Video Interview, Hector Arguinzoni, May 23, 2012

  • KEVIN INDOVINO: And I may have to interrupt since we're
  • right on Main Street.
  • So a particularly loud truck--
  • CREW: Loud truck, a train usually
  • goes by every thirty-five minutes.
  • In fifteen minutes, the church bells will ring.
  • So we'll have a break in fifteen minutes.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: So what we do is we have to sit here
  • and not only wait for twelve bells
  • to go off but this new time sermon thing
  • that they do with the bells.
  • If you start talking and you lose your train of thought
  • or you stumble or something, just stop and say,
  • let me start over.
  • Let me try that again.
  • I may ask you a question a couple of times.
  • You may wonder, he just asked me that.
  • Why is he asking me that again.
  • But maybe I'm trying to come at it at a different angle,
  • or maybe I'm just trying to clarify it a little bit.
  • CREW: I am rolling.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: OK.
  • First of all, for a microphone check,
  • give us the correct spelling of your first and last name.
  • HECTOR ARGUINZONI: First name is Hector.
  • It's H-E-C-T-O-R. Last name is Arguinzoni,
  • A-R-G-U-I-N-Z-O-N-I.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: For the purpose of the documentary,
  • when I put your name on-screen, do you want your full name,
  • or do you want DJ Hector?
  • HECTOR ARGUINZONI: DJ Hector.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: OK.
  • HECTOR ARGUINZONI: That's how people know me.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: That's how people know him.
  • OK.
  • He's DJ Hector.
  • So, Hector, you've seen the gay social bar scene for decades.
  • And you've seen changes.
  • But I want to kind of go back to some
  • of those early years in the 1970s and into the '80s
  • and get a sense of what was the gay social scene like.
  • Can you talk to me about that?
  • HECTOR ARGUINZONI: Well, in the '70s, being a college student,
  • the gay scene was, to me, relatively a new thing.
  • Growing up in Rochester in the Latino community,
  • you were closeted, and you kept it very secret.
  • So it wasn't until I got into college that I started
  • really living my gay life.
  • And I remember comparing it to breathing for the first time.
  • And that was because a group of friends
  • that I went to high school with that had gone on to Albany
  • to study had come home and decided
  • that they were going to take me in the first gay bar.
  • And again, I was a freshman at the U of R.
  • And they took me to Jim's for the first time.
  • And it was funny because the whole time
  • that we were trying to make it into the door
  • at Jim's, we were dodging cars and hiding behind walls
  • and pillars or whatever we could find just so we wouldn't
  • be seen sliding into the club.
  • And the whole time we were there we
  • were very apprehensive of who we might run into it.
  • But at the same time, it was a very freeing experience
  • because it was--
  • I felt like, for the first time, I was living my life.
  • And it just seemed normal to me.
  • It just seemed like an important part of me
  • that I was repressing for so many years.
  • And finally I was beginning to deal with it.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: I'm going to touch upon
  • that a little bit because it's so
  • easy to look at the bar scene as in, yeah, OK, it's alcoholism.
  • It's drugs.
  • It's promiscuous sex.
  • Why is that important particularly
  • for the gay community?
  • But they really served a bigger purpose than that.
  • HECTOR ARGUINZONI: Oh, yeah.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Can you talk to me a little bit about that?
  • HECTOR ARGUINZONI: No, it was- it definitely
  • served a bigger purpose.
  • It was a social gathering.
  • It was an opportunity for you to share and enjoy and be
  • in the company of friends and people who thought like you
  • and who lived like you and who experienced the same things
  • that you did.
  • All of that stuff that comes with the bar scene
  • is definitely there.
  • But there was definitely a great social aspect to it
  • that was very important.
  • It was very important for people to feel
  • like they had a place that they can go to,
  • that they feel comfortable at, that they feel safe.
  • And the bar scene was the thing.
  • I mean, that's where you went.
  • That's where you went to socialize.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: And a lot of the bars
  • were very different from each other.
  • I just want to quickly just throw some of the names
  • out there and just get your quick impressions of what
  • these places were like.
  • You mentioned Jim's.
  • Let's talk about Jim's.
  • What was Jim's like?
