Video Interview, Wayne Esposito, January 21, 2013

  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: She doesn't look too happy.
  • EVELYN BAILEY: The GoPhone.
  • That's what I am, the GoPhone.
  • CREW: I am rolling whenever you're ready, sir.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: OK.
  • Wayne, first thing we need you to do
  • is give us the correct spelling of your first and last name,
  • of how you want it appearing on screen.
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: My name is Wayne Esposito,
  • W-A-Y-N-E E-S-P-O-S-I-T-O, also known as Liza, L-I-Z-A.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Excellent.
  • So, Wayne, I just want to start out about those early years.
  • And I'm trying to remember from our conversation
  • at your studio, but you started coming out to gay bars--
  • was it early '70s, mid '70s?
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: Early '70s.
  • Well, actually mid-'70s.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: So talk to me about the gay scene
  • in the mid-'70s?
  • What was it like?
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: The first gay bar
  • I ever heard about was Jim's Bar, which is now
  • known as Liberty Pole Way.
  • It was on North Street, but now it's called Liberty Pole Way.
  • And it was the first gay disco in Rochester,
  • one of the first gay discos that was mainstream gay.
  • Everybody knew it was a gay bar.
  • They had drag shows.
  • It was fabulous.
  • It was bustling.
  • It was a dark, sordid, seedy kind of place,
  • but a whole lot of fun.
  • It was just painted black, had a great stage.
  • It was quite a time.
  • And the music-- disco was just upcoming.
  • So it was the main bar.
  • At least to me it was.
  • Everybody had different places they liked,
  • but Jim's was definitely my home.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: But what was it like going to a gay bar
  • in the mid-'70s?
  • I mean, it's different today.
  • Now it's no big deal.
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: Right.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: For you personally, emotionally,
  • what was it like?
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: Well, let me tell you something.
  • I didn't directly get into the bars.
  • Because I came out at such a young age.
  • I came out when I was fourteen years old.
  • I'm going on fifty-one years old now.
  • So I looked through the window, and I stood out
  • in front of the bar to see everybody walking in
  • in their disco-galia clothes.
  • So I watched drag shows through a window
  • because I wanted to see.
  • It was quite a time.
  • It was quite a time.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: But your story is a little unusual,
  • coming out of fourteen.
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: Oh, yeah.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: You didn't come out back then.
  • People didn't come out.
  • They hid in closets.
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: I did, yeah.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Tell me about that.
  • What was it about you that you just
  • say, well, I'm busting open this door?
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: It was hard in high school.
  • I was totally harassed.
  • We didn't have the facilities that we have for our gay youth
  • back then as we do today, which is so nice.
  • I had my guidance counselor to talk to,
  • and she knew I was gay.
  • And she was very accepting of it.
  • She was very great.
  • But some of the teachers weren't very nice to me, especially
  • the gym teachers.
  • I was totally harassed by the kids, and the teachers,
  • they saw that.
  • They saw that happening, and a lot of them
  • didn't do anything about it.
  • So it was hard growing up in the '70s as a gay youth,
  • as a fourteen-, fifteen-year-old gay kid.
  • Because I was downright gay.
  • I mean, I had platforms and plucked eyebrows,
  • and it was bad enough that I had very soft features.
  • So I looked very feminine.
  • I looked like a little girl.
  • Even in my yearbook, they said, to a guy
  • who should've been a girl, a model, which was kind of funny
  • now that I look back at it.
  • But yeah, it was a different time.
  • It was hard.
  • I got chased a lot.
  • I could hurl offense in nine-inch heels,
  • I can tell you that.
  • I was being groomed for the runway, I guess.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Right.
  • So I want to get back to that.
  • I want to get back to you looking in the windows
  • and watching the drag shows before you ever
  • entered the bar.
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: It was magical.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Yeah, I want you talk to me about that magic.
  • What was it that you were seeing that drew you to it?
