We Were Here

- THERE WAS NOTHING EXTRAORDINARY ABOUT THE FACT

THAT YOU LOSE THE PEOPLE THAT YOU LOVE,

'CAUSE IT'S GONNA HAPPEN TO ALL OF US.

IT'S JUST THAT IT HAPPENED IN THIS TARGETED COMMUNITY

OF PEOPLE WHO WERE DISENFRANCHISED

AND SEPARATED FROM THEIR FAMILIES,

AND A WHOLE GROUP OF OTHER PEOPLE STEPPED UP

AND BECAME THEIR FAMILY.

- WE ARE NOT SOME NETWORK OF PEOPLE

WHO JUST LIKE TO HAVE SEX.

WE ARE NOT SOME EPHEMERAL SUBCULTURE

THAT COMES AND DISSOLVES AND GOES.

THIS IS A COMMUNITY THAT WAS TESTED

IN A WAY ALMOST NO COMMUNITY ON EARTH IS EVER TESTED,

AND SUCCEEDED IN WHAT IT WAS TRYING TO DO,

WHICH IS SAVE AS MANY LIVES OF PEOPLE AS IT COULD,

STOP CIVIL RIGHTS ATTACKS,

AND THEN TRY TO USE THAT EXAMPLE

TO TRANSFORM THE WORLD.

IF YOU'RE EVER FACING A NATURAL DISASTER

AS EXTRAORDINARY AS AIDS WAS

IN THE LAST QUARTER OF THE LAST CENTURY,

YOU SHOULD BE SO LUCKY AS TO BE IN A COMMUNITY

LIKE THE QUEER COMMUNITY OF SAN FRANCISCO.

- WHEN I TALK TO YOUNG PEOPLE, PARTICULARLY,

THEY'LL SAY, "WHAT WAS IT LIKE?"

I MEAN, THE ONLY THING I CAN LIKEN IT TO IS A WAR ZONE,

BUT MOST OF US HAVE NEVER LIVED IN A WAR ZONE.

BUT IT WAS...

YOU NEVER KNEW WHERE THE BOMB WAS GONNA DROP.

I DECIDED TO DO THIS INTERVIEW BECAUSE...

I'VE...I'VE BEEN AROUND FOR THE ENTIRE EPIDEMIC,

AND I'VE SEEN SO MANY PARTS OF IT,

AND I THINK THERE'S A LOT OF PEOPLE FROM--

I MEAN, NONE OF MY FRIENDS ARE AROUND.

FROM THE BEGINNING.

SO I WANT TO TELL THEIR STORY

AS MUCH AS I WANT TO TELL MY STORY.

I THINK THAT'S WHY.

I CAME TO SAN FRANCISCO

BACK IN THE LATE '70s.

YOU KNOW, THERE WERE MORE GAY PEOPLE COMING HERE.

THERE WAS ALL THESE LOVE CHILDREN.

IT WAS RIGHT AT THE END OF THE HIPPIES, YOU KNOW,

AND EVERYBODY, I MEAN, IF YOU HAD A BUS TICKET,

IT BETTER BE SAYING "SAN FRANCISCO," YOU KNOW,

BECAUSE THAT WAS THE PLACE TO COME.

I WAS THE DANCER.

I THOUGHT I COULD DANCE BETTER THAN ANYBODY ON THE WEST COAST.

CENTER STAGE, I WOULD GET UP THERE,

I'D CLIMB UP ON THAT STAGE,

AND I'D DANCE MYSELF INTO A FRENZY.

EVERY SUNDAY NIGHT AT THE TEA DANCE.

AND IF YOU GOT TOO CLOSE,

YOU MIGHT SLIP OFF THE STAGE,

BECAUSE YOU WERE TOO CLOSE TO ME.

BUT I THOUGHT I HAD IT GOING ON.

MY DAD SAID ONE DAY THAT I SHOULD SELL FLOWERS.

THAT'S A GOOD BUSINESS.

