Audio Interview, Diane Conway, March 23, 2013

EVELYN BAILEY: Yes, this is March 23rd, Saturday, 2013.

And I'm at Equal Ground[s] talking to Diane Conway about

the early days of the youth group in the mid 1980s,

when she was a member.

And Diane, when you met as a group, was there a process?

I mean every meeting, did you-- every meeting,

did do certain things?

Was there a sharing, and then--

DIANE CONWAY: Well, we met on Saturdays.

I remember it was Saturdays around 2:00.

Around there.

Like I had mentioned, it was off of Oxford.

Wesley Street, the brown house there.

EVELYN BAILEY: Mm-hm.

DIANE CONWAY: And we would gather,

then we would have a discussion.

I can't recall if there was like a theme or not.

Excuse me, because it was so long ago.

EVELYN BAILEY: Right.

DIANE CONWAY: But basically, it was

a safe place where youth could come to express their needs

and interests--

EVELYN BAILEY: Mm-hm.

DIANE CONWAY: Regarding the Rochester community,

and the young, you know, youth, as well.

Some of us were cast out as outcasts.

EVELYN BAILEY: Mm-hm.

DIANE CONWAY: I personally had a struggle

with the nuclear family that I was in

and many others had, too, even worse stories than myself.

So we were able to share that common ground,

and then of course, we were supervised

by adult members of the GAGV.

There would probably be about three members, maybe there.

I think, if I recall correctly, and we would have snacks.

Prepare snacks and just go around and talk and reflect.

Play games or what have you.

EVELYN BAILEY: How did you find the Gay Alliance Youth Group?

Do you remember?

I mean--

DIANE CONWAY: It must have been listed in the EC.

In the Empty Closet, I'm thinking.

EVELYN BAILEY: So you had access to that?

DIANE CONWAY: Yes, I would gallivant up and down

Monroe Avenue.

Silkwood Books.

EVELYN BAILEY: Uh-huh.

DIANE CONWAY: Those gals wander into upstairs-- at the time,

at the fire house is where the GAGV

was, so I would gather in that common area, read the paper.

And that's how I found the youth group.

EVELYN BAILEY: Had you not been around Monroe Avenue,

do you think it would have been more difficult for you

to find the Gay Alliance?

DIANE CONWAY: Well, not really, because my first search

upon the Gay Alliance started just

by letting my fingers do the walk with the yellow pages.

And I recall the president at the time,

before I started gallivanting Monroe Avenue,

is from East Rochester, and I cannot recall her name.

And that was on the news.

And I was like, oh.

EVELYN BAILEY: Jackie Nudd.

DIANE CONWAY: Jackie Nudd.

Yes.

It was Jackie Nudd.

EVELYN BAILEY: OK.

DIANE CONWAY: Yes.

And Jackie lived in East Rochester.

EVELYN BAILEY: Right.

DIANE CONWAY: Tim Mains was over in the--

he was a part of the school district.

EVELYN BAILEY: Yes, in Greece.

DIANE CONWAY: Yes, in Greece, and running for city councilman

as I hit Monroe.

So this is maybe a year or two afterwards.

So those names I remember.

You know, they were always in the news.

EVELYN BAILEY: Right.

DIANE CONWAY: They were affiliated also with the GAGV.

So it's like, oh.

So all I did at that time, I used what my resource was.

Of course it wasn't the computers as we have today.

It was the yellow pages.

Let your fingers do the walking.

So I would do that.

I was an inquisitive child.

I would walk up.

You know, a day of adventure to me

was walking up to the library.

EVELYN BAILEY: Where did you go to high school?

DIANE CONWAY: I was out in Henrietta.

EVELYN BAILEY: OK.

DIANE CONWAY: So Sperry High School I graduated from.

EVELYN BAILEY: And was transportation an issue?

DIANE CONWAY: My last year in Henrietta,

that would be part of those coming out stories.

When I was sixteen, I pretty much

left home, because it no longer felt like home.