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: You know, it's funny
  • because on Facebook, one of the young kids
  • said they were preparing for a pageant
  • and getting somebody ready for a pageant.
  • And they said, "Well, it's not like the old days
  • when you went to the corner to buy a dress."
  • Wasn't like that at all.
  • These girls-- we had things made.
  • You know what I mean?
  • It was glamorous.
  • It was exciting.
  • It was better than the movies.
  • This was magical to me to see these beautiful, beautiful
  • hairdos and fabulous makeup and beautiful gowns
  • and turkey-feathered boas.
  • It was amazing.
  • And the music back then went right along with that look.
  • So it was an extraordinary time.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: So talk to me, then--
  • the first time you walked into the bar.
  • What was that experience like?
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: First time I walked into the bar, they
  • all applauded. (Laughing) Because I was out there
  • for four years before I got in.
  • So Ducky, who was a bar owner back then of Jim's, came up
  • and gave me a great big hug.
  • He's like, finally, you're legal.
  • And I'm like, yes, and I started working there.
  • He gave me a bartending job and a cocktail waiter job.
  • Plus, I did a lot of shows there, a lot of benefits,
  • a lot of shows.
  • It was something.
  • It was something.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: So I don't want to quite get into your drag
  • yet.
  • And now you're working for this bar.
  • Again, talk to me what this bar was like.
  • What were the kind of people like who were coming there?
  • And what were they looking for?
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: Great question.
  • Anything went.
  • It was one place, one kind of safe place,
  • inside the bar that was safe.
  • Anything went.
  • Straight people would come in to see the female impersonators,
  • the fabulous female impersonators-- glamorous.
  • And they made a good drink.
  • The music was uncomparable to any other place.
  • The music was great.
  • Had a great sound system.
  • The bar was really nothing to look at.
  • Everything was painted black.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: So you hit upon something, which I just
  • want to expand on a little bit, about it was a safe place.
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: Safe place.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: No matter who you were, you can get in there
  • and feel safe.
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: Oh, absolutely.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Talk to me about that
  • and talk to me about the importance back then
  • of having that safe place.
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: Because even as a kid
  • going downtown, a gay kid going downtown,
  • we always traveled in groups because we
  • knew it would be safer.
  • There were many times where I'd be alone walking
  • that cars would pull over and say a few choice words to me.
  • It was kind of scary now and then.
  • I've gotten chased before, but it was safe in Jim's.
  • It was safe in any gay bar.
  • Outside, once you stepped out that door, was another story.
  • You had a lot of drive-by people slurring
  • racial and terrible remarks.
  • It was the time.
  • It's not like that anymore, and I'm glad to say that.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: It still is a little bit.
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: Yeah, right, but not as bad.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Not as bad, right.
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: Certainly.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: So let's talk about the drag
  • scene in Rochester back then.
  • You started getting into it a little bit,
  • but let's expand on it a little bit more.
  • Again, what was it like?
  • And more importantly, what then drove you
  • to start stepping up on stage?
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: Well, back then, and it still is, though--
  • that's one thing it has in common back then.
  • It was a lot of fun.
  • You know what I mean?
  • When you're an entertainer, you want to entertain,
  • and you want to be your best at it.
  • And I see that today in the new girls, too.
  • I mean, back then, it was very glamorous.
  • It was very theatrical.
  • This is what I've gotten from the previous owners
  • of the pageant that I run.
  • It was an art form.
  • You know what I mean?
  • So I think I'd like to say I had something
  • to do with breaking the ice for some of the kids
  • today with that art form drag, period.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: So talk to me about the first time
  • stepping on stage.
  • Were you always Liza from the beginning,
  • or did that come later?
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: Day one, absolutely.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: So talk to me about Liza.
  • How did Liza come about?
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: My first show ever on stage was in 1979,
  • but I wasn't dressed as Liza.
  • I was dressed more like a Cleopatra look.
