.
  • Yeah.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Mm-hm.
  • So the first AIDS benefit was at Friar's.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Mm-hm, mm-hm.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: And was--
  • who was involved at Friar's.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Friar's.
  • Jesse Vulu who was very, very instrumental in a lot of AIDS
  • work.
  • And unfortunately, I don't know how--
  • I trust you people use discreetly certain things
  • and things are checked.
  • He was the very first person that died of AIDS,
  • and was a very good friend of mine, in Rochester, New York.
  • The very, very first one, he didn't even
  • know that he had AIDS.
  • At that time the disease was so, so strange
  • that people didn't realize that they had this.
  • Because the symptoms were the diarrhea, and vomiting,
  • and losing weight.
  • I mean I can see him now, in the hospital, and it's rough.
  • But anyway so he was the very first person,
  • but he was very, very big on doing things.
  • And one of the very first things that we did, was we
  • formed our first AIDS walk.
  • And that was like lets see, I guess it was '82 '83.
  • You'd have to double check the date to be sure.
  • I can't really give you the exact--
  • EVELYN BAILEY: I think it was '82.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: '82 '83 was the very first day's walk
  • and I'm going to brag again that--
  • I have this at home to show you--
  • that I raised the most money as the number one
  • person getting the most donations for this walk.
  • And as you well know, this walk just built, and built,
  • and built, and built, and built. And became a very, very
  • successful tool, that all--
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: There's another one this weekend I think right?
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Yes.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: That all these organizations, around
  • the whole country now do AIDS walk.
  • I'm not saying that we were the first AIDS walk
  • but we were the first--
  • that's when we started our AIDS walk so it's been going on
  • for umpteen years.
  • The AIDS thing, since we're on the AIDS,
  • like I was saying to RJ too that it
  • was tooth and nail to fight to get money from New York State.
  • It was really Jackie Nunn, who I think you all know that name.
  • She was very helpful in doing this AIDS thing too.
  • Grant writing and everything you had to do it.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Right.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: I didn't have that expertise,
  • so I wasn't involved in writing the grants.
  • But we're talking about how to raise money,
  • for not only education, but from the medical standpoint of it.
  • And Bill Valenti just to throw out names.
  • Which I'm sure this is a little bit in the future.
  • But I think through our efforts at the very beginning
  • stages certainly was the tip of the iceberg for people
  • to go forward and go forward and go forward.
  • But because it became not just a little tiny organization,
  • but grew so fast and so big rapidly,
  • that it was really out of control almost.
  • So we needed really the professional end of it.
  • We were just all layman in this.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Right
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: And that's how AIDS Rochester came about.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: The hot-line I think came in around '83.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: About '83 I would say.
  • Yeah.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: And then AIDS Rochester itself formed.
  • And you went to Tara's.
  • You have an office--
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Yes that's is correct.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: --upstairs in Tara's.
  • Talk to me a little bit about Buddy Wegman.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Buddy was extremely generous and kind
  • in everything that he did.
  • He once again got behind the organization by doing benefits,
  • by having dances that would raise money
  • that money would go to AIDS.
  • He was a very giving kind of guy really.
  • Let us use his facility.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: And after Tara's, you moved around the corner,
  • on Liberty Pole Way right?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: No, after Tara's, believe it or not then we--
  • where did we go?
  • It wasn't University Avenue either.
  • I mean it wasn't--
  • where East Rochester was.
  • Where else did it go?
  • EVELYN BAILEY: I think it was on, around Chestnut Street?
  • No.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Wasn't it at the Sears building at one time?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Oh, thank you.
  • It was at the Sears building.
  • But I don't think it went to those from Tara's, it
  • went someplace else.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Before it went to Sears, yeah.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: And then was--
  • EVELYN BAILEY: It was down by Varga printing.
  • Varga printing was on--
  • if you come out of--
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Was it on Liberty Pole Way?
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Harro East?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Harro East.
