Audio Interview, Gin Shear and Sue Slate, September 11, 2012
- EVELYN BAILEY: This is September 11, 2012.
- And I'm sitting with Ginny Shear and Sue Slate
- on their back porch in LeRoy.
- And we're going to talk about their early involvement
- in gay activism in Rochester.
- I did some research, because I've known you for a long time.
- But do I know your accomplishments?
- To some degree.
- SUE SLATE: Do we?
- I don't know.
- EVELYN BAILEY: But I know that in 1984, you both
- received the Vicki Cup for the work you
- did on getting Rochester City Council, I believe,
- to approve anti-discrimination law
- or an anti-discrimination bill or something.
- SUE SLATE: Yes.
- And the whole concept was initiated by the fact
- that we were denied access to the ability
- to have the prom at the Rochester--
- GINNY SHEAR: Chamber of Commerce.
- SUE SLATE: Chamber of Commerce.
- I think it was Tom Ryan at the time?
- GINNY SHEAR: Tom Mooney.
- SUE SLATE: Tom Mooney.
- Oh, forgive me.
- Tom Ryan was a very popular mayor.
- Yeah.
- Tom Mooney denied us access for our gay prom.
- And that initiated this whole theme
- of moving the City Council to just let's
- come up with a nondiscrimination clause, bill, executive order,
- what have you, to eliminate it.
- And it went far, far deeper and far broader
- than just the gay prom.
- Because it eliminated discrimination
- for any contractor hired within the city limits.
- So you know, that was a pretty courageous time
- on the part of a lot of people.
- EVELYN BAILEY: Was that the first involvement
- you had with gay activism?
- I mean, were you active--
- SUE SLATE: No.
- EVELYN BAILEY: --in the community before that?
- SUE SLATE: We were part of--
- my first involvement with the Gay Alliance
- was actually with the Lesbian Resource Center at the time.
- And then Gin and I would be going to a lot of meetings.
- We'd been together since 1976.
- And so the Lesbian Resource Center
- was quite active at the time.
- GINNY SHEAR: Weren't we on the Gay Alliance board at one time,
- too?
- SUE SLATE: We were on the Gay Alliance Board.
- And we were also peer counselors.
- GINNY SHEAR: Right.
- SUE SLATE: And that's where we spent a lot of time.
- Once a week, we staffed the peer counseling phone lines.
- And that was quite enlightening.
- GINNY SHEAR: Yeah.
- SUE SLATE: Because you got calls from all sorts of people.
- And I can recall in my early years calling that same hotline
- and getting resources that I could follow up on for myself
- and our son, Travis.
- EVELYN BAILEY: Now, were you born in this area?
- We you born in LeRoy?
- SUE SLATE: I was born in Spencerport--
- EVELYN BAILEY: OK.
- SUE SLATE: --but migrated to LeRoy actually to play softball
- and loved the community.
- So between the softball and the volleyball teams I was on,
- I got to know--
- get to know the community.
- And then Gin started poking her nose around a LeRoy,
- because she knew I was going to be out here.
- GINNY SHEAR: We had mutual friends out here
- through softball and volleyball.
- And also, I got a job in Batavia.
- So that was 8 miles from here.
- So that seemed like a good distance to have to drive.
- At the time, I was living in Irondequoit.
- So it was easier to live out here.
- EVELYN BAILEY: And so when you moved out to LeRoy,
- is that when your understanding of that you were a lesbian
- came about?
- Or--
- SUE SLATE: No, no.
- That was a couple of years before when our son was not
- quite two.
- And--
- EVELYN BAILEY: Do you remember the year?
- 19--
- SUE SLATE: It was probably 1974.
- And at the time, our son was about eighteen months old.
- And I had come out to myself even before that,
- but then found myself pregnant.
- And I go, "Oh, no.
- What do I do now?"
- So it kind of prolonged my coming out to figure out--
- you know, I didn't want Travis to be a statistic of divorce.
- And so I thought I'd give it the old college try.
- And it just-- it wasn't going to work.
- EVELYN BAILEY: What resources or were there
- any resources available in the community for you
- to access about lesbianism, about being a gay person?
- SUE SLATE: Well, the Lesbian Resource Center
- is where I initially went, but after calling the Gay Alliance.
- And you know, then I did my own study.
- It was certainly before internet and all that kind of stuff.
- But even in those days, you could find some information,
- you know, in the public library and things
- like that and other resources.
- I just poked around.
- But I also had met members of the gay community in LeRoy.
- And they served as a great resource and a sounding board.
- EVELYN BAILEY: How did that come about?
- How do you-- how do you meet--
- SUE SLATE: Well--
- EVELYN BAILEY: --members of the gay community in LeRoy,
- the remote part of Rochester?
- SUE SLATE: Well, actually, my then husband
- was teaching in LeRoy and got me involved on the volleyball team
- with the female colleagues.
- It was-- actually, it was a mixed team.
- It was a co-gender team at the time.
- And there were a couple women in the community
- that were lesbians living together in LeRoy.
- I got to know them.
- And it gave me the courage, probably, to--
- once I had a couple of real live people to talk to
- and knew that the Lesbian Resource Center was out there,
- that I might meet other moms that were concerned
- about keeping their children should they have
- to go through a divorce and all of that,
- it gave me the courage to move forward.
- I was very concerned about losing our son.
- Because it was back in the '70s.
- EVELYN BAILEY: Right.
- SUE SLATE: Life was a little different.
- EVELYN BAILEY: Now, you, I think--
- I'm not positive about this.
- Did you begin the Lesbian Mothers Group?
- SUE SLATE: I'm not sure if we began the Lesbian Mothers
- Group.
- I know that--
- GINNY SHEAR: I think we joined it.
- SUE SLATE: I think we joined it early on.
- And we met the people that were thinking about getting it going
- or had gotten it going through the Lesbian Resource Center.
- Because they were attending meetings as well.
- GINNY SHEAR: Right.
- SUE SLATE: And then we got quite active with that group.
- and did a lot of activities, had a real eclectic mix
- of kids of all ages.
- And everyone seemed to have at least two peers as far
- as kids went.
- They all got along.
- It was really a joyful time for the kids.
- Because back in the '70s, they didn't really
- know a whole lot of other lesbian mothers
- in their communities.
- GINNY SHEAR: Yeah.
- SUE SLATE: You know, now we see things very differently
- for kids growing up, maybe not necessarily right here
- in the LeRoy, but in other parts of Rochester.
- You know, certainly where our grandson and granddaughter
- are growing up in California.
- I mean, they have the most diversified neighborhood
- you could possibly imagine.
- And everyone gets along.
- And it's like a no-brainer.
- You know, we actually legally got married.
- All our nephews and nieces thought,
- why are they getting married?
- I thought they already were.
- It was just so accepted.