  • I think I was sixteen years old, and I snuck
  • in the Avenue Pub in costume.
  • I got in with Michael Deak, who was another drag female
  • impersonator.
  • And they were having a contest, and I won it out
  • of thirty-two queens.
  • All we did was walk on stage, and I won it.
  • So Gary Sweet, the owner of the Avenue Pub--
  • I still have my 1979 winning trophy to that.
  • And I do.
  • The first show I did with the Miss Jim's pageant,
  • I got a standing ovation my first time.
  • I did Liza with a Z, and I did "It was a Good Time"
  • from the Liza with a Z album.
  • And it was such a release for me, because I was so into it
  • and the audience was so great.
  • And Maya Douglas won that year.
  • I was the second runner-up.
  • It was Maya, Marcela, and me.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: So I want to get into a little bit of the psyche
  • of it, just a little bit, about, you're up on stage
  • and you're performing Liza.
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: Who's fun to do.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Guys are doing whatever character they're
  • doing, whatever character they came up with.
  • Again, I want to get that sense of,
  • what is it about doing drag that fulfills you?
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: Probably with a drag performer
  • that I relate to, like Liza--
  • you know what I mean?
  • She was such a strange and extraordinary person.
  • I kind of felt what she felt. She was very, very--
  • how can I say it?
  • She was just an amazing person.
  • I've seen her in movies, shows, interviews.
  • I read a lot about her.
  • I studied her.
  • You study your craft, and you get
  • to know what that person's thinking.
  • It's pretending.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: But the sense I want to get
  • is that exhilaration that you feel when you're up on stage.
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: Oh, my God, it's--
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Talk to me about that.
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: Crazy.
  • Crazy.
  • You are that person who you're doing.
  • I totally turn into her on stage, totally.
  • My friend says I'm horrible to undress, to do a change.
  • I remember one show I was doing.
  • I had two or ten seconds to do a change.
  • The guy put my wig and I was stepping into my gown.
  • I had somebody holding my gown open
  • so I could get these pumps in and changing my wig.
  • And he had my wig on backwards, and I turned it around.
  • I said, "You're a stupid asshole."
  • Popped the wig back on the right way and went out like nothing
  • happened.
  • He's like, you're terrible to dress,
  • and then you walk out there like everything's fabulous
  • into my next number.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: So let's take a slightly different avenue here.
  • The drag queens and the whole drag scene
  • very early on became aligned with the gay scene,
  • and I'm trying to understand that relationship.
  • I'm not even sure how to ask this,
  • because there's the gay movement and then
  • there's the drag scene.
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: You mean the two combined it?
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Yeah.
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: Well, I think when
  • we started losing our good friends
  • and our bar owners to AIDS and stuff, the drag queens
  • were like, we could do something about this.
  • You know what I mean?
  • That's when I started doing benefits back then.
  • I did hundreds of them back then.
  • I remember doing a benefit for the American Cancer Society.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: I don't want to quite get there yet.
  • Because the drag scene was aligned with the gay clubs
  • even before that, and I'm trying to understand why.
  • Because not all performers are gay.
  • I mean, most of you are, but not all.
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: You're right.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: So what was it about the gay bars
  • and the gay community that the drag queens were
  • able to find their place there?
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: Because, like I said,
  • it was a safe place for us to be ourselves.
  • You know what I mean?
  • Anything went.
  • I keep on going back to that safe place.
  • Once we were there, we were definitely safe.
  • And at least for me, once I was on stage, I was home.
  • So I think that's the best way I can answer that.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: So then let's move into the 1980s
  • when AIDS hit.
  • Before we get into what the drag queens did
  • for AIDS awareness and AIDS fundraising,
  • first talk to me from your own experience.
  • Do you remember when you first realized
  • that AIDS hit Rochester?
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: Oh, my god, yeah.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Talk to me about that.
  • Talk to me about that first time.