And I went to go move with my gay uncle.

and that's all I knew of him.

He was my gay uncle, so there I thought we had a lot in common,

which we didn't.

I learned rather quickly that one's sexual orientation

is totally different than one's lifestyle.

And I learned that lesson at sixteen years old,

when I realized that his lifestyle did not

match the values that my parents had instilled in me.

I pretty much drifted on my own.

At that time, I was still enrolled at Sperry,

at Henrietta.

So my uncle lived over Hudson, Clifford area.

So I would walk back out to Sperry, Lehigh Station

Road from Hudson.

I'd walk to school to finish that last year.

EVELYN BAILEY: Are you serious?

DIANE CONWAY: Yes.

I'm very serious.

So I'd walk.

And at that time, I recall there was

a gal that would teach periodically like health

studies or what have you.

And she was from, I cannot remember the youth group.

Rochester youth group.

EVELYN BAILEY: Center for Youth?

DIANE CONWAY: Was it Center for Youth?

They were on Alexander.

EVELYN BAILEY: There was also Huther Doyle

in drug and alcohol groups.

DIANE CONWAY: Threshold?

EVELYN BAILEY: Threshold.

DIANE CONWAY: Threshold.

She was out of Threshold, and I remember

she did a visit at the school.

And one time, she just pulled me-- snatched me out

of the youthful crowd and asked if I was on drugs.

And I said, no, I'm not on drugs.

And I explained to her how I would get up

at 2:30 in the morning and I walked to school,

occasionally stopping by my grandmother's doorstep.

And then maybe I might catch the bus that came into Henrietta

or I'll just walk it out.

And that's when the tokens and all that came in for me.

She herself was gay.

EVELYN BAILEY: OK.

DIANE CONWAY: So I think I would have met up anyway,

whether I had let my fingers do the walking a year prior,

or she too--

she would have led me, also, to, hey, here's a youth group.

Here's some tokens.

In fact, why don't you finish out some of these courses

here at Threshold.

And we'll apply the credits so you can graduate.

EVELYN BAILEY: Wow.

DIANE CONWAY: Stuff like that.

So she really got--

her name was Barb.

And she really got all those things in place for me.

EVELYN BAILEY: That's great.

DIANE CONWAY: Yeah.

But I was going to wander anyway.

I always explain it as the fork in the road.

Now this is why it's so important

that people realize that childhood

is the foundation of adulthood.

And no matter how rebellious that teenager is,

that parent really needs to be firm about those values.

EVELYN BAILEY: Mm-hm.

DIANE CONWAY: And one thing that my mother and I,

we really bumped heads on a lot of things,

but one thing we didn't really bump heads on was education.

Although I did it a little different, as I always do,

I didn't do it like right after high school.

Go to college.

Do this and do this and marry the guy or whatever

she wanted me to marry.

I did it my way.

I eventually did end up going back to school, to college.

But not after I was on the poetry circuit and youngest

GAGV member and GAGV board and did some articles for the EC.

Then after I did all of that, then I

went back to school at RIT.

So those values that were instilled in me

helped me see, when I did arrive to that fork in the road

at the age of sixteen, I want to finish my schooling.

I'm not interested in what's going on in this lifestyle here

that my uncle was taking part of.

I was totally foreign to it.

It Didn't feel like, even though home no longer felt like home,

I knew that that was not where I wanted to be.

So I would come home from school and I would walk Monroe Avenue.

And I remember on a Sunday, it was the break of in between

like where we are now, in April around there,

and I ran across Linda's store, which is Silkwood.

EVELYN BAILEY: Mm-hm.

DIANE CONWAY: Walked in and that opened a whole another door

to me, as well.

And then down the road, of course, was GAGV.

EVELYN BAILEY: Right.

DIANE CONWAY: It's just, the sky was the limit from there.

EVELYN BAILEY: Were you-- well, did you know other gay youth

in Rush Henrietta?

I mean--

DIANE CONWAY: Not until later.

Maybe three years later.

EVELYN BAILEY: Was that an issue at all in high school for you?