  • When you walked into Jim's, what was your first impression?
  • HECTOR ARGUINZONI: It was a bar like any other bar,
  • but it had a dance floor.
  • And it's funny because I remember a popcorn machine
  • right next to the dance floor.
  • Pat Burns was the DJ, if you wanted
  • to call it that at the time.
  • I don't know they called it a DJ at the time,
  • but it was somebody that was playing music.
  • And you were able to dance and have a good time.
  • It was physically no different than any other bar.
  • But emotionally it was a nice environment for you to be.
  • I can't put it any other way.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: The Red Carpet?
  • HECTOR ARGUINZONI: Red Carpet.
  • Red Carpet was my start into DJing.
  • It was a small piano bar that Jesse Vulo owned
  • where currently the Metro Y is.
  • It was a series of buildings and businesses along there.
  • If I remember, there was a restaurant right next door that
  • was also gay-owned by, I think, the young man was named Rick.
  • But Jesse's bar was a very plush, very nice
  • looking piano bar.
  • It had the bar level and then a second level with a piano.
  • And that became our little dance area.
  • And we were all college kids, some high school kids,
  • I imagine.
  • And we would go there.
  • And it wasn't Jim's, so it was a lot smaller,
  • but it was a fun environment.
  • And we would go there, and I remember
  • making my mix tapes at the time on cassettes
  • and bringing them in, sliding them into the cassette player,
  • and just spinning around the piano
  • until all hours of the night.
  • And then eventually, Jesse Vulo decided that he
  • was going to make it a club.
  • And they knocked down the walls between the two businesses
  • and created a huge dance floor, multi-tier.
  • The DJ booth was like on a fire escape, second-story level,
  • overlooking the dance floor.
  • And that was my beginning.
  • That's where I started.
  • He gave me the first job as a disc jockey.
  • I was just learning what it was about.
  • I would go to New York every weekend to buy music
  • and to dance at the clubs in New York that, at the time,
  • were pretty much underground.
  • But they were very popular and very well-known.
  • And to this day, those DJs are held in high esteem
  • as really the pioneers of the whole disco
  • or whatever you want to call it.
  • But they were the beginning of that time
  • before it was mainstream.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: The Rathskeller.
  • HECTOR ARGUINZONI: Rathskeller was a small--
  • I can remember it was underground.
  • It was like on a basement level, and it
  • was close to the Trailway station over by Midtown Plaza.
  • Jesse Vulo owned that as well.
  • It was a great little social gathering
  • place, a lot of regulars.
  • You saw a lot of people that were regulars
  • that would come constantly.
  • It wasn't a dance bar, but it was a nice gathering spot.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: And then, of course, Friars.
  • HECTOR ARGUINZONI: Well, Friars was a very special place
  • to a lot of people.
  • And it had a long life.
  • I was speaking with a friend just today.
  • And we were talking about when he first came out
  • and how he first came out to Friars.
  • And that became his home base.
  • I mean, you either went to Friars,
  • or you went to Jim's if you wanted to dance.
  • And Friars was his thing.
  • And there was a definite group of people
  • that hung out at Friars and a definite group of people
  • that hung out at Jim's, especially on the weekends.
  • During the week, you went to Friars on a Tuesday
  • because that was like a big, big night for Friars.
  • And on Wednesday, you went to Jim's.
  • On Thursdays, you went to The Pub.
  • And then the weekend, you went to your favorite bar.
  • And in my case, it was Friars.
  • Again, I started working for Jesse Vulo
  • again as his disk jockey.
  • That was in '79 when I came back from Europe
  • and worked until it closed.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Yeah, we're going
  • to explore that a little bit more.
  • But first I want to get a sense of--
  • I mean, at one time, there were upwards
  • of fifteen different gay and lesbian bars here in Rochester.
  • They were all very different.
  • But they were all so very well-connected
  • and were providing something for the gay community.
  • What's your impression of that?
  • HECTOR ARGUINZONI: You're absolutely right.
  • They were very well-connected.
  • Part of a a Sunday ritual that bar owners used to have
  • was that they would get together,
  • and they would go from bar to bar
  • to bar, including their own bars,
  • and peep their eyes in and sit with the patrons
  • and buy drinks for the patrons.