  • Like, oh my God, this is something that's going to--
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: Well, we were so uneducated back then and so
  • were the doctors.
  • We didn't know anything.
  • We had friends that were deathly sick,
  • and you couldn't do anything to help them.
  • And the doctors just were fumbling around
  • to find the solution and the answer to it.
  • And back then, they didn't get very far.
  • It was totally so new, and it was definitely scary.
  • And it definitely put a black cloud over our party.
  • It certainly did.
  • We were more aware.
  • We weren't so ready to pick up other people and party.
  • You know what I mean?
  • I mean, the party was still there
  • and the atmosphere and all that, but we
  • knew something was happening that was
  • devastating our community.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: So at some point,
  • though, you and your other colleagues
  • decided there's something we can do here.
  • Talk to me about that.
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: Well, first it was gay cancer.
  • You know what I mean?
  • That was our first thing going on.
  • And I remember Harvey Milk from San Francisco--
  • I think he was the first one to talk about that,
  • if I remember right.
  • He was the mayor of San Francisco.
  • So I always read The Empty Closet
  • and that kind of informed me.
  • That's what we did read The Empty Closet,
  • and I still read The Empty Closet.
  • It's a sad subject.
  • You know what I mean?
  • It really is.
  • Can I get a minute?
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Mm, hm.
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: Rephrase that again.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: I just want to get to that moment where
  • the drag queens really started to step in the spotlight--
  • that's a good way of putting it--
  • saying something's going on here,
  • but we can step up and make a difference.
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: Well, they needed money.
  • They needed funds for research.
  • The government at that time really wasn't doing that much
  • about it.
  • So yeah, let's have a show and raise some money, get the door,
  • talk the bar owner into saying, let's get involved in this.
  • We need research money, and that's
  • when we became involved to help our friends.
  • Because they were really kind of used as Guinea pigs back then.
  • I've had several roommates that passed away here
  • and when I did live in New York City.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: I need you to give me
  • a sentence that put that into context,
  • something like, when we became aware
  • that AIDS was going to be a serious thing to deal with,
  • we and my drag queen colleagues--
  • I don't even know what to call it--
  • but we decided that it was something that we needed to do.
  • So I need you to set it up for me.
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: We stood as one.
  • You know what I mean?
  • We did.
  • Even if some of the drag queens didn't like each other,
  • when there was an AIDS benefit where
  • we can raise money for research and whatnot,
  • we became one big family.
  • We put all that cattiness aside.
  • We did.
  • We came together quite lovely, too.
  • I'm proud to say that.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: I know you probably
  • have many, but is there one memorable experience
  • in your career as a performer that really comes to mind?
  • One of your most fondest memories?
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: There's a lot of them.
  • Oh, my God.
  • About me or other people?
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Well, it doesn't matter.
  • I'm just trying to get a sense of really
  • how fun that whole scene is--
  • a funny incident at one of the bars or one of the drag queens.
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: The things that went on in the dressing room--
  • hysterical.
  • The funniest thing was I was out seeing a show,
  • and it was Backstreets, which is on Charlotte
  • Street in Rochester, which is now a parking lot.
  • Had a great stage.
  • It was a great bar.
  • And I was seeing the show, which I rarely did,
  • and this one queen Wilma--
  • she was on next, so I was rushing.
  • I'm like, come on, honey, you're on next.
  • Let's get going, right?
  • She wasn't that talented, but she gave it her all
  • and we loved her for it.
  • She was one of the queens who was always prepared.
  • Wilma, you got a tuna fish sandwich?
  • She would have one in her purse.
  • I mean, she was overly prepared, the sweetest queen.
  • So she runs on stage, and the audience is going crazy.
  • They're screaming, and I'm like, boy, she's really hot tonight.
  • I'm like, where is this coming from?
  • Well, I open the curtain, and her whole dress
  • is tucked into her pantyhose.
  • So they're screaming.
  • She thinks-- she's like, I'm hot tonight.