That you were gay?

DIANE CONWAY: Yes and no.

I mean, I was different anyway.

And I just am.

EVELYN BAILEY: But let me ask you another question.

Was being an African-American young woman more of an issue

than being gay?

Aside from your uniqueness in that regard.

DIANE CONWAY: Well, like I said, I went to school

out in Henrietta.

So that's white suburbia.

EVELYN BAILEY: Uh-huh.

DIANE CONWAY: So that was a little against me there.

I stood out right there.

Although, Henrietta is one of the few suburbs,

such as Gates, that I would say people of color

had a good percentage there.

So if you're going to--

but even amongst other people of color, I stood out.

I was just a strange kid.

Although I didn't have a Mohawk.

I didn't change the color of my hair or anything.

I just was different, you know.

For, you know, my ethnic group, I wasn't ethnic enough.

And then there I was in white suburbia, I was too ethnic,

you know.

So I just didn't fit in.

EVELYN BAILEY: Right.

DIANE CONWAY: Yeah.

EVELYN BAILEY: And so when you went to Threshold,

things came together.

And then you continued at Rush Henrietta and graduated.

DIANE CONWAY: Yes.

EVELYN BAILEY: Were you then confronted

with being African-American more than you were being gay?

I mean, if you didn't go right to school

and you did these other things, how did you support yourself?

Were you at Threshold?

Did they have a shelter that you--

DIANE CONWAY: Oh no, no, no, no, no.

I had friends.

U of R students.

In fact, at the time I had dated an archaeologist major

at U of R.

EVELYN BAILEY: OK.

DIANE CONWAY: Because I wandered upon U of R

and stumbled into their--

I like libraries, and I got involved with that youth

organization going on there.

So I had resources.

EVELYN BAILEY: Mm-hm.

DIANE CONWAY: And as now I look back, it was all a blessing.

All of it was.

EVELYN BAILEY: Yeah.

DIANE CONWAY: Really at that fork at such a tender age,

I could have--

it's my uncle, it's family.

Why wouldn't I have gone?

Why wouldn't I have?

I know a lot of people that would have.

EVELYN BAILEY: Mm-hm.

DIANE CONWAY: So I was just looking back at that,

but to answer your question, at that time

I was dealing more with being gay outcast in my family.

So it was a typical cliche for a teenager

to find one's identity.

You know, trying to set aside, and then, boom,

it's back in my face.

Like here I am at this fork, those values creep back up.

OK.

No matter what mom-- no matter how strict or whatever,

I've got to adhere to this, because this

doesn't seem right.

So, you know, I had a little bit of that stay with me.

But yet still, I'm out there.

Who am I?

What am I about?

And I was accepting being more accepted, with, you know,

because I found the gay niche, so to speak.

EVELYN BAILEY: Right.

DIANE CONWAY: And so I had that those allies, so to speak.

EVELYN BAILEY: Mm-hm.

DIANE CONWAY: The resources, the youth group,

which was well diverse.

Had some long lasting friendships

that came out of that and networking

that came out of that.

And then the other part of it, when I did sit down,

it didn't take many years thereafter.

Like, wow, here I am, African-American.

Lesbian, African-American, gay, black woman.

And in fact, there's a piece that I have written,

and I believe it had hit the EC one time.

And it was controversial.

Black, gay woman.

But then it was youth, too.

All these isms that were--

youthisms was one of them at that time.

Ageism and racism and lesbianism.

There was the women that I was in contact

with were extremely political.

Cindy, doctor-- what's Cindy's last name?

(unintelligible) the Women's Peace Encampment.

EVELYN BAILEY: Cindy Sangree.

DIANE CONWAY: Sangree, yes.

Dr. Sangree, yes, took me under her wing

because I stumbled over at the Y one time.

They were having a women's fest, and I just felt at home there,

so I got involved in that.

And those are political, wow.

DIANE CONWAY: Were you at the encampment?

DIANE CONWAY: Oh my gosh, several times.

