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.