- GINNY SHEAR: Yeah.
- SUE SLATE: We were so accepted as a couple.
- EVELYN BAILEY: And were you still in Batavia working?
- GINNY SHEAR: I-- we met before I got that job.
- I was teaching in Rochester School District when we met.
- And then I got laid off.
- EVELYN BAILEY: What were you teaching?
- GINNY SHEAR: Instrumental music.
- EVELYN BAILEY: OK.
- GINNY SHEAR: I was a band director.
- EVELYN BAILEY: Oh, wow.
- GINNY SHEAR: Marched in the Memorial Day Parades.
- But when they have budget cuts in '76,
- the first thing they cut is music and art.
- EVELYN BAILEY: Right.
- GINNY SHEAR: So I was a new teacher at the time,
- so I got laid off.
- So then I went to school and got new skills
- and became a mechanic.
- So I got the job in Batavia.
- We weren't living together yet.
- But shortly after I got that job,
- then we found an apartment out here.
- And we moved in together.
- EVELYN BAILEY: And were you open at work?
- GINNY SHEAR: Yes.
- Yeah.
- I would say so.
- I didn't make any announcements.
- But--
- SUE SLATE: You had--
- EVELYN BAILEY: Did you--
- SUE SLATE: --pictures on your desk and things like that--
- GINNY SHEAR: Yeah.
- SUE SLATE: --or something that was very--
- GINNY SHEAR: Yeah.
- EVELYN BAILEY: You went to events together for work
- if there were events?
- GINNY SHEAR: Well, in a small motorcycle dealership,
- we didn't have many events.
- But Sue would pick me up at work, or we'd meet there.
- And a job I had before that, we were pretty open there I guess.
- And then when I got a job at Kodak,
- it was just sort of assumed that I was gay.
- EVELYN BAILEY: Talk to me a little bit
- about that Kodak experience.
- Had Lambda Kodak been formed yet?
- GINNY SHEAR: I don't think so.
- I went to Kodak in 1980.
- And--
- EVELYN BAILEY: I'm not sure when they formed.
- GINNY SHEAR: I think it was not long after that.
- But I don't think they existed yet.
- I can't remember exactly.
- But there was some nasty people there at the time.
- And it was not management or anybody of any great importance
- other than human beings.
- But there were some workers there
- that didn't like lesbians.
- They were anti-gay definitely.
- But when you do your job well, people don't bother you.
- EVELYN BAILEY: Yeah.
- GINNY SHEAR: Now, I never had any problem there at all
- and always brought Sue to all the employee,
- the office parties or whatever we had.
- I always brought Sue to those things.
- And nobody made a big deal out of it.
- EVELYN BAILEY: And we were eventually
- a member of Lambda Kodak?
- GINNY SHEAR: No.
- No I wasn't.
- They were always downtown.
- I was out at Elmgrove.
- So, eh, we were very busy during the '80s raising a kid
- and doing motorcycle events.
- And--
- EVELYN BAILEY: You were teaching, Sue, right?
- SUE SLATE: Yeah.
- I was teaching at Churchville-Chili.
- And I had graduated from Churchville-Chili.
- So a lot of the families that I grew up with
- were affiliated with the school district.
- My ex-mother-in-law worked in Central Office.
- A number of employees--
- you know, one was the Business Director at Churchville-Chili.
- One was Buildings and Grounds Superintendent.
- So they get to know me as a person before I came out.
- And I really never felt any discrimination
- in the workplace at all.
- And I think-- and it was a concern.
- EVELYN BAILEY: Sure.
- SUE SLATE: Because, certainly, our son--
- we had-- our son, we chose Churchville-Chili as the--
- we felt that it was a better school district for Travis,
- a better fit for him.
- Because when we did get divorced,
- then he wouldn't be uprooted from his friends as well as,
- you know, living in two households.
- So that was a commitment that Kenny, my ex-husband, and I
- made to Travis, that we were going to make life
- as normal as possible for him.
- So I think when people get to know you as a person,
- and then they find about this other dimension,
- it's pretty hard to all of a sudden hate you.
- And I always felt that the kids got it.
- And I was a good teacher.
- And I really knew that I was born to teach.
- It's what I did.
- I miss it terribly still.
- But life's moved in other directions since I retired.
- And Gin would come to school sometimes with her guitar
- and play for songs that were thematic to the stories we
- were reading.
- She came and taught CPR and first aid
- to phys-ed teachers and nurses as well as my kids.
- She got community service time off from work
- to be able to come from Kodak to come and teach
- CPR and first aid to my kids, which I turned into a reading
- and writing component as well.
- So we haven't-- and we have family support.
- We have always had unbelievable family support.
- So I think maybe the need for Lambda and some other things
- weren't as high on our priority list, which I
- think is a good thing in a way.
- GINNY SHEAR: Yes.
- We were incredibly lucky.
- My family-- I grew up in my family,
- so they pretty much knew me.
- And my grandmother always said at Sunday dinner
- with my cousins and my sister would
- bring a boyfriend or a girlfriend, she took me aside.
- And she said, "Now, Virginia, you
- can bring a friend along, too, if you want.
- If you want to bring somebody to Sunday dinner,
- you go right ahead."
- And so I started bringing my girlfriends to Sunday dinner
- at grandma's.
- And it was just very accepted.
- And when Sue and I got together, my parents just adored her.
- And they certainly adored Travis.
- And he became their newest grandson.
- EVELYN BAILEY: I want to stop for a minute
- and just ask both of you, what do
- you attribute the openness within your families
- to the fact that you were lesbians?
- GINNY SHEAR: My family, I think it's just them.
- They're very open-minded in a lot of ways.
- My grandmother, especially my maternal grandmother,
- is way ahead of her time on civil rights issues,
- and how to treat people, and acceptance.
- And that came down to my mother and my father.
- And it was just the way they are.
- SUE SLATE: Now, initially my mother
- had a tough time with it.
- And it put a great strain on our relationship
- for about two years.
- Because it relegated us to talking
- about superficial issues, which was
- totally different from the dynamics of our relationship
- from before I came out to her.
- So she was a widow.
- She started dating a guy, Richard.
- And after not quite two years he said, "Dorothy,
- they're not playing house.
- When are you going to have a real relationship
- with your daughter?"
- And upon that conversation with Richard,
- they showed up here when we were renovating it,
- getting it ready to move into with a bottle of wine,
- some cheese.
- And we sat down on footstools and ladders
- and had our first real conversation.
- And from that point on, my mother I would say
- became an out mother, very comfortable
- with her love for me, the acceptance of us.
- And so that was very early on.
- That was like 1978 that--
- GINNY SHEAR: Yeah.
- SUE SLATE: --she-- and she went to PFLAG upon my suggestion
- and got more information and was able to work through her guilt.