Many times.

EVELYN BAILEY: I was the treasurer.

DIANE CONWAY: Went to the encampment,

went to Atlanta for the gay something, big rally

or whatever.

Went down, oh yeah.

EVELYN BAILEY: Yes, I was the Treasurer of the encampment.

DIANE CONWAY: OK.

EVELYN BAILEY: For three years.

DIANE CONWAY: I'm sure we saw each other.

EVELYN BAILEY: And my former partner

found the land on which the encampment was based.

DIANE CONWAY: Wow.

EVELYN BAILEY: And Marcia Craig, do you remember that name?

DIANE CONWAY: I don't see a face, but that doesn't mean--

EVELYN BAILEY: She was from the U

of R. She laid the water lines and got the big water tank.

DIANE CONWAY: Wow.

Yes, OK.

EVELYN BAILEY: OK.

DIANE CONWAY: Mm-hm.

EVELYN BAILEY: And she was in the labs at the U of R.

DIANE CONWAY: OK.

EVELYN BAILEY: And she always claimed

that her dementia later in life was caused by her exposure

to nuclear materials when they didn't know the danger.

And so there was no protection.

DIANE CONWAY: Right.

EVELYN BAILEY: But that was an incredible experience.

DIANE CONWAY: Oh yeah.

Oh yeah.

EVELYN BAILEY: Incredible experience.

DIANE CONWAY: It was.

And from there, I met several people, as well.

EVELYN BAILEY: Several people.

DIANE CONWAY: But I was hit with the racism,

because I didn't see many--

not so much, it was a fun group of gals.

However, it's like, well gosh, where is the diversity of this?

EVELYN BAILEY: Right.

DIANE CONWAY: So there I was, felt

like I was an outsider again.

So I want to say maybe 1992, when I was at RIT,

and I was pretty much in the throttle of the poetry circuit

there.

All around.

I started looking for women of color.

When I mean women of color, not just African-American.

Women of color.

I remember putting something out in the EC

and got a lot of people feedback.

Positive and negative.

And once again, it came up, you know, with my own ethnic group.

How dare you say we're not here.

You don't even recognize us because you're not

ethnic enough.

That's the feedback I would get from other African-Americans.

And then it was on the other end.

White women, well why has it got to be women of color?

We're all sisters.

It was just, you know.

But I went forth with the project,

and I would say after the two years of research and hounding,

I met up with a gal.

I can't remember her name.

She's Native American.

And she hung it out with me, trying to get this group going.

And SUITS, Sisters United In Two Spirits, evolved.

EVELYN BAILEY: OK.

DIANE CONWAY: It was a woman of color organization.

EVELYN BAILEY: And that's still in--

DIANE CONWAY: No.

No, no, now SUITS.

But I had founded SUITS for the sole purpose for women of color

to be able to identify with the women of color

and within this community.

And there were so many different branches that it was fabulous.

We had a sunshine club that, you know,

supported women that needed housing, shelter, clothing,

whatever for their children.

We had a group that focused on the needs of the children.

We had a group that was educational,

and then we had a leisure group that did a lot of parties

around town.

People are familiar with that.

The educational stuff, too.

We did stuff with that.

That's where Barbara came within.

That's how Barbara Turner and I met, was through SUITS.

And where Barbara is getting probably mentioned of MOCHA,

there was occasional times.

Gary.

I don't remember--

EVELYN BAILEY: Gary English.

DIANE CONWAY: English, thank you.

Moved down to New York.

Gary English would invite us.

We would collaborate with this or that.

SUITS, I would say within a year's time,

evolved from myself to a Native American woman

who stuck it out, to about 300 members in mailing

within a year's time.

EVELYN BAILEY: Wow.

DIANE CONWAY: Mailing.

Laurie H. Laurie Hillaton.

Laurie from Silkwoods.

Oh, not Silkwoods, Wildseeds.

EVELYN BAILEY: Laurie Mathilde.

DIANE CONWAY: Mathilde, yeah.