  • No, we didn't go to Harro East.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: But it was across from Harro East, I think.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: That was Tara's.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Then--
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: I can't think of where we--
  • EVELYN BAILEY: I think it was near Varga printing, which
  • was on Gibb's Street--
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Over a little cross the way on Chestnut.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Chestnut.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Yeah.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: I don't know.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: You had a storefront, I think,
  • on Chestnut Street.
  • It was a hole- in- the- wall office.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: You know what?
  • I just have a mental--
  • I don't know.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: And Jackie Nunn became executive director.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: That is correct.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: And were you on the board?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Yeah.
  • I was still active and not as active as I used to be,
  • but I still was active on it.
  • Tim Tompkins, too got involved, at that time.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: And then it went to Sears.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Ellingwood, what's his name?
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Mark.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Mark Ellingwood, became involved.
  • I'm thinking of just key people that were--
  • but I don't remember that location.
  • But I do remember eventually going to Sears,
  • and then eventually going to--
  • EVELYN BAILEY: University.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Behind Wegman's.
  • What's that, University?
  • Yeah and that's--
  • EVELYN BAILEY: On the corner where the V--
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: University and Blossom.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Blossom.
  • Yeah.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: And I did think of something else
  • that I left off, but I wanted to just finish, and then
  • go to another thing too.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: OK.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Should I jumped to my other thing?
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Sure.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Oh we got to talk about the gay picnic.
  • Because, that was one of the fun things that I did.
  • I was known as the raffle man.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Yes.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: I had all these raffle tickets.
  • And I would take them my around my neck.
  • Hundreds and hundreds of tickets I'm sure you remember.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: I remember.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: And I would go around,
  • and of course we had the community donate prizes.
  • We didn't pay for them.
  • And then we raffle them off.
  • But people would see me and they say
  • oh here comes that raffle man, or here comes that pest.
  • But I was sort of a nice pest, because I
  • wouldn't leave until everybody bought a ticket.
  • Believe it or not it did work, because I
  • remember raising hundreds and hundreds of dollars
  • just in the raffle.
  • And that raffle money of course, went 100 percent to the GAGV.
  • Which was really good.
  • That time I became president of the GAGV.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Right.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: What year was that?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Oh my god.
  • You're going to have to help me.
  • Probably the late 80s.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Yes, It was after Jackie Nunn,
  • had been president.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: I think it was right after Jackie
  • as a matter of fact.
  • If I'm not mistaken.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: So '86 '87.
  • I have a list.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Yeah, you'll have to get the exact date.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: And at that time we're at the Genesee co-op.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Oh yeah.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Up in the sunken room.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: That's exactly where we met.
  • Yeah
  • EVELYN BAILEY: And The Empty Closet was--
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Right next door.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: --right next door and you
  • came in along the long alley.
  • By the side of the house--
  • by the side of the firehouse and out the back.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Now I remember those.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Was Susan Plunkitt, Jazzberry downstairs
  • at that time?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: No, No but eventually it was.
  • Memories, oh my god.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: And then was Horace Lethbridge president
  • after you?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: He was after me.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Yeah, yeah.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Yep.
  • God, you're good.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: So, talk to us about being
  • president at the GAGV, what was going on at that time?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: OK, at that time, we
  • were making strides in a lot of the things
  • that we tried earlier.
  • You know when I mentioned of the anti-discrimination thing.
  • And it really wasn't so much negativism.
  • I think we were gaining some, I know
  • we were gaining some strength and some people were
  • listening to us and it wasn't as when I was there.
  • And this is-- this might sound strange,
  • but the late 80s, early 90s, it was
  • becoming to become more spoken about not looked down upon.
  • I think because of basically our positive attitude on things.
  • We weren't looking to take the world by storm,
  • we just knew it was going to be a slow, slow kind of thing.
  • And we're just looking for equal rights you know?
  • And that's what it basically boiled down to then.