- And her guilt revolved around the fact
- that she recognized my lesbianism
- when I was, you know, pre-pubescent
- and in early puberty.
- And from her background and messages she got,
- she thought the right thing to do
- was to absolutely stamp that out of me.
- EVELYN BAILEY: Yeah.
- SUE SLATE: So she would say things
- like, "You can't hate these people.
- God is love.
- But you can't help but feel sorry for them.
- And you know, it's not a good way to live,"
- and things like that.
- So--
- EVELYN BAILEY: In one sentence, can you
- simplify the impact of PFLAG on your mother's
- attitude and her own growth and development as a out lesbian
- mom?
- SUE SLATE: I would say that PFLAG gave her permission
- to let go of her fear and her guilt. Once those went away,
- we were good.
- EVELYN BAILEY: So you were a mechanic, Ginny?
- GINNY SHEAR: Hm-hm.
- EVELYN BAILEY: What did you do at Kodak?
- GINNY SHEAR: I got into an apprentice program
- there as becoming a sheet metal mechanic.
- And during that two-year apprenticeship,
- I became a programmer on computer
- operated equipment, tour presses, stamping machines,
- and laser cutters and things of that sort.
- So I went right into programming in the poppier area.
- And moved up from there to programming inspection
- equipment, and then moved into the quality assurance group
- at Elmgrove.
- And from there, I was on loan to the health division,
- health imaging.
- And then they got sold.
- And I became part of Carestream Health.
- EVELYN BAILEY: So where did the motorcycles come in?
- GINNY SHEAR: Well, I was--
- we both rode motorcycles.
- We met riding the same model motorcycle.
- EVELYN BAILEY: How-- when did you start riding?
- GINNY SHEAR: I got my license when I was nineteen.
- I was in college.
- I bought a Honda 150 for $90.
- And I had ridden friend's dirt bikes and mini bikes
- and things like that earlier on before I got out on my own.
- And you know, it didn't seem to be well-received,
- a road bike, at the time.
- But as soon as I was out on my own,
- it was cheap transportation.
- I learned to wrench on it myself.
- And so I had been riding, you know, for quite a while
- before we met.
- EVELYN BAILEY: Wrench, what does that mean?
- GINNY SHEAR: Wrench-- work on your own motorcycle,
- do your own mechanical work.
- SUE SLATE: And I had always wanted
- to ride a motorcycle since I was a little kid.
- I was the kid on the sidewalk would see a bike parked,
- and I'd glaze over and just stare at it.
- And I didn't know anyone who rode a motorcycle.
- And it took until I was twenty-four
- and I was teaching that my vice principal at one of my schools
- rode a motorcycle.
- And she said she'd teach me how to ride.
- So in '74, '75, I started riding.
- EVELYN BAILEY: When did you buy your first?
- SUE SLATE: 1975.
- EVELYN BAILEY: And what was it?
- SUE SLATE: It was a 1975 Kawasaki KZ400 Deluxe,
- chrome and red and beautiful.
- GINNY SHEAR: Meanwhile, I was on the Plain Jane KZ400, 1975.
- SUE SLATE: The special.
- GINNY SHEAR: Special, kick start no tack,
- you know, it was just a stripped down model.
- But it was a KZ400.
- We both thought that was pretty ironic that we met at a ball
- field riding the same bike.
- Meant to be.
- EVELYN BAILEY: So you're riding your bikes.
- What made you begin your motorcycle
- work or the motorcycle festivals that span a good twenty
- years of your life?
- GINNY SHEAR: Oh, yeah.
- We had been riding together since before we met.
- We had a couple of friends here in LeRoy who rode.
- And we had a couple of friends in Toronto who rode.
- And they would come down and ride with us.
- SUE SLATE: And a couple of friends in Gowanda.
- GINNY SHEAR: And a couple of friends in Gowanda.
- And so there were like six or eight of us that rode.
- But that's all we knew of women who rode motorcycles.
- We thought, well, there's got to be more of us out there.
- So Sue came up with an idea to start fishing,
- looking for more women who ride.
- And she came up with the idea of the first festival.
- SUE SLATE: And it was educational in format.
- You participated in some of them,
- so you probably remember that we had seminars
- going on going all the time, riding skills events,
- all sorts of things like that.
- And the idea is that, with more comfort and a stronger skill
- set, you would be empowered to try going cross-country
- on your own, working on your own motorcycle,
- developing the confidence to maybe take
- on other challenges in life over and beyond motorcycling.
- EVELYN BAILEY: But when this began, I have to ask you,
- did you have any idea of the impact that it would have
- and on the number of women that became
- involved in this endeavor?
- SUE SLATE: Well, I dream big.
- GINNY SHEAR: She dreams big.
- I wasn't so sure about it.
- But she thought we'd get 250 women
- to the first one we had in '84.
- She said, "Wow, this will be great.
- This will be great."
- And we had our staff all set, which is mostly our ball team.
- SUE SLATE: Our ball team and our eight riders.
- GINNY SHEAR: Yeah, our ball team and our eight riders
- that we rode with.
- We had them all on the staff and rented the Presbyterian camp
- on Seneca Lake.
- And we were all set.
- And we did advertising in all the women's
- newspapers and magazines we could locate in the country.
- And that was before--
- SUE SLATE: College newspapers, things like that.
- GINNY SHEAR: Yeah, it was before the internet.
- SUE SLATE: Yeah.
- GINNY SHEAR: So it was--
- SUE SLATE: Yeah.
- GINNY SHEAR: --you know, difficult.
- And it all took mail.
- And we had a poor electric typewriter
- that didn't have an O. So we had to hand put in all the Os.
- But we got sixty-four people to come to this.
- And they had a great time.
- And it was a great bunch.
- They were really strong leaders, strong riders,
- and have remained very close friends since then.
- And it was good that we only had sixty-four there.
- Because otherwise--
- EVELYN BAILEY: At the first--
- GINNY SHEAR: --it would have been too much.
- EVELYN BAILEY: --women's motorcycle festival,
- did you have seminars?
- GINNY SHEAR: Yes.
- EVELYN BAILEY: Did you have workshops?
- SUE SLATE: Mm-hm.
- GINNY SHEAR: Yes, yes we did.
- SUE SLATE: It's always--
- it's always been educational with the focus on fun.
- GINNY SHEAR: We had evening entertainment.
- During the day, there were rides, destination rides,
- group rides, and skill activities and fun events.
- And at night, we had entertainment.
- EVELYN BAILEY: So from sixty-four--
- GINNY SHEAR: Eighty-four.
- EVELYN BAILEY: --eighty-four--
- GINNY SHEAR: Eighty-four altogether, yeah.
- EVELYN BAILEY: --original members or participants,
- what was the largest it ever grew to?