Truly embraced us, big time.

She and her partner at the time.

EVELYN BAILEY: Yes.

DIANE CONWAY: At the store.

EVELYN BAILEY: Yes.

DIANE CONWAY: Had totally like pretty much

what Equal Grounds is doing now at CSWA with stuff

that we do now.

Like, hey, oh my gosh.

I love what you guys are doing.

Oh my goodness.

EVELYN BAILEY: Mm-hm.

DIANE CONWAY: Whatever you want.

Whatever events you want to hold, you can hold them here.

And not to mention, it was right down

the street from where I lived.

At the time, where Wildseeds was located.

So there was that.

EVELYN BAILEY: March.

DIANE CONWAY: March.

Laurie March, yeah.

Yeah.

EVELYN BAILEY: What happened to the 300 people

on the mailing list?

DIANE CONWAY: Well here's what happened.

I decided to go back to school.

I was locally-- dipping into local stuff.

School.

But then I decided, OK, I'm going

to get more serious with this.

So I applied all over.

Sonoma, you know, just outside of San Francisco.

Atlanta, all over.

All over all over.

Then there was some family issues, so I ended up staying.

But at the time, I had gotten accepted down to Atlanta

to go to school.

Had everything set up, so changed hands.

SUITS was going in a direction that pretty much didn't

represent me anymore.

However, it was a need that was there.

So it was like, OK, well you know what?

I'm going to Atlanta anyway, so you guys can have at it.

I don't believe in--

the ladder.

The corporate ladder

EVELYN BAILEY: Right.

DIANE CONWAY: Setup.

I just don't.

I don't believe in all that.

The hierarchy and all that, I just don't.

So that's the direction it was going in, anyway.

So it was OK.

Well, I'm going to Atlanta.

But then I didn't end up going to Atlanta.

I ended up going over to RIT and then U of R.

So that's what happened with SUITS.

And then it didn't really succeed afterwards.

EVELYN BAILEY: Did you know Gary English?

DIANE CONWAY: Yes.

Oh yeah.

And then Gary moved down to New York.

EVELYN BAILEY: And did you know Alyssa?

DIANE CONWAY: I probably--

EVELYN BAILEY: Matthews?

DIANE CONWAY: I probably do.

I probably do.

EVELYN BAILEY: How would you--

tell me what Gary English was like.

DIANE CONWAY: Gary.

Gary was a very warm human being.

He was, as I recall correctly, he was open to the women's.

See that's the thing.

He had, at that time it was the guys.

EVELYN BAILEY: Right.

DIANE CONWAY: And then, well, Diane's got the women

thing going on, so the guys.

But he was open.

He embraced us and many times we collaborated on some things.

So I never had problems with Gary.

I thought he was extremely resourceful,

especially at the time for the youth coming up then.

For young men of color.

EVELYN BAILEY: And he began MOCHA, correct?

DIANE CONWAY: I cannot put a quote out there that he began

it.

But he's definitely probably part of the pioneer

process of it, yes.

EVELYN BAILEY: OK.

At the same time this is happening,

Diane, this whole epidemic of AIDS is on the forefront.

DIANE CONWAY: Yeah.

EVELYN BAILEY: At that time, I don't

think it had moved very much into the women's community.

DIANE CONWAY: Well it's so funny that you mention that.

EVELYN BAILEY: But it had begun to.

DIANE CONWAY: Yeah, well--

EVELYN BAILEY: 1986 was the beginning of AIDS Rochester.

DIANE CONWAY: Mm-hm.

And I remember doing--

I walked.

My mother and I walked, not for my gay uncle,

but for another one of his brothers.

One of my dad's other brothers had passed from AIDS.

EVELYN BAILEY: Mm-hm

DIANE CONWAY: And my mother and I

did a walk that was sponsored by AIDS Rochester.

That's funny that you mention with the women, though.

Because through all this, I want to say early 2000s, maybe.

EVELYN BAILEY: Mm-hm.

DIANE CONWAY: Where I met LaSharon,

and she came from downstate.

