Video Interview, Jimmy Catalano, January 21, 2013

CREW: And I am rolling sir, whenever you're ready.

KEVIN INDOVINO: OK.

First, Jimmy, give me the correct spelling

of your first and last name.

How you want it to appear on screen.

JIMMY CATALANO: Exactly, that would be J-I-M-M-Y.

Last name is, C-A-T-A-L-A-N-O. Jimmy Catalano.

KEVIN INDOVINO: Good.

Let's start out in the 1970s.

Interesting times, fun time for the gay community, but also

very difficult times.

Talk to me about what the gay scene like in the 70s.

JIMMY CATALANO: Being gay in the 70s was an amazing time.

I was a little bit of a late bloomer compared

to what's going on with kids, coming out

a lot earlier in school and stuff, during current times.

But it was magical, and it was fascinating.

You would go to a gay bar, and the guys

would be there with tambourines, and Maracas and feather boas.

The party atmosphere and the energy,

was really something that you, unfortunately, don't

see too much in the bars today.

It was a very trendy time for us actually.

We were coming into our own.

It was very, very popular to be in gay social circles.

Straight people were inviting us to their social events.

We were hosting straight people in our homes.

And we became quite popular and trendy.

Of course, the sex was rampant as well.

It was anytime, anywhere, look at him, he looks at you,

and off you go sort of atmosphere.

It was something else.

It really was amazing.

KEVIN INDOVINO: You mention something

that's very interesting.

It put it in context with me, that rampant sex

among the gay community, It wasn't just the gay community.

This was the era of free love, free--

JIMMY CATALANO: Exactly.

The sexual aspect of it, I think even

started in New York City with the straight clubs,

with studio 54, and the whole disco era.

Drugs were involved in the disco circuit and the party circuit.

I think that had a lot to do with that whole sexual

revolution.

Everybody was doing it with everybody.

That really brought it on tremendously.

It was quite the aspect of the that whole era.

What was happening then.

KEVIN INDOVINO: There was also an aspect

that, particularly when you talk about gay bars back then,

this was really one of the only places gays could go.

JIMMY CATALANO: The gay nightlife in Rochester

in the '70s was off the chain.

And if I remember correctly, there

were probably about thirteen bars that we could go to.

There was of course, Jim's Disco, which was very popular.

There was Friars Inn on Monroe Avenue.

That was hugely popular.

There was the Avenue Pub.

There was the Rathskeller which later became the OK Corral.

Bachelor Forum was in existence at that point,

as it is still today.

There was the LA Saloon, there was--

oh, the name just escaped me, the lesbian

bar down where Nikko restaurant is now,

and the Cambridge Street Lofts.

KEVIN INDOVINO: The Riverview.

JIMMY CATALANO: Riverview, thank you.

There were just oodles of places to go, for every type of genre.

You could hang out with every type

of social aspect of our community at any of these bars.

It was really something else.

KEVIN INDOVINO: But I think, in talking to other people,

was that, yeah, you have these places to go,

but these places were kind of a safe place to go.

JIMMY CATALANO: They were safe.

I mean you never, ever, thought that there was ever

going to be an issue, or that you were ever

going to get beat up in the parking lot.

There was never that overwhelming feeling

of, oh my god, I need to walk to my car with a group of friends.

It always felt safe.

You always felt welcome.

There were always people that you knew there.

It was just an amazing, open, everybody's arms around you,

decade.

KEVIN INDOVINO: Let's talk about the drag scene.

Before we get into your own personal history

with the drag scene, I want to kind of get

a sense of why the drag queens--

I'll just say drag queen--

became so aligned with the gay community.

JIMMY CATALANO: The drag scene back in the 70s,

you have to realize, wasn't what it is today.

The shows were held every, maybe, three to six months.

When there was a show, it was a huge event.

The people would come out of the woodwork to see it.

We had a lot of performing queens

during that time of year and people

were just desperate to see them.