  • It just seemed like every Sunday these guys
  • would make their rounds and visit all the bars.
  • So there was a definite tie and communication
  • and a definite appreciation for your patrons
  • and the people that are supporting your business
  • and supporting one another.
  • You never kind of threaded on another bar's night.
  • If Friars' big week night was Tuesday,
  • you knew Friars was Tuesday.
  • Wednesday was Jim's.
  • Sunday was The Forum or Tara's.
  • Thursdays was The Pub.
  • So I mean, people just kind of a respected
  • each other's space and time and helped each other out.
  • And it kind of brought that community together.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: So you got into DJing,
  • and you were working these different clubs
  • and eventually wound up mostly at Friars.
  • Talk to me about the excitement about that,
  • your own personal passion for that.
  • What was it about that culture that really drew you in?
  • HECTOR ARGUINZONI: My first experience
  • exploring the concept of DJing was
  • going to these underground private clubs
  • in New York, The Gallery and The Loft
  • to name the two biggest ones that I attended.
  • And it was the phenomenon of using music as a special way
  • to bring people together and bring emotions and create
  • an ambience of fun.
  • I mean, music has always been a way to bring people together.
  • But here, it was recorded music done in a very unique way.
  • It was the first time that I ever heard two pieces of music
  • blended together in a way that it was almost seamless.
  • And the DJ very carefully built the energy in the room
  • to a point of peaking and then gradually would bring you down
  • towards the end of the night and let you kind of go
  • home in an easy--
  • but you had a really nice buildup.
  • I was a musician.
  • And as a musician, I was fascinated by the trade,
  • by how they were doing it, and what they were doing.
  • And I had to climb up on many of DJ booths
  • just to see what they were doing,
  • what tricks they were doing to make those
  • mixes seamless because, when I started DJing,
  • we had Sparta turntables.
  • Sparta turntables are direct drive turntables
  • that are used for radio DJs.
  • They have no variable pitch control.
  • They're pretty straightforward.
  • And you had to manipulate it.
  • I personally used to manipulate it
  • by using my fingers or my thumb to slow it down or release
  • it to speed it up so that I could try
  • to do those seamless blends.
  • And it wasn't until The Hollywood in New York
  • that I found that the young man that
  • was DJing there was using a turntable
  • called the Thoren turntable with pitch control, which
  • allowed him to slow the pitch or bring the pitch up.
  • And it just made that mixing transition a lot smoother.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: So other than being out there
  • and entertaining the masses, did you ever
  • feel like you were providing some other service for them?
  • HECTOR ARGUINZONI: Well, you know,
  • obviously, I have a passion for what
  • I do-- for DJing and for the music aspects of it.
  • But it is bringing people together.
  • It is creating an ambience where people
  • are going to have a good time and socialize
  • and a safe environment where they can be themselves.
  • And Friars, starting with my experience
  • at The Red Carpet, all the way to now in my brief appearances
  • at Tilt or somewhere, that aspect of it hasn't changed.
  • It's still the same.
  • It's still a safe environment of self-expression
  • and entertainment and community.
  • And so, I mean, that, to me, was part
  • of what I saw in my capacity, just in the booth.
  • I saw that kind of energy among the people.
  • And it takes it a little further with the energy
  • of the room with the music because the music
  • kind of creates that.
  • But it's just that social setting.
  • It was unique.
  • It was great.
  • As I explained to you in the beginning, the first time
  • I stepped into a gay bar, it was like breathing
  • for the first time.
  • I felt like I found my niche.
  • It was almost like a puzzle piece
  • fitting and working together.
  • And that's the way I kind of looked at the whole bar scene.
  • I don't know if that answers your question.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: I'm just going to kind of cap it all up here.
  • You know, as you're talking, it kind of comes to my mind--
  • they were the best of times, they were the worst of times.
  • I want to talk about the best of times.
  • In all of it, what are your fondest memories of that time
  • period, that culture?
  • HECTOR ARGUINZONI: Just playing--
  • playing to the masses, the gay picnics--
  • once we started doing the gay picnic and everything that
  • came along with that.