- SUE SLATE: Well, you have to take a look
- at the evolution from the motorcycle festivals
- into the foundations work.
- We actually hosted our last festival in 1994.
- However, from there, '93 is when we took the Women's Arctic
- Tour, Ride for Research, which was a 1,399 mile dual sport
- ride to the Arctic Ocean by motorcycle
- on behalf of the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.
- EVELYN BAILEY: Why?
- SUE SLATE: Why?
- We-- our son had--
- what triggered it was we were going on a vacation
- to the Arctic Ocean--
- vacation.
- (Laughter)
- And were planning it since 1991.
- We started the plans.
- But in 1991, our son was also graduating from high school,
- and had to register for the draft,
- even though we didn't have an active draft at the time,
- nor do we now.
- Males still have to go down and register.
- And this kid grew up in a very gender equity home.
- You know, he was doing his own laundry from the age of eleven
- on.
- So he did not get this.
- And he posed the question to us, "If my name were Travina,
- I wouldn't be going down to the post office
- to register for the draft, what gives?"
- And we agreed with him and told him
- we wouldn't want to send you to war anymore than we'd want
- to send our daughter to war.
- GINNY SHEAR: But it's not fair.
- SUE SLATE: It's not fair.
- GINNY SHEAR: It's not right.
- SUE SLATE: So we took a trip to the wall
- just to show him the names of all the people
- we, all the friends we lost during the Vietnam Conflict.
- And it was wrenching.
- You know, you can't go to that whether it's
- the wall of Washington or the Moving Wall-- they're
- both so powerful.
- Cried, etched the names, the whole thing,
- came back and read an article by a woman--
- GINNY SHEAR: In Hilton.
- SUE SLATE: --in Rochester.
- GINNY SHEAR: She was in Hilton.
- SUE SLATE: She lived in Hilton.
- She, as the Memorial Day era came up,
- that was the same time of year.
- She mentioned that let's think about the ripple effect
- of the 58,000 plus Americans who died in Conflict that
- are represented on that wall.
- Think of all the lives that each one of them touched,
- the impact it had on our country and the world.
- And then factor into your thinking
- that in the United States alone we quietly
- lost 330,000 Americans to breast cancer.
- We're going to the Arctic Ocean.
- There's four women.
- We're riding, all those dirt.
- We knew we could get some, in quotes, "mileage" out of it
- for a good cause.
- And once that happened, we just had to move forward on that.
- And when we came back from that with a fundraising
- goal of $10,000 having raised $25,000,
- we just knew our work wasn't done in that arena.
- EVELYN BAILEY: Why did you choose Kathrine Komen?
- Why--
- GINNY SHEAR: Susan G. Komen?
- EVELYN BAILEY: Susan G. Komen.
- GINNY SHEAR: We had done research
- on where we could have the money go specifically
- to breast cancer research.
- And a woman in the American Cancer Society in Syracuse
- said try Komen Foundation.
- They're new.
- They are small.
- But they allow you to earmark where
- you want your funds to go.
- So we looked into them.
- SUE SLATE: And that worked nicely up until 2003.
- GINNY SHEAR: 2003, yeah.
- SUE SLATE: And then we were not allowed.
- Because their structure had grown exponentially.
- Their corporate structure was much different.
- They wouldn't allow us to dedicate our money solely
- to research unless you could guarantee them megabucks.
- And we're an all volunteer organization,
- so that wasn't going to happen.
- GINNY SHEAR: We couldn't guarantee
- them a quarter million dollars.
- SUE SLATE: Right.
- GINNY SHEAR: On an event.
- Although, we had done that in the past,
- but the economy changed.
- And our base changed.
- And a lot of our rides-- and there
- were thousands of riders that rode
- with us during those years of doing the Pony Express
- tours for breast cancer.
- A lot of those people had gone on
- to start their own events in their own areas
- and were raising money for their local Komen
- chapter or their local Bosom Buddies
- or different charities around the country.
- So we weren't drawing as many people to our events.
- And we couldn't afford to draw as many people to our events
- with the price of gas going so high
- and price of everything going high.
- So we'd cut down on our events, making them smaller,
- which meant smaller money gathering.
- So it just wasn't going to work with Komen anyone
- at that point.
- SUE SLATE: We did try working with Komen
- on an international fundraising event in 2011.
- And we raised $47,500 for that program.
- And no, that was 2009 was the last time
- we raised money for Komen.
- GINNY SHEAR: Yeah.
- SUE SLATE: I take that back.
- In 2009, we raised for Komen.
- And it was 2007, it was 2007 and then 2011 was back to Komen.
- Because they found a vehicle for us to use to raise for them.
- And then when 2012 came up, we weren't
- as comfortable with the decisions
- that Komen was making.
- It wasn't a good fit.
- We absolutely respect all the work they have done
- and continue to do.
- But we couldn't be involved with an organization as small
- as we are that would even suggest politics was involved.
- And we polled the riders.
- We went to the riders.
- We did not make a unilateral decision with our board or just
- the two of us.
- We went to the riders.
- We sent out a mass email to 6,000 people.
- And quite frankly, it was overwhelming to support Dr.
- Susan Love Research Foundation.
- One it's strictly for research, which is our bias.
- Don't just cure it.
- Eliminate it.
- Stop it from ever happening, that
- is our bias for all cancers.
- And two, we could dedicate the research dollars solely
- to them.
- They'd work with us set up online pages,
- so it made it easy.
- And they were small the way Komen was small--
- GINNY SHEAR: In the beginning.
- SUE SLATE: --in the beginning.
- And for our organization, we're grassroots.
- And that's exactly where we want to be.
- We entrench ourselves with the riders.
- And it's been a gift for us personally
- to be involved with this.
- EVELYN BAILEY: So, but go back.
- The first-- the eighty-four women who came together
- was in what year?
- SUE SLATE: '84
- GINNY SHEAR: '64, eighty-four women.
- No '84, sixty-four women attended the first.
- And then we capped it.
- EVELYN BAILEY: In 1984, Ginny?
- GINNY SHEAR: Yes.
- EVELYN BAILEY: And so that went on, though.
- GINNY SHEAR: We did one in '84--
- SUE SLATE: '85.
- GINNY SHEAR: --'85, '86.
- And then we started going every other year, to '88, '90, '92,
- and '94.
- Did we do one in '96?
- SUE SLATE: No.
- GINNY SHEAR: No, we did Pony Express.
- SUE SLATE: We did Pony Express.
- GINNY SHEAR: So '94 was the last one we did.
- And that was at the hotel over by RIT.
- SUE SLATE: Inn on the Campus.
- (Interposing voices)
- GINNY SHEAR: Inn on the Campus was what it was called then.
- EVELYN BAILEY: And the year before that was at Wells?
- SUE SLATE: Wells College, yeah.
- GINNY SHEAR: Yes.