Especially because, there would be such a stretch of time,

again, back in the 70s, before you

would see them on stage again.

It really laid down--

How do I explain this?

The entertainment factor was simply amazing

when these shows would take place.

The queens were varied, and of all different,

I guess you would say, styles and types.

There was the older drag with the big hair,

and the dramatic fingernails, and the very exaggerated

makeup.

Then there were queens like, Rickey Love, who had come out

in the 70s, and you could put him on a Trailways bus,

and send him someplace, and he would blend right in.

He looked so much like a real woman.

It was a whole different type of drag.

KEVIN INDOVINO: I'm going to save this question until later.

JIMMY CATALANO: OK.

KEVIN INDOVINO: Let's talk about you.

When did you first decide to step into that community?

And, more importantly, why?

JIMMY CATALANO: Carmen Miranda, my drag persona,

truly happened totally by accident.

Friars Inn had hosted a bar event on a Sunday night,

and I can't remember.

I want to tell you it was, Bungle in the Jungle,

but that might not be true.

I did go dressed as Carmen Miranda.

I was very, very close friends with Larry Cohn

who was one of the bartenders at the time.

He encouraged me to do some really crazy, wild outfit.

Carmen Miranda popped into my head.

I attended this party as Carmen Miranda and everybody

got a huge kick out of it.

As raw looking as it was, everybody got a huge kick out

of it.

That following Halloween, I decided to bring her

back again, but a little bit more detailed,

with a little bit more finesse.

A friend of mine made a gorgeous, gorgeous gown.

I retooled the fruit head piece so

that it looked a little bit more realistic,

and it was a little bit more manageable.

And that whole persona was born.

She just took off from there.

David Bovenzi, who happened to be Miss Rochester at the time,

asked me to be the emcee for the pageant, where

he was giving up his crown.

Which I gladly did.

I didn't see any big thing about it.

The whole Carmen Miranda thing just kind of took off,

but it truly was totally by accident.

KEVIN INDOVINO: Talk to me about the experience

of being out there.

The exhilaration of it, the hearing

of the audience's applause.

What is it about that that became fulfilling for you?

What was the driving force behind that?

JIMMY CATALANO: I think most of us, gay people,

are performers at heart.

I think when you throw drag into the mix of it,

there is a certain--

what's the word I want to use--

thrill.

You put on a whole different identity.

I can't explain to you the feeling, when you're

on that stage, and people are screaming for you,

and clapping, and applauding.

Your heart swells.

It's the most amazing feeling.

You truly do get caught-up in it, and sucked right into it.

The days that I used to emcee those pageants,

there would be thirty contestants.

We'd have contestants from Buffalo, from Syracuse,

from Rochester of course.

It had its challenges.

The Rochester , queens didn't want any of the Buffalo

or Syracuse queens to win.

There would be some backstage drama.

There'd be gowns flushed down the toilet,

or burned with cigarettes, or wigs snatched off

of a queens head as she was ready to make her way out

onto the stage.

It was very entertaining to say the least.

I fortunately stayed out of all of that.

Being the emcee, and not getting involved

with the competition of the pageant,

I was everybody's friend.

It was just wonderful to know all that talent,

and be surrounded by that.

As well as having the audience in front of you cheering you

on, and egging you on.

It's an amazing feeling.

Absolutely, an amazing feeling.

KEVIN INDOVINO: Then there came a period in the 1980s,

when things started changing a little bit.

The onset AIDS.

Talk to me about when you first heard about AIDS.

When you first realized, oh, this

is going to affect our community.

JIMMY CATALANO: The 80s came and it was a huge, huge scare.

There was this disease going around

that they were calling "gay cancer".

Nobody knew anything about it, and it hadn't quite

hit Rochester yet.

But it was wiping out people in San Francisco,

and in the larger cities in droves.

All of a sudden, we went from being

very trendy to be an entirely ostracized community.

A friend of mine, a straight friend, he and his wife

we socialized, had come up to me at a social event

and asked me not to come to their home

any longer because of their children.