  • We sort of needed--
  • I hate to say it-- but we sort of
  • needed another Anita Bryant to shake our boots
  • a little bit because my era was a little bit
  • calm compared to other eras.
  • And I think one of the things that gets people going
  • is when you have adversaries against you.
  • And during that time, it was just sort of low keyed
  • and we were just plotting in our own little thing.
  • And just doing our own thing it--
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Well you eventually got Gingrich,
  • and Limbaugh, and all them.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Yeah
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Right
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Yeah so it was just--
  • EVELYN BAILEY: And AIDS was still the focus?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Oh AIDS was still prevalent, absolutely.
  • But AIDS was being the forefront and still being talked about
  • and still being a concern and still
  • was not anywhere near the success that it is today.
  • But it was still there, but it wasn't being in the GAGV,
  • not that I'd switched my allegiance or priority,
  • but my priority went to the GAGV rather than to AIDS.
  • Because I felt that--
  • sometimes it's also good to have other people's other views
  • to do things.
  • I mean I think at that time, I was
  • sort of getting burnt out to be honest with you.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: And HPA began.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: And HPA began, that's right.
  • Helping people with AIDS.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: In '86.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Yup, yup.
  • But to answer your question directly,
  • it just was sort of a lull before all the storms of quote,
  • "gay marriage," that was probably the next--
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Family values.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Family values, thank you, yes.
  • But I could never regret or forget the memories I had
  • and the wonderful times I had.
  • And I'm not tooting my horn, but I
  • think because of my efforts and efforts
  • like myself and other people, not just me, that we are very
  • strong Rochester, New York.
  • Because of us, I'm just saying that I
  • think we had a very, very, very strong group of people working
  • on the rights issue.
  • And that's basically what it was.
  • It was still the human rights and discrimination,
  • and that's what that main thing was.
  • But I think we did well.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Can you share a little bit with us
  • about the actual working of the Alliance at the time.
  • Was there a youth group?
  • Was there a coffee house?
  • Was there a--
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: We had, yes, to answer
  • your questions at that time we did have a coffee house.
  • And we had movies.
  • We had once a week, if people just wanted to come,
  • there was a certain get off your chest week or day.
  • I forget a Monday or Tuesday or whatever it was.
  • We started a youth group at that time.
  • It wasn't very active.
  • But it was just starting the youth group.
  • Because we did find that that was one of the concerns
  • that we were concerned with.
  • When I say there was nothing to be concerned about,
  • that was one of the main things that we found.
  • That the youth was really being stepped on.
  • I mean here it is bullying, and that still hasn't changed
  • you know as we all know.
  • But yeah back then it was still, maybe
  • it wasn't called bullying, but there was definitely
  • a need for the youth.
  • And that was one of our focuses that we did do.
  • Just try to think what else we did.
  • We did have activities where people would play cards.
  • We had a card night.
  • It really wasn't that well attended none of the activities
  • were really well attended then.
  • I think we were just starting to try to get people involved.
  • And it was an uphill battle, whether they didn't want
  • to come out, or be out publicly, or they just didn't--
  • we just couldn't get things really started to well.
  • I'll admit that.
  • It was a struggle, a real struggle.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Was there a gay pride parade by this time yet?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: We had no parade and we
  • didn't have any of the cultural event afterwards.
  • It was just a picnic we did have the picnic every year.
  • The picnic was always there and the picnic
  • kept growing and growing and growing.
  • That was very successful.
  • Extremely successful.
  • Yeah.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Do you recall, during your presidency,
  • or during the time you you're involved
  • with the Gay Alliance, the police
  • liaison with the gay community?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: I certainly do, his name was--
  • very great, great guy.
  • Do you know his name?
  • Walker?
  • No.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Gordon Urlacher?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Urlacher, thank you.
  • Gordon Urlacher.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: So it was still Urlacher?
  • OK.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Gordon Urlacher.
  • Extremely, extremely important.