  • I think that was one of the funniest things for me
  • that I've seen.
  • As far as for me personally, one of my favorite moments
  • onstage--
  • probably the first time I was on stage.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Can we say that again?
  • You're touching a mic.
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: Oh, I'm sorry.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: That's OK.
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: My favorite time on stage
  • was probably my first time onstage at Jim's Bar
  • for the Miss Jim's Pageant.
  • I think that was the release of my energy,
  • and love for being on stage was all
  • wrapped up into that moment.
  • That was the best.
  • It was.
  • And of course, when I won Miss Gay
  • Rochester and numerous things that I've done.
  • I was the first queen to go to Toronto, to another country,
  • to perform back in the early 80s, and that was amazing.
  • West Palm Beach--
  • I used to go there a lot and do shows.
  • They used to fly me out there to a club called
  • Enigma, which I don't even know if it's there anymore.
  • But yeah, I had a lot of good times.
  • It's hard to pick one.
  • But my favorite one, I guess, is when
  • I entered the Miss Jim's Pageant,
  • my first time on stage doing Liza with a Z.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: I just want to ask you about some people
  • that you came across in your years.
  • First, you talked about him already a little bit, but just
  • tell me a little bit more about Duckie.
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: Oh, my God, Duckie.
  • Duckie was at that door every night.
  • He was sitting there, checking out his crowd of people.
  • Duckie was a great person.
  • He had a heart of gold.
  • He was a great bar owner.
  • He would never give me a day off.
  • But no, he ran the Miss Gay Rochester
  • Pageant for a few years when it was in limbo
  • and it was in a bar.
  • He was a good person.
  • He was.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: I guess we can't go
  • without talking about Marcella.
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: Oh, Joey.
  • Jesus, that's my sister.
  • If he was here, you would need an English interpreter.
  • Joey's a great person.
  • He was a great bar owner.
  • It was a different scene when he had Club Marcella and stuff,
  • but he created the "Life's A Drag" cast.
  • And that's still going.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: But he really stepped up, particularly
  • when he had his club.
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: Oh, yeah.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: And he made some significant contributions
  • to the gay community and the drag community.
  • Talk to me a little bit about that, a little bit
  • about his contributions.
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: Well, he did step up.
  • I know he gave a lot for benefits and stuff like that.
  • Because he has such a big heart.
  • He did care a lot, and he kind of
  • went through that whole '70s time with me.
  • So we were a little more educated on what was happening
  • and what we could do and how we can make people's lives better.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Tony Green?
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: Tony Green.
  • One of the funnest bartenders in Rochester, rest his soul.
  • He was an amazing person.
  • He was just a very happy person.
  • He was quite extraordinary, yeah.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: And Jesse Vullo?
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: Jesse Vullo, who I loved.
  • Jesse Vullo was one of the nicest bar owners-- so polite,
  • so soft-spoken.
  • And I remember I was in Friar's.
  • I would see Jesse just walk around the bar,
  • greeting everybody in his bar, which that seldom
  • happens today.
  • You know what I mean?
  • You're not greeted by the owner, which was such a nice touch.
  • I remember doing a show there.
  • And after my show, he took me aside and gave me $500.
  • He's like, I love you.
  • Please come back.
  • $500 back then was like $2,000.
  • It was a lot of money.
  • And so me and Jesse quickly gravitated to each other
  • even before I did any shows there.
  • It's because he was such a nice human being.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: And if you were to give
  • him a place, again, of someone who
  • really made a contribution--
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: He was one of the first
  • that I remember that died from AIDS.
  • Yeah, he was one of the first, and we didn't know what it was.
  • You know what I mean?
  • And we were uneducated about it then.
  • So yeah, that hit hard.
  • It hit home hard with Jesse.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: But before he died,
  • he again was making a place for the gay community.
  • Because he had a couple of different bars.
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: Oh, he did.
  • He had The Turf, which was the Ratskeller.
