Video Interview, Kevin Indovino and Evelyn Bailey, undated

  • CREW: And rolling.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Rolling.
  • So Evelyn.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Yes, Kevin.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Tell us.
  • What ever prompted you to get involved
  • in a project like this?
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Oh, the 30th anniversary
  • of the Gay Alliance.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: That was 10 years ago.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: That was 10 years ago, yes.
  • But the alliance at that time had been in Atlantic Avenue,
  • and [? Sonda ?] passed, and it was just a really
  • exhilarating, exciting time.
  • And the history of our community needed to be told to people,
  • and people didn't know it.
  • And the young people don't know it.
  • And really, there are two things that have motivated me.
  • The AIDS crisis, and youth and education.
  • AIDS crisis because I never want to see it happen again.
  • And our youth because growing up, my life wasn't that easy.
  • As a lesbian woman, I want to make it easier
  • for the next generations.
  • And to be able to see LGBT people not only on television,
  • but in a textbook or on the internet,
  • to be able to look up our heroes and see that people struggled
  • as they struggled.
  • That's what the oral histories are all about.
  • You tell your story.
  • Kids begin to see when they were young,
  • when our elders were young, they had similar situations
  • and issues.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: So you've been putting
  • in a lot of work, a lot of time, for 10 years.
  • A lot of traveling around the country,
  • meeting up with people who used to live here in Rochester,
  • but who still have a story to tell.
  • What's been the most interesting?
  • What's been the most fun?
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Oh.
  • The most fun is hearing the stories
  • and taking pride in the fact that not only did they survive,
  • but they contributed so much to this community.
  • The fun has been in the process, meeting people,
  • contacting people, getting to know people.
  • It's been wonderful.
  • Yeah.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Are you hearing any of that blower noise
  • when we're talking?
  • EVELYN BAILEY: So Kevin.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: You're not recording now, right?
  • [LAUGHTER]
  • You, in the tireless efforts that you're
  • putting in, and in trying to raise funds for this project
  • and trying to line up the right people.
  • And I see how very personally important this is to you.
  • So really, the most challenging thing for me
  • is just keeping up with you and being
  • or giving you something that you can be proud of.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: And how old are you?
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Well, this project
  • has aged me about 25 years.
  • [LAUGHTER]
  • EVELYN BAILEY: So energy is not an age-related quantity.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: No, I don't think so.
  • Well, I did have a lot more energy years ago.
  • But sure.
  • I don't have the energy I did 25 years ago.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Neither do I.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: But you know, I think part of it
  • is that not only this project, but we all
  • have so many other things in our lives
  • that we have to address and take care of.
  • We have full time jobs and other things.
  • So this project, which is a huge project,
  • is just one more big thing to tack on everything else
  • that we're trying to shuffle up through our lives.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Yeah, that's why I tried to do it piecemeal.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Yeah, yeah.
  • And we were talking off camera.
  • We're doing it the right way.
  • We're getting to the people.
  • We're talking to them ahead of time, getting to know them,
  • getting to know their story, and then
  • being able to make them comfortable enough
  • to come in and do an on-camera interview.
  • Because they already know what we want them to talk about.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: Right.
  • Right.
  • So.