As much as I felt horrible about it.

I understood, and didn't put up a fight,

or do anything dramatic over it.

Because, I didn't know what was going on.

You'd run into people at the bars and there'd be a hug,

and there'd be a kiss, and you always

greeted somebody with a kiss.

Everybody all of a sudden stopped doing that.

Everyone was suspect.

Did you have it?

Were you going to give it to me?

Were you going to pass it on to me?

It really was a stigma.

And it was a very frightening stigma,

because nobody knew what to expect.

Nobody knew really, truly, what it was.

When people did start to pass away from it--

god forbid you had a heart attack

and dropped dead-- anybody that did pass away at that time,

in our own community, there was a lot

of back-stabbing Oh, he had AIDS.

If somebody just wanted to be rotten to you,

they would start a rumor that you had AIDS.

It was really, really, an ugly, ugly, and very frightening

time.

KEVIN INDOVINO: But to our credit.

as a city, Rochester took it by the reigns,

and said, OK, we're going to deal with this.

Before we get into the drag queens involvement into that,

I just want to get your opinion on Rochester, as a community,

as a whole, and how we reacted to the AIDS crisis.

JIMMY CATALANO: After the initial scare was over

with the AIDS crisis, you could see a gathering of people,

and people helping people that may have been afflicted

or affected by this disease.

You had pioneers such as, Tony Green, that

developed helping people with AIDS,

raising money for these poor guys that were ostracized

by their own families.

Couldn't work, couldn't pay their bills,

couldn't afford their rent, couldn't buy their groceries.

There were a lot of people that gathered together

to help each other out.

Friends would go and clean houses, and bathe people,

and feed people, and bring meals, and take them

to their appointments.

It was a true banding once the initial scare was over.

You realized that you could be in the same room

with somebody that was sick, and you weren't going to catch it.

The threat had dissipated a little bit.

The community, it in itself, was just very warm, and opening,

and as helpful as they could be.

At least those that weren't totally frightened by it,

or so closed-minded that they didn't

understand the whole thing.

KEVIN INDOVINO: Within that, and I

want you to set up for me that, the drag queens really

stepped up to the plate.

JIMMY CATALANO: The drag queens during the AIDS crisis

were unbelievable.

The fund-raising events and the way

that they stepped up to the plate, to help the cause.

To raise money for the cause, and raise awareness

for the cause.

It was unbelievable.

Any time there was some sort of a fund-raising show, everybody

that was involved in drag at that time wanted to be in it.

They wanted to do whatever they could to help.

Sadly enough, a lot of the queens at that time

had contracted AIDS, and were living with HIV.

were doing what they could to help out

their fellow performers, as well as the rest of the community,

by raising as much money as they could.

KEVIN INDOVINO: I want to fast-forward a lot now

because, even today, the drag queens are out there--

not just for AIDS--

for gay pride, for equal marriage.

Any kind of fund-raising event, for any gay-rights activism,

they're there.

Talk to me about how that, maybe it

started with the onset of AIDS, but their importance

on the scene is just as strong today.

JIMMY CATALANO: The drag community today

is an amazing group of talent.

They've become so mainstream.

You have Aggy Dune and Kasha Davis performing out

at Golden Ponds.

You have Chris Steckel and Darrienne Lake,

and all these people that are out there,

and in the public eye, and very popular,

not only with the gay community but with the straight community

as well.

They're doing everything they can to, again,

raise money for different groups,

and different social situations, and different aspects

of the gay community.

They're bringing a lot of awareness

to the straight community, about what the gay community does,

and what we can offer people.

We're talented, warm, loving human beings,

and we want to be a part of everything.

Having that drag community focused

into the straight community as well has really helped that.

KEVIN INDOVINO: We fast-forwarded,

now I'm going to rewind back.

JIMMY CATALANO: OK.

KEVIN INDOVINO: Because, obviously, what we just set up,

it hasn't always been that way.