LaSharon was from New York.

Barb will probably know where LaSharon was from.

But nonetheless, she was the first woman

that I know of was gay and had AIDS.

EVELYN BAILEY: OK.

DIANE CONWAY: She has since passed from AIDS.

EVELYN BAILEY: Mm-hm.

DIANE CONWAY: But she was a huge influence, too,

with the women's community, as well.

The things that she would do and her involvement.

But that was my knowledge.

Like I said, wow, here's a gay woman with AIDS.

Yeah, so it's funny that you mention that, yeah.

EVELYN BAILEY: That whole era, though, was fraught with fear.

There was no money coming through the pipeline

for any services.

And HPA helping people with AIDS came into existence.

DIANE CONWAY: Yeah.

EVELYN BAILEY: That was at the very beginning.

That was Dan Meyers and Jerry Algoza

and Jeff Cost was involved.

DIANE CONWAY: Jeff Cost, OK.

EVELYN BAILEY: And a few other people.

And they were the ones.

That group-- organization--

was the organization that really supported the needs of the HIV

victims in this community and raised money

for community health at work.

(unintelligible) and AIDS research

at strong and all of that.

And then money began to come through federal dollars

and that sort of thing.

And the immediacy of--

because I think you probably remember also,

if you were diagnosed with AIDS and it was full blown AIDS,

within eight months, you were dead.

DIANE CONWAY: I'm dead.

And really, even so back then, it was more the medications--

AZT and what have you, that was killing you.

EVELYN BAILEY: Yes.

DIANE CONWAY: Before the actual disease itself.

EVELYN BAILEY: Right, right.

But it really didn't come into the woman's community

until much later in 1986.

It was the early 90s when--

and primarily through needles and prostitution.

DIANE CONWAY: Mm-hm.

EVELYN BAILEY: And then AIDS Rochester

started the needle exchange program

and got so much flak for doing that.

DIANE CONWAY: Right.

EVELYN BAILEY: But it saves so many lives.

DIANE CONWAY: Mm-hm.

EVELYN BAILEY: SUITS or the groups

you were involved with really were not

political in that regard.

DIANE CONWAY: It could have gone there, though,

because that certainly-- as we were digging

into the educational and health, I

believe that had we stayed there,

had my involvement been what I stood for.

And the reason why I had the whole mission behind SUITS,

had that stayed strong, I think would

have been inevitable, because the folks that were coming in--

they would have been affected by that.

So those are some things, certainly

issues that we would have had to address.

And would have been looking for those resources

to assist the members with that.

So I believe that would have been inevitable.

EVELYN BAILEY: OK.

DIANE CONWAY: Oh yeah, most definitely.

EVELYN BAILEY: Were you involved with something

for the sisters group?

DIANE CONWAY: No.

No I was not.

No.

EVELYN BAILEY: OK.

DIANE CONWAY: I've heard of it, but no, I was not.

EVELYN BAILEY: And what about, there was--

the two spirit group has never really totally disappeared.

I see that throughout the Empty Closet.

DIANE CONWAY: Yeah, two spirited, however,

that's a phrase from Native American celebrating

one individual celebrating their humanness of their being female

and male.

The Native Americans believe that as a human being,

we are of both.

We are two spirited.

We are both male and female.

EVELYN BAILEY: So that had nothing--

DIANE CONWAY: --so two spirited, that's where that came from.

It was the Native American aspect of it.

So you probably see that with gender, what have you.

EVELYN BAILEY: Is it better today for gay youth

of color than it was for you?

DIANE CONWAY: Wow.-- [to friend that walked in] Hey!

How are you?

Good to see you.

I thought it was you.

Steve. -- I would have to say there are more resources.

Yeah, if they had just plopped me now

as a kid in where we are today, oh my gosh.

I wouldn't have to take that walk to the library.

It's right there at my phone.

The resources are just phenomenal.

And then of course, you've got the support of gay marriage.

You've got all this stuff.

All this things.