- EVELYN BAILEY: And prior to that, you were in the mud
- as I recall.
- GINNY SHEAR: Camp Lakeland.
- SUE SLATE: Camp Lakeland, yeah.
- GINNY SHEAR: Down off Route 16 in the Southern tier.
- Yeah.
- SUE SLATE: Yeah.
- And before that, we were at Whitman on Seneca Lake.
- GINNY SHEAR: On Seneca Lake.
- EVELYN BAILEY: And what was the largest group
- of women who came together?
- Do you remember?
- GINNY SHEAR: We capped it actually.
- SUE SLATE: Yeah.
- We had to.
- GINNY SHEAR: We capped it at 250.
- We were as much interested in creating leadership.
- And we really feel a smaller venue
- allows for a more intense level of interaction with the seminar
- speakers and all the workshops, the skills of the events,
- everything.
- And we felt that we would produce a stronger leadership
- base that way.
- And so we--
- SUE SLATE: And it'd be easier to manage if we capped it at 250.
- GINNY SHEAR: 250 allowed us to take over
- the whole campus at Wells College, the whole hotel,
- at Inn on the Campus and create community, which
- was extremely important to us.
- EVELYN BAILEY: And the foundation began when?
- SUE SLATE: '84
- GINNY SHEAR: The foundation began in '84.
- SUE SLATE: Or '83.
- GINNY SHEAR: But it became a tax exempt 501(c)(3) in '95 when we
- started.
- EVELYN BAILEY: OK.
- GINNY SHEAR: We did our first fundraising event
- under the auspices of the Women's Motorcyclist
- Foundation.
- But we weren't a tax exempt organization at the time.
- So Komen wrote all the thank you letters.
- Because 100 cents on the dollar did go to Komen.
- And actually, that's always been true of all of our fundraisers.
- EVELYN BAILEY: So it was in your mind
- in a sense from the very beginning
- that this would become or be a foundation as well as a,
- quote unquote, "festival" or gathering.
- GINNY SHEAR: Yeah, yeah.
- SUE SLATE: The irony is when we started
- using the term Women's Motorcycle Festival,
- it was a little harder to get land secured,
- like campgrounds and college campuses and all.
- But everyone was used to it.
- By 1984, people were already used to WMF.
- So when we'd go in to meet with people,
- we would meet as representatives of the Women's Motorcyclist
- Foundation.
- And secure the contract and explain to them.
- Because you were going in as of a recognized foundation,
- we had the credibility of the American Motorcyclist
- Association behind us.
- They were our-- they provided--
- we were a sanctioned AMA, which is
- a huge national organization.
- We were sanctioned by the AMA.
- We carried liability insurance.
- We did-- we had our ducks in a row.
- We did staff development with our staff.
- I mean, everything looked good to the-- and you know,
- we had still--
- until we started having some people in our dirt rides--
- and dirt bikes, you do go down.
- You fall.
- We had not a single moving accident on a motorcycle
- in all of our events.
- So that's a pretty good track record.
- EVELYN BAILEY: Excellent.
- SUE SLATE: And so people did secure.
- They were willing to come forward
- and say, yes, you can use our facilities.
- EVELYN BAILEY: Before I go back to a previous thing,
- but can you share one or two stories
- from the women who came about the life changing experience
- your group gatherings or festivals provided?
- SUE SLATE: I think Dotty Bratcher is one.
- Dotty Bratcher--
- GINNY SHEAR: Yeah.
- SUE SLATE: --also rode with us on our Pony Express rides
- before and after she got breast cancer.
- And she came to know a community that she had never
- been exposed to before.
- She rode a motorcycle, but she was in a small little area
- in Pennsylvania.
- So she came to our festivals, then
- she joined our motorcycle club, Moving Violations,
- and continued to come to every one of our festivals.
- In fact, she was the first to register--
- GINNY SHEAR: Yeah.
- SUE SLATE: --at our festival.
- And when she got breast cancer, the wealth of resources
- that she had at her disposal in the motorcycling community,
- women's motorcycling community was incredible.
- GINNY SHEAR: And she had always been a bit
- of a loner and not a joiner.
- But the motorcycle club and the festivals
- caught her imagination.
- And she enjoyed that.
- And she said that when she got cancer,
- she had no idea how many friends she had.
- Because the motorcycle community just came to her aid and said,
- "What can we do?
- How can we help?"
- And it changed her life.
- As well as ours.
- We saw that happen.
- And there's been so many women that
- were at our festivals that are now lifelong friends of ours.
- Just a lot of them that were close,
- some that are not close, living nearby or in Massachusetts,
- or Pennsylvania, or Ohio, is just a long list of people
- that we cherish, that are friends,
- because of getting to know them at those events.
- SUE SLATE: But also, the number of women that
- came such as members of our ball team--
- GINNY SHEAR: Yeah.
- SUE SLATE: --who never thought of getting on a motorcycle
- or partners of people who came to the Women's Motorcycle
- Festival and weren't riders, and then got
- caught up in the possibilities for themselves.
- So I think to me that was huge to see people
- take those healthy risks and move forward
- on two wheels on their own, instead of just a passenger.
- You know, there's nothing wrong with being a passenger.
- But you're certainly much more in charge of your own destiny
- when you're piloting your own machine.
- EVELYN BAILEY: Now, prior to the motorcycle gatherings,
- you had some experience, though, in organizing large events.
- Because I think you and Ginny both organized the Gay Prom
- for a number of years--
- SUE SLATE: That's right, yes.
- EVELYN BAILEY: --prior to the motorcycle festivals,
- prior to those gatherings.
- Right?
- SUE SLATE: Oh, absolutely.
- And it's just by nature we're organizers.
- And we're a good balance for each other.
- Some people say of us that I'm the kite, and she's the string.
- I can come up with some pretty insane ideas.
- GINNY SHEAR: I rope her in every now and then.
- (Laughter)
- But it's a good yin and yang.
- It truly is.
- SUE SLATE: Yeah, it works well.
- GINNY SHEAR: And it's two different skill sets
- that we bring to it.
- And they're both needed.
- I think our strongest skill is recognizing
- how to tap into the talents of other people.
- And we firmly believe that most people
- want to contribute to society if you just
- find the right fit for them.
- And then once they get involved, they're hooked.
- And that's what we've seen with the festivals.
- That's what we've seen with the Pony Express rides.
- That's what we're seeing now with our Adventure for the Cure
- Series, that you find the right people for the right job.
- Passion is-- passion is a far greater motivator than money
- when you find the right fit.
- SUE SLATE: Yeah.
- And once people see that we're normal human beings who,
- you know, did something, you know, that was successful,
- they're like, "Wow, we could do that.
- I could do that."
- And you find a way for them to become involved.
- They're more than happy to jump out and get going.