In the early days, there was a lot of harassment,

police harassment.

JIMMY CATALANO: I was fortunate enough

to miss the police raids at the bars,

and didn't really catch that situation with the police

department and the harassment of gay people.

I had one minor incident in the parking lot

at Friars, many, many, many years ago back in the 70s,

where I was a little bit frightened.

But I complied, and I did whatever I was told to do.

The officer just was in a mood that night

and wanted to rattle somebody's cage.

Nothing ever came of it.

No arrest.

No ticket.

No anything.

I, fortunately, wasn't a part of the police raids on the bars.

And that fear that, oh my god, if I set foot into a gay bar

my face is going to be plastered on billboards.

Coming out is a frightening process to begin with.

I knew when I was in second grade that I was gay.

And you live with this for years, and years, and years,

before you finally get to that comfort level--

or to that point-- where you just

have to bust out and live your life the way you need it to be.

I was able to come out very quietly, and very peacefully,

and just assimilate into the whole social scene

without really ever feeling terribly threatened.

KEVIN INDOVINO: I've heard many different opinions on this

but, people who do drag, do you think for some of them--

a lot of them--

that's their way of busting out?

That they feel more comfortable with a persona

than they do in their own skin?

JIMMY CATALANO: I think a lot of the time, when

you are performing, especially in drag,

it does allow a whole different side of you to come out.

Let's face it, there's a total transformation in most cases

when you're doing drag.

There are breasts, wigs, eye-makeup, nails,

and glittery gowns.

You definitely feel-- and I can speak for that

personally-- that I would speak different and walk differently.

You literally get into character.

If you enjoy theater, and you enjoy the acting aspect,

drag is the perfect outlet for you.

It allows you to be that different person

that you can be.

Anybody that's dressed up for Halloween,

if you are very into your costume,

you're going to act apart, and play it up.

Same goes for drag.

You take on this totally different persona.

You can do things, and possibly say things,

that you might not normally do in your street clothes.

KEVIN INDOVINO: I'm sorry.

I'm jumping around here a lot.

I just want to get your opinion on this.

When we see the drag queens in the gay pride parade.

Not the emcees, but--

JIMMY CATALANO: The marshals.

KEVIN INDOVINO: The marshals and all that.

There's a part of the gay community that, is not readily

accepting of that.

They say, no, no, they're not representing me.

What is your experience with that,

and what is your opinion on that aspect of it?

JIMMY CATALANO: Well I can tell you, very honestly,

there's a very odd dynamic in our gay culture with the drag

queens.

Everybody loves you when you're performing but,

in a lot of cases, trying to get a boyfriend when you're a drag

queen is difficult at best.

I don't know-- at least in my history--

how to explain why that is, or why that was.

I'm hoping that it isn't the case any longer,

at least from what I've witnessed.

A lot of the Rochester talent is settled

with very loving partners.

Back in my day, if you were a drag queen,

you were most likely single.

I think it had a lot to do with the femininity of drag,

and not having that masculine, manly persona.

A lot of us, we're gay because we want to be with men,

and not men dress like women a lot.

So there was a little bit of a stigma with that

Still to this day, there are guys

that don't feel that the drag queens portray us

in a positive light.

And there are guys too that don't think that bears,

and the bulldykes--

Everybody has their own thing, amongst our culture

and our subcultures that we have,

that they wish didn't exist.

I think they wish we were all like Stepford husbands,

perhaps.

That we all looked like Ken dolls, and were

these model perfect people that you see a lot on television.

Sadly that's not the case.

There are some aspects of our community

that do bother some of us.

KEVIN INDOVINO: You touched on something that comes to mind.

The gay community is very diverse.

And I would say very dysfunctional,

but yet we all make it work.

JIMMY CATALANO: It's amazing the dysfunction in our community.

You have to realize that, when you're growing up,

and you're gay, and you know you're

different, a lot of insecurities come along with that we

take into our adult lives.