We've done away with don't tell, you know.

All that stuff.

Whereas all these things are coming off.

EVELYN BAILEY: Right.

DIANE CONWAY: You know, so it's in your face more.

It's part of the human race.

It's being recognized that we are of the human race, which

we always have been.

EVELYN BAILEY: Right.

DIANE CONWAY: We always have been, you know.

But now, that acknowledgment is coming to light.

So with that, I would have to say just that alone is better.

I'm not in the footsteps of the youth today.

I'm not really even involved with it so much.

So I can't really--

but all I know is just looking at the resources that are there

and where we are going politically.

How far we've come.

I can't imagine that it wouldn't be better.

EVELYN BAILEY: Is it easier to be an African-American youth

today than it was when--

DIANE CONWAY: An African-American gay youth or--

EVELYN BAILEY: Youth.

DIANE CONWAY: Just an African-American youth?

EVELYN BAILEY: African-American youth.

DIANE CONWAY: I think the stakes are still high.

Because what's-- what we're seeing--

you mentioned AIDS.

What we're seeing-- we're seeing statistics how,

yes, AIDS have entered the women's community.

AIDS are with youth, too.

EVELYN BAILEY: Right.

DIANE CONWAY: That's a real sensitive topic, you know.

We've got high schools that are listed as the highest

percentage, you know right here in Rochester,

you know, with AIDS epidemics amongst the youth.

And a lot of those youth are of people of color.

EVELYN BAILEY: And the drug culture.

DIANE CONWAY: I don't know.

If you were to look at the demographics,

you know, and look where they come from,

perhaps drugs has something to do with it.

It could be that they were born with AIDS, because we're

talking a whole generation upon entering another generation.

EVELYN BAILEY: Yes.

DIANE CONWAY: So a lot of them could have just

had it from birth.

EVELYN BAILEY: Right.

DIANE CONWAY: Perhaps drugs was the origin.

I don't know.

I can't really say.

But I think that's more of a focal.

So with that alone to me, that has got to be the most,

I mean--

but AIDS is not--

the reception of AIDS is totally different today than it was.

EVELYN BAILEY: Absolutely.

DIANE CONWAY: You know what I mean?

EVELYN BAILEY: Absolutely.

DIANE CONWAY: It just is.

EVELYN BAILEY: People aren't afraid of AIDS.

DIANE CONWAY: It's almost as if they're invincible to it.

So it's like, eh, you know.

EVELYN BAILEY: They can live with it

and there is treatment available.

DIANE CONWAY: Right, exactly.

EVELYN BAILEY: And so they can live a long time with it.

DIANE CONWAY: Without such a sacrifice, yeah.

EVELYN BAILEY: Right.

What would you say, looking back over your years

of being involved with the gay community.

Being involved with the African-American community.

What was your proudest moment?

Or what is your proudest moment?

And if there's more than one you can--

DIANE CONWAY: I would say now.

All those steps led me to where I am now

of what really matters.

And it pretty much goes with the mission behind the organization

that I had founded that's present today.

It's not even about being black.

It's not about male or female.

In fact, it goes right to that poem

that I wrote years ago of the attacks that I was getting.

Now, here I am living it.

It's not about being black.

It's not about being female.

Gay, straight, whatever.

It's about being human.

And that's what counts.

And in fact, that's how that poem reads.

And so it's funny, because the mission behind CSWA

is world peace for all humanity through the universal language,

which is, for me, art.

EVELYN BAILEY: Mm-hm.

DIANE CONWAY: And I would have to say I'm most proud of that.

I'm most proud to have that advocacy there.

I don't care what your background is.

Who you are.

Male, female, gay, straight, bisexual, trans, whatever.

We're all human.

EVELYN BAILEY: Mm-hm.

DIANE CONWAY: And to me, I can say that with pride.

And I'm part of this human race, just as you are.

EVELYN BAILEY: Right.

DIANE CONWAY: I don't understand,

I think we're the only species--

I don't know, maybe we're not--

that really separates ourselves so.