- And then they go off on their own and do great things.
- So you know, everything grows exponentially out.
- EVELYN BAILEY: How would you characterize your experience
- in the Gay Alliance as contributing, if any,
- to your overall ability to reach out, organize, and bring people
- together, or doesn't it?
- SUE SLATE: Oh, I absolutely do think it--
- I think our initial training with Michelle Boyer,
- who was our peer counselor training--
- trainee-- trainer.
- GINNY SHEAR: That was huge.
- SUE SLATE: That was a huge impact
- on our life, just the training, being on the board,
- understanding the workings, how decisions got made,
- contributing.
- GINNY SHEAR: Working with many different people
- from different backgrounds who had different ideas of life
- in general and what the board or the Alliance should be doing
- was enlightening.
- And it got us used to working with people
- that had different needs than us or different ideas than us.
- So yeah, it was huge.
- It was a huge influence on everything we do I think.
- SUE SLATE: And also, just staffing those phones
- and talking with people, you develop a comfort level
- with talking with someone, initiating ways for them
- to open up and feel comfortable about it.
- And that has been--
- because we immerse ourselves with our riders.
- We're not-- we don't show up for just what we call our Medallion
- Pass Ceremony, which happens daily.
- We're there with the riders 24/7.
- And so it gives a comfort level working
- with a lot of different personalities
- and a lot of different needs and being
- able to think on our feet.
- I really think that contributed to that ability a lot.
- And then of course, the proms were fun.
- We had gone to a couple.
- And then they needed some organizers.
- And we said, "Hey, a different tux, different set of tuxes
- every year, this would be great fun.
- So let's do it."
- And then we found people to help us out.
- You can't do it by yourself.
- GINNY SHEAR: The other thing that I attribute
- to all of that, I actually have been a very shy person
- and not one to speak in public.
- Duh, no, never.
- And that training and the exposure within the Alliance
- and working with all those people
- really brought me out of my shell,
- as did working with the festivals and Pony Express.
- And I'm a much more comfortable person in the public arena now.
- You know, things that used to set me into hysteria just--
- meh, yeah, I'm going to speak to 3,000 people, OK.
- (Laughter)
- I had to-- at one event, it was one of the Komen luncheons
- in Dallas, they had asked me to present, or one of us,
- to present the Jill Ireland Award for volunteerism
- to the winner in 1987 I think.
- SUE SLATE: No, '97.
- GINNY SHEAR: No, it was in 2000.
- SUE SLATE: Oh, maybe.
- GINNY SHEAR: Donna went with me.
- SUE SLATE: Yeah, that's right.
- GINNY SHEAR: It was in 2000.
- And Sue couldn't get out of work.
- She had to teach.
- So my cousin went with me.
- And she had just lost her mother to breast cancer.
- And they asked me to introduce this person who
- was getting the award.
- And I had to speak in front of 4,000 or 5,000 people
- at this luncheon on a stage with spotlights and teleprompters
- and, you know, very big deal, you know, in my mind.
- And because of all we have done before that, I said, "Great,
- I'll do it."
- And I had a great time doing it.
- And you know, everybody said, "Wow, wow, you were great,"
- you know.
- And it was a good experience.
- You know, crowds don't bother me anymore.
- EVELYN BAILEY: Wow.
- SUE SLATE: And ironically, Pony Express and all the work
- we've done with the foundation-- because we now do seminars
- around the country not as a festival,
- but as secured speakers for other rallies and events--
- it has allowed us a comfort level
- in working with the straight community
- as a visible gay couple.
- One of the most joyful events on Pony Express '96 was it
- happened in Connecticut--
- GINNY SHEAR: Connecticut.
- SUE SLATE: --at Marcus Dairy, two groups of people, a--
- GINNY SHEAR: Two clubs.
- SUE SLATE: Two clubs--
- a lesbian motorcycle club and a Born Again Christian motorcycle
- club, pretty diametrically opposed groups.
- EVELYN BAILEY: I would say so.
- GINNY SHEAR: And this was in '96.
- SUE SLATE: Right.
- They found common ground with the motorcycles and breast
- cancer research and came together and did ice cream
- socials all season long from the fall through
- to when they rode their leg of the tour.
- And when we picked them up at the Marcus Dairy for their leg,
- one bike for the lesbian motorcycle club
- had this gigunda rainbow flag.
- And the Christian group was hauling
- a church on a small trailer.
- And they rode side by side leading the parade.
- That just said legions to us.
- And that wasn't the only time that that happened.
- GINNY SHEAR: No.
- SUE SLATE: The spaghetti dinner in New Mexico,
- there was a gay men's motorcycle club and a Goldwin club, which
- are mostly middle aged folk, you know, middle class, middle age,
- whatever.
- And they had worked together to raise the money
- for their leg of the tour.
- And you know, we're all good friends now.
- GINNY SHEAR: Yeah, our overall comfort level with ourselves,
- acceptance from our family, our experiences with the Alliance,
- serving as peer counselors all gave us
- the tools we needed to go out, do our work.
- We don't wear a sign.
- But we also-- it's very known to everyone.
- We don't need to wear a sign.
- We are obviously a long-term old married couple.
- We work well together.
- We're very businesslike.
- We can be extremely businesslike as we
- share our coupledom with other people,
- so that they're comfortable.
- I think it's opened a lot of doors for the LBGT,
- you know, area, just because we're
- out there intermingling with the straight community as well.
- And so it's made both communities come together
- for events very comfortably.
- EVELYN BAILEY: If you could--
- if I asked--
- I will ask you.
- Identify one moment in your lives
- for which you are proudest.
- And if not one, two.
- GINNY SHEAR: There's so many--
- SUE SLATE: Yeah.
- GINNY SHEAR: --really, moments when--
- I don't know if proud is the word or filled up.
- Recently, a great one was a posting on her son's Facebook.
- Of the moms, meaning Gin and Sue,
- with our two grandchildren on a family
- vacation with our son, daughter-in-law
- and the grandkids.
- He made a comment.
- I accept everyone else's political opinion.
- But I guess you know how I'm voting.
- And then he made that--
- he has a huge network on his Facebook.
- And he works with mostly Republicans.
- And honestly, that just felt so good to us.
- That was a great tickle.
- SUE SLATE: Yeah.
- That was a good one.
- GINNY SHEAR: Oh, gosh.
- You know, there have been so many.
- I'm searching my memory banks here.
- EVELYN BAILEY: Right.
- GINNY SHEAR: And there's so many.
- EVELYN BAILEY: And let me ask you specifically, Ginny,
- if you in two sentences or less had before you
- a gay male or female age fourteen,
- fifteen, what would you say to them
- to help them move in their own growth and development
- as a gay person?
- GINNY SHEAR: Trust yourself, and be true to yourself.
- And I think from where I came from I had family support.
