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--