You wind up in these different subcultures,

or what your sexual tastes bring you into.

It's very different.

The different groups are very, very different.

But yet, when you put us all together at an event--

let's use the Post parade party, that they've been hosting

the last several years--

we make it work.

Whether you agree, or you're not into bears, or not,

you still have friends that are bears.

And you embrace those friends and the culture

that they belong to.

You are thrilled to see them, and you're

glad to be together with them, and it makes for a great group.

As separate as we can be within our community,

we can definitely interweave when we need to

and pull it together.

Let all those differences go aside.

It's an amazing community here in Rochester.

KEVIN INDOVINO: I want to touch on that is that.

Rochester is unique.

We're not a big city.

I often say, we're a big town that

likes to think we're a city.

But yet, when it comes to gay activism, and gay visibility

in our community, we're really right up there at the top.

What is it about Rochester-- the Rochester that you know--

that has been accepting and tolerant.

JIMMY CATALANO: I think the gay atmosphere in Rochester

has a lot to do with Rochester's population as a whole.

The gay community here, especially, has really never

been shunned by 80 percent to 90 percent of the community.

It has always been just a fact of life

that there are gay people in Rochester.

Coupled with the fact that we do have probably

the largest, outside of New York City,

gay population in the State.

I think that has a lot to do with that whole aspect of it.

I don't think that--

oh gosh, I've lost my train of thought.

Let's break for a minute.

Because I did, it totally went right out

of my head, what I was going to say.

Damn it.

Isn't that awful?

KEVIN INDOVINO: Let me give you this to think about.

JIMMY CATALANO: All right.

KEVIN INDOVINO: Again, for a community like Rochester

to have something like the gay alliance, a huge organization.

To have pride parades, and pride festivals,

and now drag shows at Golden Ponds, you know.

What does it say about our community,

that, again, we allow the opportunity,

the room for a gay community?

JIMMY CATALANO: I think the fact that we

have the gay community that we do

has a lot to do with the pioneers that came before us,

and a lot of people that were in my generation.

They made it very, very acceptable.

We're just regular people that want to fit in,

and do what we can to fit in.

We're talented individuals that do your hair,

decorate your homes, wait on you, and cook your meals.

I think Rochester just is a friendly community

right off of the bat.

That helps with that too.

I think that's why so many, younger people that

are coming out, have such an easy time with it.

It's such an accepted lifestyle here in our community.

It makes it so much easier for them.

I also think that's why we get a lot of people

from other areas of New York State that move here,

because our community is so welcoming.

Not only to the gay community, but the straight community

as well.

We're back to being trendy, and being in the social circles

of the heterosexuals, and straight people

wanting to be involved in what we're doing.

We had talked about earlier, you've

got drag queens performing at Golden

Ponds in the town of Greece.

I mean, who would have ever thought,

that back in the 70s and 80s, stuff like that

was going to happen.

You've got television programs as well that

are putting gay people, more into the face

of the heterosexual community.

I think people are really realizing, finally, that we're

just like everybody else.

KEVIN INDOVINO: You, and people like you, also are not,

just out in the community waving the rainbow flag,

you're a successful businessman, you're the head

of merchant's association.

Talk to me about the importance of that,

being able to fit in with mainstream society.

Yeah, you're a gay person, but I'm also a businessman.

I'm also someone that gives back to my community.

JIMMY CATALANO: I think that whole thing for me

started way back, believe it or not in high school.

Where I, wasn't what I would call bullied but,

was picked on.

The occasional, fag, or, fem, was thrown at me.

But yet, I was always invited to every party that

was going on through school.

I was very, very socially active.

I've carried that with me through my life.

Of course my coming out process, you

go through many different emotions,

and coming out sort of things.

I've always managed to fit in, fortunately.

Opening a business and having my flower shop

for all those years, I think helped me along, and introduce

me to tons people.

Moving to Park Avenue with my partner, Bruce,

that whole neighborhood doesn't think a thing

about gay, straight, black, or white.