  • Of course, it was a lot of work.
  • We used to have to take the equipment off
  • of the dance floor at Friars and drag it over to the park,
  • but it was fun.
  • It was a different environment.
  • It got us out in a public setting.
  • You never knew what was going to happen.
  • But for the most part, nothing did.
  • We just enjoyed ourselves and had a great outing.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Let me get to the picnic
  • a little later because, as I said, it was the best of times,
  • it was the worst of times.
  • I want to maybe talk about some of the worst of times.
  • Mid-80s, AIDS epidemic-- you saw some changes.
  • CREW: I'm rolling.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Let's dive into the '80s.
  • What did you start seeing happen?
  • HECTOR ARGUINZONI: Unfortunately,
  • one of the first people to be afflicted with the AIDS virus
  • was Jesse Vulo in our community aside from being--
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Hold that thought.
  • Let me start that again.
  • I just want to make sure this motorcycle goes by.
  • Yeah, if you could just start it off exactly how you did.
  • HECTOR ARGUINZONI: Well, unfortunately,
  • one of the first people to be afflicted with the AIDS virus
  • in our community was Jesse Vulo who owned Friars.
  • And not only was he the owner and my boss,
  • but he was a good friend.
  • And at the time, it was very confusing.
  • There was a lot of fear.
  • I remember that, shortly after Jesse
  • had been diagnosed with the virus,
  • a childhood friend of mine in New York City
  • had also come down with the virus.
  • And he, unfortunately, had to come home to Rochester.
  • And I remember how he was treated
  • in hospitals and actually what we
  • had to go through when he actually passed away.
  • And funeral parlors wouldn't touch his body.
  • It was scary.
  • It definitely affected the social scene.
  • I mean, people went out to meet people and to the bars.
  • And now you suddenly have this epidemic
  • that was kind of keeping people away.
  • People were scared.
  • They didn't understand what was going on.
  • The world didn't understand what was going on.
  • We didn't understand what was going on.
  • There were a lot of questions as to what was happening
  • and not a lot of answers.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: But at the same time,
  • it didn't take long for the bar owners and people
  • like yourself to kind of step up to the plate
  • and say, "OK, we need to step in there and help do something,
  • anything."
  • Even though you didn't know what was going on,
  • you became a very supportive part
  • of what we're trying to do to combat it.
  • HECTOR ARGUINZONI: In many ways, Rochester's community was
  • at the forefront of organizing and bringing together people
  • for many reasons-- to raise funds, to raise awareness,
  • to set up care, and just for the support--
  • supports for family, supports for people,
  • whether it be care at home or bringing food
  • or whatever needed to be done.
  • We had a great--
  • how should I say-- a great outpouring of the bar owners
  • and patrons and everyone alike and community really
  • come out and step up and bring a lot of things to light,
  • bring a lot of things about like AIDS Rochester.
  • AIDS Rochester, I think, had their first office
  • at the second floor at Tara's.
  • And it was the first time that anybody
  • tried to organize to look for grants and monies
  • and whatever, wherever, to deal with what
  • was going on in our community.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Did you ever work any like the HPA Dime
  • for a Dollar events.
  • HECTOR ARGUINZONI: Absolutely.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: So talk to me about that.
  • Talk to me about those Dime for Dollar events
  • because they were the event--
  • HECTOR ARGUINZONI: Yeah, you had the opportunity
  • to host a dinner at your home.
  • And then it concluded at either The Village Gate,
  • or some of the more memorable ones
  • were at Midtown Plaza, which was a great venue.
  • It was huge, but they would do wonderful things with it.
  • We have a lot of talent in our community, artistic talent--
  • musically, visually.
  • And all these people would come together
  • to make this event an incredible event.
  • To be honest with you, I never saw
  • anything of that magnitude in Rochester before.
  • And it was everyone.
  • It was not just our gay community
  • but everybody else that was supporting us and giving us
  • a hand.
  • And you did everything from providing the DJ music
  • or setting up tables or being--
  • I hosted many dinners at my house with my friends.
  • We got together.
  • It was a great social setting.
  • It was a great gathering.
  • And then we all came together at Midtown or at The Village Gate
  • and had dessert and more dance and more hanging out
  • and visiting with our friends.