- I think kids today need just as much of that support
- in coming out or being out.
- And they need to seek those who will support them.
- And hopefully, that will be their families, their parents.
- SUE SLATE: If not, thank goodness,
- there's a lot more resources for kids--
- GINNY SHEAR: A lot more.
- SUE SLATE: --today
- GINNY SHEAR: School counselors, teachers,
- coaches, whatever, you know?
- SUE SLATE: Right.
- GINNY SHEAR: There are good people in the educational area.
- There are good people in churches.
- There are resources for kids that there
- were not when I was growing up.
- My mother was told when I was like in fifth grade
- that they thought I was going to be gay.
- And this is back in, what?
- 1960, '61?
- I'm old.
- (Laughter)
- And she didn't know what to do.
- And the counselors told her that.
- And she just-- oh.
- And she went to our pediatrician.
- And thank goodness, he was an enlightened individual.
- He said, "Just love her, let her grow up.
- Don't worry.
- She will be whatever she will be.
- Love her."
- And my mother took that to heart and so did my dad.
- I mean, my parents were always there for me.
- They were always there when I was screwing up, too.
- And you know--
- SUE SLATE: Yeah.
- GINNY SHEAR: They're a huge influence on my life.
- EVELYN BAILEY: OK.
- Just two more questions, and then we can kind of end this.
- And either or both of you can answer this.
- And Sue, you've already alluded to some of the answer.
- Have you ever in your experience as over your own lifetime
- any opposition, discrimination, put down, hatred,
- bigotry in your life?
- GINNY SHEAR: Once at Kodak when I was an apprentice,
- I was going up the stairs to the cafeteria with a friend of mine
- who was also an apprentice and also a lesbian.
- And we're in work clothes.
- So you know, we don't dress up to go and play in greasy,
- oily machines.
- But we were going up the stairs.
- And there were a couple of guys behind us going up
- to the cafeteria.
- And they said, "Wow, there go two of Kodak's finest."
- You know, it was very sarcastic and snide.
- And you know, that's about it.
- EVELYN BAILEY: But the implication was--
- GINNY SHEAR: Yeah.
- Oh, yeah.
- We knew what he was saying.
- SUE SLATE: Back home we were working
- towards this non-discrimination bill in the '80s,
- we were on the front page of the Democrat and Chronicle,
- which, of course, is always part of the teacher's room table.
- They had two or three of them laying there, front section
- right there.
- So it's obviously us--
- (Laughter)
- --front and center.
- GINNY SHEAR: Names were there, weren't they?
- SUE SLATE: I believe so.
- But at any rate, I thought here's all these newspapers.
- And no one has said one word about this.
- So I talked to a buddy of mine who
- I was pretty comfortable with.
- I go, "I don't get it.
- You wind up on the front page of the D&C.
- There are three papers laying around the teacher's room,
- and not one person has said a word."
- He goes, "Oh, they're saying lots of words."
- (Laughter)
- And he didn't infer that it was all negative.
- It was more, "Did you see Sue on the front page of the paper?
- What do we say to her?"
- I think it was more their discomfort, which
- that wouldn't happen today, not with us anyway.
- GINNY SHEAR: Yeah.
- SUE SLATE: So I think it was an uncomfortable moment.
- I have always been out at work no matter what the job.
- It's not something that Gin and I make a big deal about.
- But let's say we're teaching together,
- a Red Cross course or a motorcycle course or something
- like that.
- Because we co-teach quite often.
- You know, you mention your families
- and what's going on with your life
- when you're sitting down with a break.
- We never hesitate to talk about her son and daughter-in-law,
- our grandchildren.
- We're very conscious about using pronouns
- that identify us as a couple.
- We feel that that is a way to say it.
- And people can accept that at the level of acceptance
- they can deal with.
- And I would say that Gin and I are probably more evolutionists
- than we are revolutionists.
- You know, we know that ACT UP did a tremendous job.
- But it wouldn't be the way we could contribute.
- We're more, have a festival, empower women,
- go raise money for breast cancer,
- and rub elbows with all sorts of people.
- That's the way we do our work.
- GINNY SHEAR: We've found-- and it's
- been shown around the country-- that when
- you know somebody who's gay, or you know somebody
- and you've known them for years or a long time
- and you like them, and then you find out
- they're gay, oh, your attitudes change if you were anti-gay.
- "Wow, well, they're a nice person.
- They must be OK."
- Then, you know, that affects how you think of other gay people.
- And you know, I think that helps.
- And a lot of people that worked with us
- over the years for the festivals and the Pony Express rides
- came from all walks of life and got
- to know us through letters and whatnot
- and getting ready for the event.
- And they meet us.
- And they find out that we're a couple--
- oh, wow.
- How about that.
- No big deal.
- That does not mean we have not been victimized as a couple,
- because we're lesbians.
- I think DOMA, the Defense of Marriage Act,
- that's cost us personally thousands and thousands
- of dollars since we've been married.
- Because of the-- considering medical benefits as income.
- Last year alone, it added $9,000 to my income.
- We can't file jointly with the federal government.
- So you're triple taxed.
- You have to pay income tax on the $9,000.
- It raises your overall federal tax profile,
- which for me on Social Security costs me
- another $3,100 that I have to pay back now
- to Social Security.
- It's just--
- SUE SLATE: Plus paying--
- GINNY SHEAR: Plus paying the federal taxes
- on the medical benefits.
- SUE SLATE: And they wanted to go back
- to 2009 when we got married.
- So it's back taxes we've had to pay back, too--
- GINNY SHEAR: Yeah.
- SUE SLATE: --besides what we're having to do now.
- So--
- EVELYN BAILEY: So for you as lesbians,
- the next agenda item needs to be the reversal of those laws?
- GINNY SHEAR: Absolutely.
- Yes.
- Yeah.
- EVELYN BAILEY: To not--
- to eliminate DOMA and to create equity--
- GINNY SHEAR: Get federal recognition of our marriage.
- EVELYN BAILEY: --in-- right, federal recognition
- of your marriage.
- GINNY SHEAR: And that's an education process.
- And when it's an appropriate place
- to slip it into the conversation,
- we let people know.
- Because what we find is most people accept us, accept
- our marriage, accept, you know, us as parents, grandparents.
- They don't always know.
- They don't understand what DOMA even is.
- It's not a term familiar to most people.
- So they don't understand the discrimination that's going on.
- EVELYN BAILEY: Right.
- GINNY SHEAR: And it's not New York State.
- SUE SLATE: That's federal.
- It's totally federal level item.
- EVELYN BAILEY: Right.
- SUE SLATE: And friends of ours, straight people
- that we've told about it, they said, "Well, that's not right."
- Well, no, it's not right.
- GINNY SHEAR: Exactly.
- SUE SLATE: You know, so this election's
- very important to us.