  • Because at that time, when I was president of the Alliance,
  • I did my retailing stuff.
  • And then I went into the bar business.
  • And I opened up The Liberty.
  • Which was one of the first really--
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: I didn't know that your bar.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Yeah.
  • That was my bar.
  • You remember The Liberty?
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Yes.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: It was my first, no it was not first gay bar
  • that I went into.
  • Rosie's was the first gay bar I went into.
  • I think Liberty was the second.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: OK, we open up The Liberty.
  • And in a way I sort of wanted to give back also something
  • to the community from just being in the gay movement
  • and everything I figured that was a good way to do it.
  • So Tim and I opened up The Liberty.
  • And we're very successful bar.
  • It was great, we picked the name,
  • and we had a Statue of Liberty right in the middle of the bar.
  • And stood for liberty and it was really very successful.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: She used to guard our drinks.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Used to what?
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: She used to guard our drinks.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: That's right.
  • And then after The Liberty, we opened up Heaven.
  • Which wasn't quote, " a gay bar,"
  • but it was a bar for everybody.
  • Certainly it was known as the Cadillac of bars.
  • And I don't think there'll ever be another bar like Heaven
  • ever, in Rochester.
  • I know there won't be.
  • We were the first to have the laser light show.
  • And the first to have the state of the art music and all
  • that other good stuff.
  • And had some good times--
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: What year was that?
  • Like '89 or '90?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: '90, '91, '92.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Yeah, because that's when I met you.
  • I didn't start at that society until the 90s.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: OK early 90s?
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: But I remember you, owning Heaven.
  • I remember you, oh yeah, that guy from XXI owns the bar.
  • So yeah it had to be early 90s right?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Yeah, and those were good days.
  • The bar business was a lot different then.
  • There was less laws from New York state, the DWI,
  • underage drinking, it was a whole different ball of wax.
  • I would never want to own a bar today.
  • Just too many regulations, and rules, and all that money.
  • What have you.
  • but so that was another thing that--
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Now I think it was it
  • Tim and Mark Seawick who opened up the Pentagon?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Mark Seawick and Tim, yeah.
  • Yeah.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: After Heaven.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: No.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Or at the same time?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: No, the Pentagon came later.
  • Well it was after Heaven, but I don't think
  • it was right after Heaven.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: I don't remember the Pentagon.
  • I don't even remember the Pentagon.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Yeah, that was quickly lived.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Was it in the same location?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: No, no it was on St. Paul street.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Yeah.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: OK.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Down the street.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Don't even remember it.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Now did you sell The Liberty to Marcella?
  • No.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: No, Marcella's is down the street from the--
  • across the street from The Liberty.
  • At the corner.
  • No, Marcella's is completely separate.
  • But I did work at Marcella's, but I basically
  • stepped out of the bars.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Well let me step in there,
  • if my remembrance is correct.
  • I remember, there was Liberty and then there was Idle's.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Idle's, was very big, but Id--
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Didn't you guys like switch locations
  • at one point?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Absolutely correct.
  • You're absolutely correct.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: And then that's where Marcella's went
  • into where Liberty was?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Where Liberty was the second time.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: The second time.
  • Yeah something like that.
  • Because they switched locations--
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Confusing people all the way.
  • But you know that was the secret about the bar business,
  • you get in you make your killing for two years, and whatever.
  • And then you have to switch your name, or switch your locale,
  • or to switch to something--
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Do something different.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: So that was it but yeah, good for you.
  • Yeah, Yeah.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: OK.
  • Wow.
  • I remember the Pentagon.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Yeah, that Pentagon
  • was sort of not too good.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Didn't last long, very short lived.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Above Idle's wasn't there a lesbian bar?
  • The Egg?
  • Something like The Egg, or there was something above Idle's.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Oh you mean original Idle's?
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Yeah.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Yes, Scrap.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Scrap.
  • Where the hell did I get Egg from?