  • Those were some really, really unique experiences.
  • I don't think I've ever seen anything
  • like that in Rochester.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Were you at first one?
  • And was that Village Gate?
  • HECTOR ARGUINZONI: Yes, I was.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Talk to me about the first one.
  • HECTOR ARGUINZONI: It's not as clear as I would like it to be.
  • As I said, the emotions and the energy and the people.
  • The amount of people that it brought together
  • was just phenomenal.
  • I was probably more involved, myself,
  • with the later ones at Midtown than I was at that one,
  • but that was a good beginning.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: So let's jump to, again,
  • in the same realm of bar owners supporting various events.
  • Let's jump to the picnics because you were like,
  • for many years it's DJ Hector DJing at the picnics.
  • Talk to me again about that experience
  • of being at the picnics, being at a public venue
  • but more so from your point of view of how significant
  • and how important that really was
  • for the overall gay community or the community as a whole.
  • HECTOR ARGUINZONI: Well, we were taking everything--
  • all that social gathering-- outside in a public format
  • in a community that either was or was not ready for it.
  • But it was the first steps as a community to be out there
  • and say to people, "Hey, we're here,
  • and we have just as much right as anyone else
  • to be out here and enjoying the park and enjoying our day
  • and enjoying each other's company."
  • So it was unique.
  • It was rough in the beginning.
  • As a DJ, it was a little rough because we could not
  • play the initial ones.
  • We wouldn't play records because of the dust
  • that would raise from the dancing in the pavilions
  • at Genesee Valley Park.
  • So we would bring tape decks and play
  • tapes of prerecorded music.
  • But it was significant.
  • I mean, it was the first time that, I think,
  • it was political, even though it wasn't political,
  • that we were bringing it out in a public setting,
  • that we were being ourselves in a whole different--
  • not behind the doors of the bar but in a public park.
  • So it was very significant as far as the growth
  • of this community.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: How did you feel personally
  • being a part of that?
  • HECTOR ARGUINZONI: Well, you know, there's
  • a lot of different things.
  • I had a lot of feelings.
  • Part of my actual issues were being a gay Latino
  • in Rochester, coming from a family that
  • was pretty well-known.
  • I was a musician before I was a DJ,
  • and so people knew me as a musician in a Latin band.
  • And there were certain stereotypes
  • that you just didn't do.
  • I mean, you didn't go outside of that.
  • And so for me, it was hard at first.
  • It was very difficult for me to go to a picnic,
  • set up, and start playing music.
  • And at the time, anybody could walk by.
  • So you took a chance.
  • But you know what?
  • Life had to go on.
  • And if they saw me, they saw me, and we deal with it later.
  • It's just the way it is.
  • It's just the way it was.
  • It was a little harder for me.
  • I think a lot of people that come
  • from today from the Latin community
  • don't experience that at all.
  • It's a lot more accepted.
  • I mean, I look at my nieces and nephews today,
  • and it's not a question with them.
  • They don't have an issue with it,
  • where back in the 1970s or '60s when
  • I was going to high school, it was taboo.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: It's interesting that you had a fear that you'd
  • be seen out at that picnic when everybody at that picnic
  • was there for the same reason.
  • HECTOR ARGUINZONI: Right.
  • Well, that's the thought that kind of reoccurred to me,
  • I remember, is that, yeah, if you're here,
  • it's because you're here for the same reasons
  • unless you were being there out of curiosity or just
  • pretending.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: There's an element
  • of the gay community and an element,
  • particularly within the bar scene,
  • that I've always personally tried
  • to figure out why it happened.
  • And you're a better person to speak to this than I am.
  • There's the whole drag queen community--
  • how they became such a huge, visible part
  • of the gay community and why.
  • From your perspective, how did that happen?
  • I think I have, in my mind, my own perceptions of it,
  • but they could be way off.
  • And from there, I also want to move into the fact
  • that they, too, particularly during the whole AIDS epidemic,
  • became a huge factor in fund raising and that kind of stuff.
  • HECTOR ARGUINZONI: Absolutely.
  • Absolutely.
  • I don't know.