  • And then he had Fryer's on Monroe Avenue,
  • which is Woody's now.
  • Oh, yeah.
  • He was a very generous person, and he had a heart of gold.
  • He was a good bar owner.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: So you've been around long
  • enough to see things change and hopefully
  • change for the better.
  • But talk to me about that.
  • Talk to me about how it was for you
  • back in the '70s and the 80s compared
  • to what you're seeing now.
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: Well, how it is now, our drag scene now,
  • it's amazing.
  • The queens are fabulous.
  • They really are.
  • They're beautiful, fabulous, talented people.
  • I like to think that me and Marcella and Aggie Dune--
  • we kind of broke the ice so they have some of the rights
  • that they have today.
  • And sometimes they break the ice, too, should I say.
  • We can never stop cracking the ice for our rights and stuff.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: And Aggie, she's still performing.
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: Oh, my god, yeah.
  • I think me and Aggie are two of the oldest.
  • I don't do it as much anymore.
  • I do the pageant and once in a while
  • I'll pop in and do something, if I'm asked.
  • But yeah, Aggie's fabulous.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Yeah, we just saw Big Wigs over the holidays
  • with Kasha.
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: Great show.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Yeah, it was fun.
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: Yeah, of course.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: I'm just reading over my questions
  • here to see if there's anything I missed.
  • Here's one really obscure question.
  • If there was just an average Joe or Jane that
  • had pulled off the street--
  • maybe they'd never even seen a drag show
  • and they may have their perceptions of what it would
  • be-- but if there was one thing that you would want them
  • to know about what the drag shows are,
  • what drag queens are, what would you tell them?
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: You want to come and see
  • something very different? (Laughing)
  • I look at it towards art.
  • I really do.
  • I always have.
  • I mean, I think as far as being an actor,
  • I think that's one of the hardest roles to play
  • is to be a man changing into a woman.
  • Come see the transformation.
  • It's an art form.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: I want to go beyond that a little bit.
  • I want to go beyond just the art form and the performance
  • part of that to, what is the place
  • for drag queens in our society?
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: Well, I think there
  • is a better place for them now than there was yesteryear.
  • That's for sure.
  • Because we weren't always accepted in a lot of places.
  • And just to take that for a moment and run with it,
  • back then we had to wear three articles of men's clothing.
  • If we were stopped by the police,
  • they wanted to see three articles of men's clothing
  • underneath all your drag, or we would be going
  • downtown in a paddy wagon.
  • And that's for sure.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: So I'm curious.
  • What three articles would you wear?
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: That was hard.
  • That was hard.
  • Well, come on now.
  • Really?
  • Jesus.
  • We kind of layered stuff, all right?
  • Let me just leave it at that.
  • Great. (Laughing)
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: But you know what, we
  • didn't talk about that a lot.
  • Let's talk about that now.
  • Not only were you being harassed by someone
  • that pulled up in a car--
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: Not someone.
  • Usually, it was a group of them.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: A group of them, right, harassing.
  • But there was also police harassment.
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: Oh, my God, terrible.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Talk to me about that.
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: Oh, my God.
  • I remember the police when I was working at Jim's, bartender
  • or cocktail waiting.
  • The police would come in and they would harass.
  • Even though we weren't over capacity,
  • they would just give Duckie a terrible time.
  • If they had an incident where somebody
  • got beat up in the parking lot, which happened--
  • I mean, my friend had his whole face reconstructed.
  • He threw his keys because they were
  • trying to rob him and beat him up because he was gay.
  • So I remember running in the bar and missing steps
  • because I was flying, because I was being chased with a gun.
  • So it was a crazy, crazy time.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: What, then, kept you going?
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: I don't know.
  • My passion for who I was.
  • You know what I mean?
  • I was gay and that wasn't going anywhere.
  • This is who I am.
  • This is me.
  • I'm not putting any airs on or being something
  • that I'm not, so to speak.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: And that brings up another question.