  • EVELYN BAILEY: What was Scrap?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Scrap was it just above--
  • Scrap was just another--
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Bar.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Bar.
  • Idle's was pretty much alternative.
  • And there was a certain group of people
  • that was the alternative new age music so to speak.
  • And Scrap was just, if someone didn't like that kind of music.
  • So it gave them another kind of music kind of thing.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: I remember something
  • about a lot of women used to go upstairs.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: OK there was a lesbian bar,
  • and then it went to--
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: I wanna say it was called The Egg.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Egg, there was a bar called The Egg
  • and you're right.
  • Yes, but that was another that was another change.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: But very short lived.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Yup very, very short
  • lived Yup, Yup you're absolutely correct.
  • I mean when you look at really the bar scene
  • today, to be honest with you Rochester,
  • I mean we were up in the Cadillacs when I was there.
  • But oh my god it's just there's no place, absolutely not
  • and I don't go to the bars anymore anyway.
  • So but I'm just saying I don't know
  • where these kids or people go.
  • Where do you go?
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: We don't.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: You don't.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: The young, young kids go to Tilt.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Tilt, yeah.
  • Very young.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: But not a lot of them a very select few.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: No the bar business certainly
  • is not what it used to be.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: A lot of them are kind of just
  • hanging out in the East End, mixing
  • with just the regular bars.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Now Alan, I did not know--
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: I know we jumped around a lot but go on.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: What?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: I said, I know we jumped around a lot.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: That's all right.
  • I didn't know, that your heritage was Jewish.
  • Did that layer another level of difficulty in your life?
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: I'll say it, the Jewish guilt.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: To be honest with you, no I was a good Jewish boy
  • and I observe the religion, and holidays, et cetera like that.
  • But no I didn't think anything that oh
  • because we were taught that being gay or homosexual
  • was bad.
  • No, to me it didn't.
  • It didn't lay any kind of guilt on me.
  • No, that had really nothing to do with it.
  • I mean, that did not enter into my picture.
  • No.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Have you been to the Holocaust exhibit
  • at the JCC.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: I'm going.
  • Have you gone?
  • EVELYN BAILEY: No.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Yeah, I am going.
  • It's going to be here for another couple of weeks
  • so, yeah definitely going.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Yeah
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Definitely 100 percent going.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Yeah, [to Kevin] do you have--?
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: No, I mean we just kind of touched briefly
  • on HPA.
  • Were you actively involved with HPA?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: At that time, I really wasn't.
  • By that time I basically, didn't step down,
  • but I was not really involved.
  • Still with the board and everything.
  • But the HPA don't forget was, what date
  • do you think the HPA was?
  • EVELYN BAILEY: 1986 to 2003.
  • Yeah, it was begun by Dan Meyers and Jerry Algozer.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: OK.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: And they had little events in '86.
  • Then their first HPA Dining for Dollar kind of thing
  • was in '87 maybe '88, and that was at Village Gate.
  • The first one's at Village Gate and then they went to Midtown.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: To Midtown.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: And then it was there for, I think,
  • five or six years.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Correct.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: And then they went to the convention center.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Correct, correct.
  • Now I personally didn't have anything to do with it.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Now at Heaven, were you the bouncer?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: No, well I was at the door sometimes.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: OK, because I remember--
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Oh at Heaven?
  • Yes, I was at the door a lot as a matter of fact.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: OK.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Yes.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Because I mean I was going to Heaven.
  • And Chick and I were going to Heaven,
  • and I would see you at the door.
  • And I thought you were the bouncer.
  • and I always wondered, how could he so thin, be--
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: No, I was taking the money.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: You were the bouncer at many bars actually.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Yes.
  • I've been around.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Forty South union you were--
  • you were a staple at Forty South Union.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: That's right.
  • Forty South Union, Marcella's.
  • Yeah, but that was after I stepped down
  • on a lot of my activities and stuff like that.