  • I just think it was all part of that sense of community
  • and entertainment and just--
  • I think probably the first person directly that I remember
  • in Rochester was Freddy Baath And he used to do a lot
  • of Shirley Bassey at the time at Jim's.
  • Jim's was the place where you went to see shows.
  • And then, when Red Carpet came around,
  • there was a whole different group--
  • Gingersnap-- oh my goodness, I'm trying to remember the names
  • of some of those--
  • they were always so unique.
  • But Rondretta-- I mean, they came about
  • and did their thing and their illusion.
  • And it was interesting to all of us
  • and to the straight community as well.
  • I don't know, but it seems that, later on,
  • it just got stronger and a lot more prominent.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: I think the whole fund raising for AIDS
  • was a big component of that.
  • HECTOR ARGUINZONI: I think you're right.
  • Yeah, I think you're right.
  • I think it just--
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: So if you could just kind of set that up for me
  • and speak to me a little bit about that,
  • about the one group that was really out there
  • and championing the whole fund raising cause
  • was the drag queens.
  • HECTOR ARGUINZONI: Well, they found themselves
  • being the entertainment.
  • They found themselves being the master of ceremonies.
  • They found themselves creating the whole ambience
  • and leading the whole parade basically
  • whenever we got together for these different issues.
  • And all of those that are curious,
  • whether you are gay or straight, this
  • was an opportunity for them to see performers
  • in a unique setting and in a unique way.
  • They definitely were a big part of anything
  • that we did as a community to raise--
  • and they still are--
  • to raise awareness and to raise monies
  • or to help out in any way.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Let me ask you this question this way.
  • How indebted is the gay community to the drag queens?
  • HECTOR ARGUINZONI: I don't know.
  • It seems like there is definitely a huge following,
  • especially today.
  • I mean, there just seems to be a bigger--
  • I don't know.
  • That's an interesting question because it
  • seems to be a big thing today more than it was back then.
  • Back then, it was unique.
  • And not that it isn't unique today.
  • I think today it's just a lot more po--
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Now it's almost expected.
  • HECTOR ARGUINZONI: Yeah, it's part of it.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: So, yeah, I'm just
  • going to shoot some names out to you because these
  • are some very important people within the bar scene
  • but as well as some of the supportive things
  • that bars did.
  • Obviously, we've already talked to them,
  • but I just want to get your impression of who this guy was
  • and what he was like--
  • Jesse Vulo.
  • HECTOR ARGUINZONI: Jesse was, again,
  • not just only my boss at Friars and at The Red Carpet,
  • but he was a friend.
  • And he was a very unique person, very giving, a very, very, very
  • giving and caring person.
  • He was always fascinated in the drag queens.
  • And he loved the whole mystique of it
  • and how they kind of did what they did.
  • I remember one time he brought Divine to Friars,
  • and that was a big thing.
  • It was like an A star at Friars, and she was a drag queen, just
  • a national one.
  • But he was, again, a very caring person.
  • He gave a lot to the community.
  • He was a good friend to me.
  • And he believed in me.
  • He gave me that first opportunity to DJ,
  • to experiment with the whole thing.
  • He trusted it.
  • And I hope that I did him well.
  • It was pretty spectacular.
  • His funeral was something probably close to royalty.
  • I remember the bells at St. Michael's ringing
  • before the procession with the funeral made it to the church.
  • You could hear the bells, I mean, really ringing
  • because he loved that church.
  • And he loved the whole ceremony of it.
  • And so he wanted the church bells ringing almost
  • during the whole thing.
  • Before they parted out of the church,
  • they wound up a little music box with one of his favorite songs,
  • which was Send In The Clowns.
  • And I don't think there was a dry eye in the whole place.
  • It was pretty spectacular.
  • And one of the guys that worked for him--
  • actually my light man--
  • at the end, was ringing the bells
  • at St. Michael's because we--
  • and he didn't let go the rope.
  • And he was flying in the air with the rope.
  • But it was all for Jesse, for the kind of person--
  • he also had a big yacht.
  • And he would just give these parties
  • on this yacht out on the lake.
  • It was just a continuation of Friars.
  • He was a really wonderful man.