You could be green for that matter.

Nobody seems to care in that neighborhood.

It's a melting pot of all ethnicities and all ages.

We have been in that house now for ninteen years.

We were one year there, and were asked

to join into the neighborhood association, which

then evolved.

I've always been an active member of whatever community

I've been in.

I always want to know my neighbors,

and always want to be neighborly, friendly,

and sociable.

It's the way I've always been.

KEVIN INDOVINO: To expand on that, the importance of being

able to do that, so that straight society can see us

as contributing members of society.

JIMMY CATALANO: I don't know that I really

had a drive to be involved with the straight community.

They're there, just like we're here.

I've always been a sociable and friendly person.

I've always been a leader, and wanted to be involved.

Every job that I've had, I've wound up-- even

out of high school-- being in a leadership position.

Then, of course, having my own business for so many years,

and leading and running that.

Now I'm running a neighborhood.

Even though I have given up my shop.

I have joined forces with a very viable shop,

Kittelberger's out in Webster.

I've even taken on a leadership position there, a little bit.

It's part of my makeup.

It's not in everybody's skin.

There are a lot of people, unfortunately, that

choose to disappear into the woodwork,

and be followers, not leaders.

I think it's kind of in my DNA.

KEVIN INDOVINO: Some quick takes here.

If I'm someone new to the area, and I've never been to Jim's.

Describe for me what Jim's was, and what it was like.

JIMMY CATALANO: Jim's Disco was like Fantasy Land.

That was the first gay bar I had ever

set foot into I had driven by it,

I can't tell you how many times.

I would pause out in front of the doors, look,

and say, oh my god, I want to go in so badly.

But, I just I don't dare.

What if I know somebody?

What if somebody sees me?

What if somebody sees me walking in?

When I finally got the nerve to go in,

it was actually with a couple lesbian friends that

knew I was struggling with this and needed to come out,

but wasn't acting on it, they brought me there quite

by surprise.

It was absolutely amazing.

There were three separate rooms.

There was a little bar room.

Then there was a center area that you could gather in, hang

out, and have some cocktails.

Then there was the dance room with these neon signs

that were littered all over the top rim.

They said, Pulse and--

oh my god, what were some of the words on there?

I can't remember a lot of them--

they were all in neon, and they would flash on.

There were guys with tambourines and fans.

They were all dressed up, and doing The Hustle,

and these fancy disco dances.

The thumping music.

It was absolutely magical.

That would be the best way for me to describe it.

As I stood there staring at the dance floor that first night,

and looking at everybody-- you had guys that were ultra,

ultra feminine, and you had guys that were ultra,

ultra masculine, and everything in between--

you come to that realization that, oh my god,

they're people.

They aren't these crazy, bizarre images

that some people conjure up.

They're people that just want to be together,

just want to party, and just want to have a great time.

I don't think that I spent a Saturday

night not in that club, after that initial night.

It was just amazing.

KEVIN INDOVINO: Same kind of question about Friars.

JIMMY CATALANO: Friars too, had that-- it was funny,

because in those days, you were either a Jim's queen,

or you are Friars queen.

It was rare that the two ever mingled.

I didn't have an issue going to both bars.

I seemed to go to the Jim's is a more, for reasons I don't know.

I did enjoy my days at Friars, my evenings at Friars.

It wasn't uncommon to bounce around on Saturday night.

If you went to Jim's, and your crowd, your friends, or people

that you palled around with didn't happen to be there,

you'd just get back in the car and head over to Friars.

They were a stone's throw from each other.

It wasn't uncommon to just keep bouncing back and forth.

Friars was a little bit more intimate

and warmer type of atmosphere.

The bar was-- the actual building itself--

a little smaller.

The dance floor was a little bit smaller.

It definitely had its, "Friars' people",

you could tell they were there.

I can tell you who used to line-up.

Tommy Catone and Rob Fox, and this whole gang that

would line-up along the dance floor

and watch the dancing all night long.