  • I just needed something to do is basically or whatever.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Alan were you ever,
  • or did you ever feel ashamed of being gay?
  • Or afraid, because you are gay?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Yeah not ashamed that's for sure.
  • But afraid?
  • Yeah, yeah.
  • When I first came out, sure I did.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: OK.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: I was afraid for a couple of reasons.
  • Number one, I was afraid what my daughter would think.
  • That was my main, main concern.
  • Not only what she would think, but what
  • her friends would think.
  • And was I a good father?
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Because at this time
  • she was what a teenager or early adult right?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: My wife died when she was eight and a half
  • and I came out to Susan when she was twelve.
  • And it's very strange when you don't hear this
  • too often that a parent comes out to a child.
  • It's usually a child coming out to a parent.
  • And of course one of her reactions was,
  • yeah what are my friends going to say?
  • So she wasn't too happy with it at the beginning,
  • as far as a twelve-year-old goes.
  • But as soon as she started to meet a few of my friends,
  • and see that I wasn't any different in her eyes then
  • fortunately we were very, very close when my wife was alive.
  • So it wasn't a matter of me being thrown into a situation.
  • But as she saw that things were good,
  • then she fell right into it and loved my friends and everything
  • else.
  • And they loved her so it was a good, good relationship.
  • And still is a wonderful relationship.
  • And as I say, without her, I'm not sure
  • whether I would be the person that I am today.
  • Because she's the one that gave me my strength and everything
  • it was just a great, great thing.
  • Sometimes something terrible happens
  • but, yet it's something good.
  • But to answer your question, Yeah I
  • was afraid basically because of her thinking more so
  • than what was going to happen to me
  • or what people would think of me or things like that.
  • It was basically her.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Did you ever feel physically threatened,
  • I mean outside of being the bouncer because you were gay?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: No, no.
  • I fortunately never had that happen.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: He was always wearing a Buffalo Bills Jersey.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Oh yeah I was butch.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Nobody messed around with him.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Wearing my Bills right now.
  • Kevin knows.
  • Yeah, no I never really did.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Well let me ask you this
  • though-- because you came out later in life
  • you were in your forties already right?
  • If I did my math right.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Yep.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: From your perspective as someone
  • who was coming out later in life,
  • what were some of the challenges for you?
  • Because you were probably going out to bars and most of the man
  • at the bars were looking for younger men.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: I don't know whether I
  • would say it was challenges or not because I wasn't really
  • looking for probably the same thing
  • that a lot of other people were looking for.
  • Where once again I think I needed adult companionship
  • and I needed that male bonding.
  • I needed that male influence around me
  • and in achieving that, which I did achieve,
  • made me very comfortable.
  • So I wasn't uncomfortable and I really
  • don't think I had a problem.
  • Plus I mean I'm just my personality is such
  • that I'm very friendly and very outgoing
  • and I don't say it like it is and I think that helped me just
  • pursued to go where I am today.
  • I mean I look at it as all pluses and not negatives.
  • And I really didn't look at it as a challenge or anything else
  • like that.
  • I just did my own thing and went my own way
  • and people either took me or they didn't take me.
  • That's the way I look at it, so it really wasn't bad.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Yeah.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: So if you were to speak to a youth group
  • today, what advice would you give them?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Definitely be your own person.
  • Do your own thing.
  • Believe in yourself.
  • You are the person that's going to make you, nobody else is.
  • You have to believe in yourself.
  • You have to like yourself.
  • And you have to be positive.
  • And if you are negative and things,
  • and just look down on things, you're
  • not going to succeed, you're not going to be successful,
  • you're not going to get anywhere.
  • You got to just live the way you want to live,
  • and really just live up to those goals
  • that you have set yourself.
  • And don't let any other buddy tell you any differently.
  • That's what I would say.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: One more question.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Yes, ma'am?