  • He truly was.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Then, of course, we have to talk about Tony.
  • HECTOR ARGUINZONI: What can I tell you about Tony Greene.
  • Everybody loved Tony Greene.
  • I would walk in the door, and he had a special name for me.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Hold that thought.
  • There's Tony now.
  • Again, yeah, if you could just start it out the way you did.
  • HECTOR ARGUINZONI: Tony Greene had a special way
  • of greeting everyone.
  • Either he called you Mary unless he had a special name for you.
  • And in my case, he would call me concha, which is a seashell.
  • It's also a name that's used in Spain for older women, concha.
  • But that was his favorite thing to greet you when
  • we used to walk in the door.
  • Everybody was Mary.
  • Everybody would look up when he said, "Mary!"
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: I want to touch up on Tony because he
  • wasn't just a bartender.
  • HECTOR ARGUINZONI: No, he was a phenomenal person.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: He had a lot of influence in this community,
  • particularly when it came to stepping up
  • to the plate for AIDS.
  • HECTOR ARGUINZONI: Yes.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Talk to me about that.
  • HECTOR ARGUINZONI: He was very, very, very influential,
  • especially with HPA, Helping People with AIDS.
  • He was a force to be reckoned with.
  • He was tireless to the very end.
  • Tony was always going.
  • He was always doing.
  • He would do Thanksgiving dinner at his house
  • for anybody and everybody that didn't have a place to go.
  • And I mean, those were things that I remember Tony
  • for outside of the bar scene.
  • I mean, he was just an incredible person.
  • I don't know how he did it, especially
  • towards the end when he was obviously
  • getting weaker and not--
  • but he kept going.
  • He was a phenomenal man.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: It's what kept him going.
  • HECTOR ARGUINZONI: Yeah, yeah, his commitment.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Buddy Buckman over at Tara's,
  • did you know Buddy?
  • HECTOR ARGUINZONI: I knew of Buddy.
  • I didn't have a chance to really hang out there
  • or associate with Buddy.
  • But he was definitely part of that crew on Sundays.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: And, of course, then there's
  • Jimmy Catalano, Jimmy and his Carmen Miranda kind of routine.
  • Talk to me about Jimmy and what he was like in his routine.
  • HECTOR ARGUINZONI: Jimmy has always
  • been a great character and also a good friend
  • of mine, incredibly talented.
  • I mean his Carmen Miranda was unique.
  • It was funny.
  • It was campy.
  • Most of the time, he was the master of ceremony.
  • He ran the whole show.
  • Definitely one of a kind.
  • He's a truly, truly artistic person
  • and a very creative person.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: How has the scene changed now?
  • It seems to be very different than what I hear from what
  • it was like back then.
  • HECTOR ARGUINZONI: It's changed in a lot of ways, I think.
  • I think the internet has changed the whole way
  • we socialize as a community.
  • Back then, you went to the bar to socialize, to meet people,
  • to get to know people.
  • You might find your date there for the evening.
  • You actually got excited when you went to the bar,
  • and you can look across the way and see somebody
  • that caught your attention and you were lucky enough
  • to have a conversation with.
  • Definitely how I met my partner of twenty-eight years.
  • Today, you don't have to leave your house.
  • You're in front of a computer.
  • It doesn't seem to be as sociable.
  • That social connection doesn't seem to be there.
  • We've lost something along the way.
  • Even in the bar scene, you still have great music and probably
  • some of the best music and equipment
  • and lighting and everything.
  • But I don't feel the same kind of energy.
  • There's something that's missing that we definitely have lost.
  • It doesn't mean that there's not young people out there that
  • are just as energetic and just as passionate
  • and just as committed as we were.
  • But I don't know.
  • It's just that whole social networking thing that we had,
  • that we had to actually step out of our homes
  • and go and meet people and share.
  • That's not there anymore.
  • I mean, at least that's my perception.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Out of years of being in the gay community
  • and being out there in the social scene
  • and the gay community, looking back in retrospect, for you
  • personally, what are you most proud of as far as
  • what you contributed?
  • HECTOR ARGUINZONI: Personally I think I've
  • been doing the picnic forever.