- Because this could make some great changes for us.
- EVELYN BAILEY: Yes.
- It could.
- Last question-- when all is said and done, how do you
- want to be remembered?
- How do you want Sue Slate--
- what do you want people to be able to say about Sue Slate?
- And what do you want people to be
- able to say about Ginny Shear, for lack of a better term,
- on the tombstone?
- SUE SLATE: Which we have.
- (Laughter)
- GINNY SHEAR: We're going to both be under the same rock.
- EVELYN BAILEY: And if you can't answer it now, think about it.
- GINNY SHEAR: We are so tied together as a couple.
- And yet, we're both very unique individuals.
- But I'd like us to be remembered--
- SUE SLATE: Yeah.
- GINNY SHEAR: --as contributing, loving,
- welcoming members of society.
- SUE SLATE: Loving, compassionate--
- GINNY SHEAR: Fun.
- SUE SLATE: Yeah, fun.
- GINNY SHEAR: We're fun.
- Yeah, we're fun.
- (Laughter)
- Yeah.
- Just, you know, thought of well.
- Like, wow, they did a lot.
- They contributed to society and--
- SUE SLATE: Had a lot of fun doing it.
- GINNY SHEAR: Had a lot of fun doing it.
- EVELYN BAILEY: And the world is a better place.
- GINNY SHEAR: I hope so.
- SUE SLATE: We really believe it is.
- GINNY SHEAR: This little corner here is.
- SUE SLATE: We've seen the changes in people's lives.
- They share that all the time with us in emails, in person.
- And the irony is that we've gotten as much, probably more--
- GINNY SHEAR: Oh, yeah.
- SUE SLATE: --than we've given.
- GINNY SHEAR: Definitely.
- SUE SLATE: And yet, people see us,
- you know, as changing their lives.
- Really, it's an intricately woven tapestry.
- GINNY SHEAR: One that was very striking to me-- the other day,
- we were cleaning.
- And I found a letter from my sister from '81?
- SUE SLATE: When we were getting unioned.
- GINNY SHEAR: No, no.
- It was when you were in a custody battle for Travis.
- SUE SLATE: Oh, that's right.
- GINNY SHEAR: It was like '91.
- No, '81, '82.
- SUE SLATE: He was at fourth grade.
- Nine and--
- GINNY SHEAR: It would be '92, or '82.
- SUE SLATE: '82.
- GINNY SHEAR: '82.
- And her kids are roughly the same age as Travis.
- And they're cousins.
- And they love one another.
- And he'd go and visit them for a week in the summer and whatnot.
- And my sister was writing.
- We had told her about the problems we were having
- with this custody battle.
- And she wrote this long compassionate letter
- supporting us in trying to get full custody of Travis.
- She said, "I know this is a complete 180 for me
- from the way I used to think, but I'm in your corner now."
- And that was huge.
- EVELYN BAILEY: I don't have any more questions for you.
- But is there anything you would like
- to say outside of what you've already said?
- GINNY SHEAR: I've never seen you not have something else to say.
- EVELYN BAILEY: Keep riding.
- SUE SLATE: Oh, I just would wish everyone
- could have the incredible lifelong joys that we've
- experienced in life.
- What a wonderful place this would be,
- because we are blessed.
- And we know it.
- People tell us that all the time.
- And it's never lost on us.
- GINNY SHEAR: Oh, we know it.
- We have been so incredibly blessed.
- We are just so fortunate.
- We have had so much fun.
- We have so much love in our lives.
- And you know, it's just been a real circus.
- We count the number of times we laugh during the day.
- And then we run out of--
- we can't count that high.
- We laugh a lot.
- And we wake up laughing.
- And there's always something to laugh about.
- When I was diagnosed with cancer,
- we found a lot to laugh about.
- And there just is always something
- to laugh about and bring joy in our lives.
- Because there is already so much joy there.
- SUE SLATE: One of our dear friends,
- who was a Pony Express rider and now a breast cancer
- survivor-- who would know that ten, twelve years later,
- she would be riding for herself?
- But Kerry Ramos, when she first met us and saw us
- at eleven o'clock at night changing oil, because we
- had ridden through the desert and we
- wanted to take care of the bikes that we were using,
- she goes, "Oh, I know what this is--
- purposeful insanity."
- (Laughter)
- I love that phrase.
- GINNY SHEAR: Yeah.
- Yeah.
- SUE SLATE: And that really kind of--
- GINNY SHEAR: That was from Kerry, huh?
- SUE SLATE: --sums up our lives.
- GINNY SHEAR: Yeah.
- Yeah.
- That's the thing.
- Boy, we just-- all those thousands of people
- we've ridden with over the years,
- and so many who have since been diagnosed with breast cancer,
- it's because we're all, you know, ten, twenty years older
- than we were.
- It's becoming more often and--
- SUE SLATE: Just more survivable.
- GINNY SHEAR: More survivable.
- Yeah.
- Back then--
- SUE SLATE: Yeah, we lost people in the early years.
- GINNY SHEAR: Yeah.
- The early years of Pony Express, we were losing people.
- And now, people are getting just--
- they're being diagnosed earlier.
- And they're getting treated and getting much better treatment
- and surviving.
- I mean, I'm cured.
- You know, there weren't so many people
- that could say that back 20 years ago when we started
- raising money for Komen.
- EVELYN BAILEY: No.
- GINNY SHEAR: You know, it's just--
- it was kind of unheard of.
- You know, maybe you were lucky.
- EVELYN BAILEY: And the risks of cure were greater.
- GINNY SHEAR: Oh, yeah.
- My aunt died from chemotherapy.
- She didn't die from breast cancer.
- SUE SLATE: Yeah.
- Yeah, now the treatments are so much more targeted,
- so they're less invasive.
- Research is the key.
- GINNY SHEAR: It is, definitely.
- And money drives research.
- EVELYN BAILEY: Right.
- GINNY SHEAR: And that's something
- that we're still wedded to.
- It's so important.
- EVELYN BAILEY: Well, thank you.
- GINNY SHEAR: Thank you.
- EVELYN BAILEY: And thank you for your contribution
- to Rochester and to the nation.
- Because I really believe there are many more
- people in touch with many more people, because of what
- you've done.
- And the Pony Express ride really--
- I mean, how you can put together--
- (Laughter)
- SUE SLATE: I said it would be easy.
- GINNY SHEAR: That's what she said in the beginning.
- EVELYN BAILEY: All of those groups.
- GINNY SHEAR: Listen, Gin, this will be easy.
- EVELYN BAILEY: All around the perimeter,
- I mean, yes, it is purposeful insanity.
- (Laughter)
- SUE SLATE: Oh, it was.
- It is.
- EVELYN BAILEY: Oh.
- GINNY SHEAR: Everything we do is.