It was a great place.

You could go to two-for-one on Friars, on Tuesday.

You could go to two-for-one on Wednesday at the Pub.

I take that back, you could go to Jim's on Wednesday

for two-for-one.

Thursday was two-for-one at the Pub.

Friday and Saturday were open-ended,

and then Sunday, again, back at the Pub for two-for-one.

You'd go Sunday to the Avenue Pub,

and you couldn't fit a credit card in that place.

It would be packed, absolutely packed.

It was like that for years.

KEVIN INDOVINO: Yeah it's different now.

Things have changed.

I'm still trying to get a handle on, why and it's changed.

I have my ideas.

The question there is, is there that need for the bars anymore?

JIMMY CATALANO: It's funny that we've

seen these gay bars disappear one by one,

with just some of the old mainstays sticking around.

Those big disco type places have fallen by the wayside.

I think that has a lot to do with the fact

that we've mainstreamed pretty much.

You can go to Tilt, which is technically a gay bar,

and it's 60 percent straight now.

I think the internet has had an effect on the gay bars

and nightlife because, you don't have to go to the bar

and do the work to meet people.

You can sit on the internet and chat rooms.

And meet people.

And have that social aspect.

It's kind of a shame that that's happened,

because the gay bar has been such a mainstay of our society.

That party atmosphere that I grew up with.

There was no one who threw a party like gay people.

There were declarations, food, and you got dressed up,

and the music was the best you could ever find.

Even the gay bars too, back in the day,

you would go there to hear music you would not

hear on the radio.

There was a total atmosphere of party,

and over-the-top, and hell with the lid off kind of partying.

The few times I go to some of the dance clubs now,

unfortunately, I don't see that.

Not like it used to be.

KEVIN INDOVINO: Let me throw some names out at you.

Tell me you memories of these people.

Obviously the first person is going to be Tony Green.

JIMMY CATALANO: Tony Green was absolutely amazing.

Everybody knew Tony, and Tony knew everybody

and loved everybody.

He genuinely loved everybody.

Even if you agitated him at the bar,

he still loved you for your agitation.

You would annoy him for a few minutes,

but he seemed to quickly get over that, and either make

a joke of it or just move on.

You always felt welcomed in Tony's presence.

I remember when we used to have the HPA big galas at Midtown,

and Tony would be at the top of the escalator,

when you would come up into Midtown.

With that huge smile, and his arms opened up,

and always a hug and kiss.

We can never forget too, what he did when the AIDS epidemic

started here in Rochester.

Jesse Vulo, who owned Friars, who Tony worked for

and Tony was especially close to,

was probably one of the first victims we had here

in Rochester that passed away.

Tony immediately set the wheels in motion

to begin helping people and doing

what he could for the cause.

Getting awareness out there and letting people

know that, it was OK to help these people.

To be with them and not have to worry about it.

He was amazing, absolutely amazing.

I still think about him a lot.

KEVIN INDOVINO: You brought up something

that comes to mind here.

Those HPA events at Midtown.

Talk to me about them, because you were actively involved,

I think--

JIMMY CATALANO: I was.

KEVIN INDOVINO: If I remember, a lot of the decorations--

JIMMY CATALANO: A lot of the decorations--

KEVIN INDOVINO: Yeah.

So talk to me about that.

Talk to me about those HPA events.

Talk to me about your involvement with them.

JIMMY CATALANO: Those galas at Midtown

were the gay party galore.

Again too, The straight people that used to come to those.

It was the place to be.

The decor.

It was amazing what Neil Parisella

used to do with that mall.

I was fortunate enough to be on several of the decorating

committees.

I had the flower shop at that point.

Neil would invite a lot of the florists, especially

the gay floral designers, to be a part of that.

Louis Costanza, who got me involved in floristry, and I,

worked down a couple of them together with Neil.

We helped a lot with flowers, floral arrangements,

and with manpower on the day of setting up that event.

It was just like a New York City party.

It was crazy.