  • Yes, we can go on a date tomorrow.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: As you look back--
  • a couple of questions actually.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: OK.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: As you look back over your activism
  • in the gay community, what are you most proud of?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: I probably would say--
  • it's a tough question.
  • Let me just preface this by saying it's just not me
  • even though I did do a lot of things.
  • But if you're putting it that way,
  • I would say being one of the co-founders of AIDS Rochester.
  • I would say that would be my claim to fame,
  • is if I had to answer one thing.
  • Because I think that's the kind of thing that we've all--
  • everybody knows about AIDS and everybody
  • knows about what was going on from when we started,
  • to where we are now and just to see the progress of from day
  • one to right now.
  • It's like night and day.
  • So I'm pretty sure that that would be the feather in the cap
  • that I would be most proud of.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Looking back, over our struggles
  • and our successes, what has surprised you most
  • about the journey that the community has taken?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: I would say, even today-- which is so sad--
  • that people still can't perceive that a gay or homosexual person
  • is the same as the neighbor next door.
  • Or that people still are bigoted and opinionated
  • and don't realize that they are just a human
  • being just like everybody else and have
  • feelings, and emotions, and goals, and wishes,
  • and the stubbornness of a lot of people
  • unfortunately is still there.
  • I just-- it's hard to fathom on a day
  • like we have today when people that probably a lot of people
  • would never think that they were gay
  • have come out, and seen that they came out.
  • And knowing them as individuals, and why they still
  • feel that there's discrimination against them.
  • Because we are still being discriminated.
  • We still don't have the rights that we should have.
  • It's come a long way, and a long battle,
  • and still going to be a long battle,
  • but you know it's just frustrates me
  • that people are still so stubborn and so ignorant.
  • That's my opinion.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Did you ever think twenty years ago,
  • thirty years ago that gay marriage would
  • be a reality in New York or anywhere?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Did I ever think or did I ever wish?
  • I guess I've always wished for it.
  • Let me put it that way, thirty years ago I didn't even
  • think about gay marriage.
  • I mean it just wasn't something in my mind.
  • But as we progressed into more modern times,
  • it certainly is become a number one concern.
  • And did I ever think it would happen in my lifetime,
  • to be honest with you no, I didn't think it would.
  • I really didn't I think eventually, eventually
  • the answer would be yes.
  • In my lifetime, no, because I didn't
  • see it progressing as the way that it did.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Are you surprised by the decline in the bar
  • scene here in Rochester?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Not really.
  • I just think that definitely things have changed.
  • I think certain rules and regulations have made it change
  • and people aren't that stupid that they're
  • going to go out DWI, and they're going
  • to get out behind the wheel.
  • And that they just don't have to party 100 percent like they
  • used to I'm really not surprised I can see that decline.
  • I can see that decline because of the economy also.
  • The economy just doesn't allow you
  • to go out every single night and drink for five dollars or six
  • dollars a bottle of beer.
  • It's just become an economic thing as well as
  • a moral or feeling kind of thing.
  • So I'm really not surprised.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: As you age--
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: (laughs) Thank you.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: What challenges do
  • you see as a gay man who continues to grow older?
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Boy that's a tough question.
  • But I guess I could say--
  • I guess gay marriage would be one of the things,
  • we have it now but with things happening
  • left and right and fast and furious,
  • states we know have changed their minds.
  • And some of them have said yes where they meant no.
  • And then they go back and forth.
  • And I'm just wondering if there could be any effect that things
  • could be reversed and go backwards rather than forwards.
  • I rather see things going forward.
  • I don't know I just see some things being in the negative
  • and going back instead of forward.
  • I guess this is the thing I just want to see things going
  • forward instead of backwards.
  • And I've seen a few things going backwards, which is bad.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: What do they say,
  • two steps forward one step back.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: Yeah, Yeah.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Well Alan, thank you very much.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: OK.
  • Yeah now what are we doing with this?
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Well two things.
  • ALAN DAVIDSON: I should have asked before I started foaming
  • at my mouth, huh?