  • Because I've heard other drag queens say this or other people
  • talking about the drag performance.
  • Some of them say it's easier to be another person onstage
  • than it is to be themselves.
  • Do you ever feel that?
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: Never.
  • Never.
  • I can basically talk to anybody.
  • I'm comfortable with myself to do that.
  • When I was in high school in my early, early years,
  • it was uncertain.
  • It was a different time.
  • But yeah, when I finally got a little older, I found myself
  • and I was comfortable with the fact of who I was.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: So what would you
  • tell a fourteen-year-old now who may be questioning
  • his or her sexual identity?
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: Find out who you are in your heart.
  • Be yourself.
  • It's OK.
  • You're not alone.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: What would you tell a fourteen-
  • or fifteen-year-old who is thinking
  • about maybe going into drag?
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: Let me paint your face.
  • If you're going to do it, do it right.
  • Have me or Aggie, somebody with some background.
  • Do it right.
  • There's really no right or wrong way,
  • but there is a fabulous way to create that illusion.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Last question.
  • And you can take some thought on this,
  • but all of it, all the drag, all the stuff
  • that you did for AIDS fundraising and all
  • that stuff--
  • what are you, Wayne Esposito, most proud of,
  • of what you've done?
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: As far as for the gay community?
  • Keeping Miss Gay Rochester Pageant alive.
  • Miss Gay Rochester is one of the oldest pageants in the country.
  • This will be our forty-fourth annual pageant for 2013.
  • That's an old pageant.
  • And I'm so pleased and so proud that I
  • have been running it for the past eighteen
  • years with success.
  • And that's something me, myself, Aggie, and Michael Deak,
  • we're all proud to be a part of and make it happen and make it
  • into a beautiful event.
  • It's an event.
  • It's not a bar event.
  • It's in a theater.
  • So I'm pleased to say that.
  • It's a nice thing.
  • It's something a gay youth could say, mom, come to this.
  • It's in a theater.
  • It's a nice event.
  • And I'm not saying anything about the clubs.
  • Of course, but it's out of the club scene
  • and it's more theatrical.
  • So I'm pleased to say that I've been running
  • that pageant for eighteen years, and I'm
  • pleased to say that I'm proud of that.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Sorry.
  • Another question just came to mind.
  • I don't remember if it was you I was talking to or maybe Jimmy,
  • but there was one of the first queens in Rochester, Freddie--
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: Freddie Bass.
  • He was Miss Gay Rochester 1976.
  • She was bicentennial queen.
  • Fabulous.
  • He did Shirley Bassey.
  • He was one of my idols.
  • I looked at him like, oh my God, fabulous.
  • His lip sync was on, his style and his makeup--
  • an amazing performer.
  • He could stand there in front of a mike and be Shirley Bassey.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Excellent.
  • Yeah, we're still trying to track him down.
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: I could help you with that.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Yeah, I'm sure (unintelligible).
  • Because I understand he's still around.
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: He's still around,
  • but he's very, very private.
  • Freddie always has been.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: But he was one of the first?
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: Yes.
  • Well, he was one of the first-- and Michael Deak.
  • They tied that year for Miss Gay Rochester in 1976.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Who did Michael play?
  • I forget.
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: Miss Vikki.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Miss Vikki, right.
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: He did Vikki Carr.
  • He was the first queen to wear pants on stage
  • and get away with it.
  • You know what I mean?
  • Disco pants.
  • And it was hot.
  • So Michael was a trendsetter back then, Miss Vikki.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Well, I think that's it.
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: I'm glad.
  • I'm glad to be part of this.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: We couldn't do it without you.
  • There's so many people that need to be part of this documentary.
  • And it comes down to, oh my God, OK, we
  • need to add one more person to this.
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: Very cool.
  • KEVIN INDOVINO: Thank you.
  • WAYNE ESPOSITO: Yeah.