I just can't believe two canines, a white canine

and a black canine--

let's say one who's mixed--

are sitting there going, "I don't

want to associate with you because you're this or that."

Three dogs there.

A black, white, and one that's mixed.

I think they'd just go around wagging

their tails with each other and play and that's for people,

too.

Nobody's going to say, I'm going to take the white dog,

because I just want light.

I'm just going to take the black dog.

No, look at that.

Then why are we doing that to humans?

I don't get it.

I don't understand it.

It's a waste of time and life is too short to waste--

to have that type of energy.

EVELYN BAILEY: But the archetypes

with which we have all grown up are very strong,

and they create the attitudes and the divisions

within us that then express themselves externally.

And that's not an excuse, it's to say humanity is broken

and humanity will not come together and be whole

until we can embrace each other as human beings who care.

Who work together, who love each other,

and who are willing to put aside what we see as differences.

DIANE CONWAY: Mm-hm.

EVELYN BAILEY: But your message is extremely basic.

I mean, it is not up there.

It's very down to earth and it's very real and genuine.

If you had an opportunity to say two sentences

to the young people of today, whether they

be gay, straight, pink, purple, polka dot--

what would you tell them that would help them journey?

DIANE CONWAY: Basically the slogan

of CSWA, which is, express yourself--

don't repress yourself.

Culture starts with art.

EVELYN BAILEY: Yeah.

DIANE CONWAY: That's what I would tell them.

And that's what I'm telling them now.

EVELYN BAILEY: Mm-hm.

Yes, it is.

Yeah.

Two more questions.

What is the next challenge that we have?

DIANE CONWAY: The next challenge.

EVELYN BAILEY: For the gay community.

For the Rochester community.

Life here is pretty good.

We don't have a negative response

from many people in authority.

The companies that are here in Rochester--

I mean the large corporations--

Xerox have led the way.

And they have opened the door for diversity.

The U of R, colleges, universities.

What do you see as the next challenge?

DIANE CONWAY: The next challenges are our youth.

It's our youth, because it goes right back

to that old saying I mentioned.

Childhood is the foundation of adulthood.

So I feel that for any group, the next challenge

is always the youth, because this is our legacy.

What's theirs?

What are they going to leave?

What do they have?

Who is modelling for them when we're gone?

Advice for them.

The youth, absolutely.

EVELYN BAILEY: OK.

And final question.

When you are no longer here, which hopefully

won't be for another fifty or sixty years,

how do you want people to remember you?

What do you want them to say about Diane Conway.

DIANE CONWAY: Well D stands for diversity. (pause)

I want to say a cliche, but that's

just like, oh she came, she conquered.

But (pause) Diane Con--

I believe that our obstacles--

the O in obstacle, for whatever that challenge may be,

represents, really, opportunity.

The O in obstacle is opportunity.

So with that said, I mean, that's

how basically I see things.

Hand me an obstacle, I see it as an opportunity.

Because really that's what the O really means to me in obstacle.

And I'd like to open the eyes.

Have that vision come to light for others

to see it like that, too.

So she-- it would be nice if I could

be remembered as one who was a strong positive influence.

And courage, you know, led me to--

gave me the will to keep on.

Because like I said, the O in obstacle is opportunity.

So if everyone can see that whatever

obstacle they feel that they're facing

is really an opportunity.

EVELYN BAILEY: Well I think you will be remembered for that, as

well as for many other things.

You, I think, have made not only an impact,

but you have influenced many young people and many older

people, as well, to expand their vision.

To expand their viewpoint.

And to express themselves in very positive, concrete ways

that make a difference.

DIANE CONWAY: Affect us.

Yeah.

EVELYN BAILEY: Well thank you.

DIANE CONWAY: Well thank you.

TOM PRIVITERE: I'm leaving.

I just stopped to say goodbye.

DIANE CONWAY: Bye, Tom.

EVELYN BAILEY: This is Tom Privitere.

TOM PRIVITERE: I've seen you before here.