The money that they raised was unbelievable for helping people

with AIDS.

A lot of that was Tony Green's brainchild.

KEVIN INDOVINO: Talk to me a little bit more

about Jesse, because he's a very important figure.

He was a bar owner, but he was an important figure

in the community.

JIMMY CATALANO: Jesse Vulo was always at the bar,

at the front door, moving around,

involved, and always helping.

Back in my coming out days, when we had the gay picnic,

the bars were the ones that did a lot

of the donating and helping.

You would go there, and there'd be beer and hot dogs

that they would cook, and the bartenders and bar owners

would be there cooking the dogs.

Jesse had a lot to do with the Rochester community,

and was always there to help, or donate.

He was always there, not only with the picnic, but just

tons of different other events that were going on.

He was really a focal point of the gay community.

As was Donald "Ducky" Schultz and Jimmy van Allen

at the time, and Roy Lawrence.

Jesse was really one in a million.

I felt bad for him, because, unfortunately,

being one of the first people to contract HIV,

he kind of became ostracized in his last few years.

It was terribly sad to see that happen,

to see his name kind of getting muddied because of that,

and because we were so scared and didn't

know what was going on.

He took a bullet for a lot of us unfortunately.

It became a learning experience, but it didn't go so well

for him in his last few months.

KEVIN INDOVINO: Looking back at all

of that from your early years up until today.

What do you want history to know most about what you've done?

What are you most proud of?

What do you want them to know most about of who you were

or who you are?

What you've done particularly for the gay community.

JIMMY CATALANO: It's funny.

I don't know if you do dwell-- at least

I don't dwell-- on this.

I do sometimes wonder if there will

be a legacy that I will leave.

There are so many great things that have happened in my life.

Carmen Miranda introduced me to just

about the entire gay community.

The flower shop introduced me to most

of the Rochester community.

It's very rare that I go any place

that I don't know somebody.

My twenty-one-year relationship with my life partner Bruce

has been an amazing ride.

He and I, again, being in that house and neighborhood,

and running the neighborhood, we know everybody.

We know everybody at City Hall.

As far as leaving a legacy, boy, oh, boy.

I don't know what that wouldn't be that I would leave behind.

I would hope that somebody, one day or another, would just say,

gee, Jimmy did that and I miss him.

Or, jeez, Jimmy did that and, God I'm glad he did that.

Maybe somebody will be in an interview

like I am today, talking about perhaps Tony Green or Jesse

Vulo, and somebody might say, jeez Jimmy Catalano

helped me with that.

And I'll never forget him for that.

KEVIN INDOVINO: What message would

do have for the up-and-coming generations,

particularly of the gay generation.

JIMMY CATALANO: Boy that's a good one too.

KEVIN INDOVINO: The young people--

maybe young people who are still questioning.

JIMMY CATALANO: I think that the young people

today have a little easier time coming out,

but of course I don't know.

I'm not in that generation.

Probably the best advice I could give them is, live your life,

but be kind to others and treat others with respect,

so that comes back to you.

Be helpful.

Be involved.

Do what you can.

Offer what you can, either with your hands, or your brain,

or your pocket.

Be a part of the community.

Be a part of Rochester.

There is so much to offer.

We can be big fish in a little pond here in Rochester.

It's a great place to be that.

It's a warm, welcoming community,

and probably one of the best places to be gay in.

KEVIN INDOVINO: Just one more question here.

(laughter)

JIMMY CATALANO: Keep 'em coming, I'm having a ball.

(laughter)

KEVIN INDOVINO: I think I'm losing my head here,

but I just want to talk briefly--

and go of off-track here a little bit--

about gay marriage.

Gay marriage in New York State.

Did you ever think you'd see the day?

JIMMY CATALANO: Boy, gay marriage,

who would have thought that we would all

be walking down the aisle.

I think so many of us have had that fantasy,

and now it's actually something that we

can do and be recognized.

It's a shame that this didn't happen years ago.