PUBLIC SPACES

Bars
John and Bill

(Bill laughing)
Lauren: So then you started going to the gay bars after you met him. 
John: Yes. 
John: The first time I think he took me was to JRs. What can I say about JR? JR has been a leader -
Bill: An outstanding leader for the gay community.
John: Yeah, yeah.
Bill: People can always go to JR’s.
John: And then what was the one out there on West Main Street? 
Bill: Why Not or The Gaslight.
John: The Gaslight. Ooo that Gaslight.
Bill: The Gaslight it was very secretive. You had to have a key to get in. You had to go in the back door. And it was very seedy. 
John: On the rough side of town. 
Bill: Yeah, on the west end of town. It was very seedy and seemed very shady, but boy, what a great time you’d have when you’d go in because everybody there is like you. So there was dancing and music and drag shows and liquor and, you know, pool. And it - it was always a fun time, but it always seemed like you may be risking your life every time you go in because there could be violence over there with people on that side of town going in to those bars.
John: Well I - you, you would hear about the violence, but I would walk in that place -I remember structurally thinking, “Oh my God, this is firetrap.” It just was so packed and just crap, you know, everything hanging on the ceilings.

Wings of Love
JR

JR: We also had a group called Wings of Love and Arms of Love that had rooms that the HIV people stayed at and I got a lot of information from them. When it got down to where they only had I think two people still alive and it wasn’t- there wasn’t enough money to keep it going. 

JR: That’s where they had the Arms of Love, upstairs. I think it was the third floor.
Lauren: Did you ever go?
JR: Oh yeah, I used to teach art lessons there. They would pay for the classes for the – they called them clients back then – that had HIV, and I’d go there. I think I had about five that we’d do art classes for.

Community Groups
Winkie

Winkie: I got involved in Equality Springfield, but it didn’t start with Equality Springfield, it started with Rick Incorvati in terms of starting a community GSA because there was no place for kids to go. Jaylen (her grandson) inspired that, but where I worked there were all these kids that didn’t have anywhere to go. Several of them were homeless, you know, had been kicked out of their house because of it or - So, I met up with Rick and talked and then Dwight McCormick also was interested, his church was interested in that same thing so we all kind of go together and for about a year and a half we had a community group.

Events
Avery

Lauren: Had you ever met any other transgender folks? 
Avery: Believe it or not when I was in college, I met Christine Jorgensen. She came to speak and it was sort of the deep, dark secret - “Why are you going to that lecture?” “I'm just curious because I go to all the lectures. They're free. I go to all the free concerts.” But - yeah I saw her and met her at the University of Georgia.
Lauren: And was that the first time you met -
Avery: The first time I met someone.

JR

JR: Sam and I used to go to Atlantic City and that’s where we really discovered Pride because we happened just to be there during Pride summer in July and we learned a lot. The gay bars there were so much bigger it seemed like anyway. It was really neat. And then you go to the beach in Atlantic city and gay pride – they had the whole beach I mean flags and people. It was really exciting at that time for us cause it was new too. I had decided to do a Pride here at the bar and I was talking you know to people about it, and the next thing I know I get this email from Rick saying, “Well we’re doing it downtown,” and so I started going to the meeting there, but it’s been – wow this is our fifth year.