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.
  • DIANE CONWAY: Oh, I'm sure.
  • TOM PRIVITERE: Did you do--