  • It's my way of contributing to my community,
  • of giving back, and artistically, musically--
  • that's my commitment to the community.
  • As far as pride in my community, I think the fact
  • that Rochester seemed to me at least
  • to be the forefront of politically moving
  • our community along, getting elected officials to represent
  • us and even straight officials to recognize us
  • for who we are and as people and what we bring.
  • So this is a great community.
  • It has always been a really progressive community
  • in my opinion.
  • We see that in our publication, in The Empty Closet,
  • one of the oldest publications that you could--
  • The Gay Alliance is one of the oldest organizations.
  • I mean, it definitely says a lot about what this community is
  • all about and the commitment that this community has
  • made to provide us with a better life.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: And for future generations, maybe looking back
  • through Empty Closets or maybe watching this documentary,
  • what do you want them to most know about you?
  • What do you want them to kind of walk away with?
  • "Oh, that Hector guy, oh, yeah, he's the guy that--"
  • HECTOR ARGUINZONI: What can I say?
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: How do you want history to reflect upon you?
  • HECTOR ARGUINZONI: I guess it would
  • be just the fact that myself, together
  • with our community and all the efforts
  • that we put together to get to the point
  • where we are in this country.
  • I don't know.
  • I hope that, in my little corner,
  • that I was able to contribute the way that I could,
  • primarily in music, but that hopefully played a part
  • and hopefully as an example.
  • As a Latino man, I think that it was
  • important for my people, my folk,
  • to understand that we got to open up a little bit more.
  • I think there's still a lot to do in our community,
  • but it's getting there.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: There's one thing--
  • just looking back at some of my notes
  • here to see what I may have missed.
  • I want to kind of go back to the drag queen scene a little bit.
  • HECTOR ARGUINZONI: OK.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: And if I were someone who has never
  • seen a drag show before, particularly in Rochester,
  • describe it for me.
  • Describe for me the pageantry and describe for me
  • why that was such an entertaining and exciting thing
  • to witness or to take part in.
  • HECTOR ARGUINZONI: I have a tremendous amount
  • of respect for them because I got
  • to work with some of the best at Mothers,
  • Aggy Dune, Ambrosia Salad, Darienne Lake, Samantha Vega--
  • I mean, some really incredibly talented--
  • Pandora Boxx-- talented people.
  • And I was fascinated by their transformation.
  • I mean, it's an art in my opinion.
  • And it's very cumbersome.
  • It takes a lot of time.
  • It takes a lot of commitment and dedication.
  • I mean, they really put a lot of time into their costuming.
  • And I think it takes a lot of balls, if I can say that,
  • to get up on that stage and do what they do.
  • You've got to have a lot of respect.
  • Working with them at Mothers primarily,
  • I got a whole different perspective and respect
  • for what they do.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: And, again, if I can ask you,
  • from your point of view, what is their most
  • significant contribution as far as the whole gay movement goes
  • and the AIDS fund raising and all of that?
  • Why are they so--
  • how do we give them their due credit?
  • HECTOR ARGUINZONI: Well, you know, they
  • applied their art and their creativity
  • to entertain and to bring to the attention of the rest of us
  • through their entertainment the importance of the things
  • that they were calling attention to,
  • whether it be AIDS or marriage equality
  • or whatever the case may be.
  • And we're still at that point.
  • You know, we're still struggling for those things.
  • And they always seems to be there for us.
  • We have an event coming up soon that they are going
  • to be performing on the third.
  • So I mean, they always seem to be
  • there willing to give of their time and of their talents.
  • For those that are not in the gay community, when
  • they come and see a drag show for the first time,
  • they're mesmerized.
  • We had an event where it was not a gay event,
  • but it was an event nevertheless that it was Carnivale,
  • and Mothers donated the time of the drag
  • queens to appear on a float.
  • And people were mesmerized by how unique and how some of them
  • were absolutely beautiful.
  • And you couldn't even tell that they were men
  • because they succeeded so well to do what they do.
  • You've got to give them respect.
  • I couldn't do it.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Yeah.
  • This question isn't for the interview.
  • Actually, we're done with the interview.
  • CREW: OK, let me shut down.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Yeah.
  • We've already talked to Jimmy.