AND I THOUGHT, "I'M GONNA SELL FLOWERS IN SAN FRANCISCO,"

BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, THEY'VE GOT THESE SONGS,

WHERE HAVE ALL THE FLOWERS GONE?

AND "IF YOU'RE GOING TO SAN FRANCISCO,

WEAR A FLOWER IN YOUR HAIR," AND...

SO I WAS READY FOR IT.

A FRIEND OF MINE CAME UP IN A PICKUP

AND TOOK ME RIGHT OVER INTO THE CASTRO

ON 15TH AND NOE, AND I'VE BEEN THERE FOR 28 YEARS.

"HEY, I'M ONE OF THE FAMILY MEMBERS," YOU KNOW.

"COME BUY MY FLOWERS."

SO I WOULD PUT UP THESE RAINBOW FLAGS,

AND I--YOU KNOW, AND YOU COULD SEE 'EM FROM A BLOCK AWAY.

IF YOU LOOKED DOWN THE STREET.

YOU COULD JUST SEE THAT LITTLE RIBBON.

UNTIL ALL THE COLORS FADED.

- I ALWAYS KNEW I WAS GONNA COME OUT TO THE BAY AREA.

AND I THINK A LOT OF US CAME OUT HERE

BECAUSE WE DIDN'T QUITE FIT WHERE WE WERE.

BACK IN COLLEGE, I HELPED START THE FIRST WOMAN'S NEWSPAPER.

UH, WE STARTED THE FIRST CHILDCARE CENTER.

STUFF LIKE THAT. SO I WAS VERY INVOLVED.

WE HAD A WOMEN'S CENTER ON HAIGHT STREET,

SO I STARTED GOING TO THE WOMEN'S CENTER,

AND WE SAT AROUND AND SAID,

"LET'S OPEN UP A WOMEN'S CLINIC,"

AND THEN WE JUST DID IT.

IT WAS THE ERA OF ILLEGAL ABORTIONS.

IT WAS A TIME WHEN WE, AS WOMEN,

WEREN'T AS EDUCATED ABOUT OUR BODY.

I WAS GETTING A LITTLE OLDER,

MY LATE--LATER 20s,

AND I THOUGHT, "EILEEN,

YOU MIGHT WANT A REAL JOB SOMETIME,"

SO I THOUGHT, "I'LL JUST GO TO NURSING SCHOOL

AND SEE HOW I FEEL ABOUT IT."

AND, UH, I LOVED IT.

I LOVED BEDSIDE NURSING.

ONCE I STARTED WORKING IN THE HOSPITAL,

THERE WERE ALL THESE GAY MEN,

AND IT WAS REALLY FUN,

'CAUSE WE'D GO CLUBBING TOGETHER.

TO THE I-BEAM, TO THE STUD.

YOU KNOW, PLACES LIKE THAT.

I'D DANCE AND GO HOME AND GO TO SLEEP.

SO, YOU KNOW, WE HAD A GOOD TIME.

IT WAS, LIKE, REALLY FUN.

UNFORTUNATELY, NONE OF THOSE GUYS ARE ALIVE TODAY.

- YOU KNOW, IT'S THE--THE END OF THE HIPPY ERA IN AMERICA,

AND I WAS A QUEER KID WHO-- WHO WAS DIFFERENT,

DIDN'T REALLY KNOW WHAT TO DO,

AND BASICALLY LEFT BUFFALO, NEW YORK,

AND HITCHHIKED AROUND THE COUNTRY

FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS WITH THE GUY I WAS SLEEPING WITH,

AND DELIBERATELY TRIED TO BE FREE,

IT WAS OUR-- SORT OF OUR GOAL,

AND I REMEMBER AT ONE POINT THINKING,

"WELL, I'VE GOT NOTHING BUT THE BACKPACK AND MY BOYFRIEND."

AND WE LITERALLY ACTUALLY HAD NOTHING.

"I GUESS WE MUST BE FREE."

AND IT WAS THAT SORT OF MENTALITY

THAT WE WERE PURSUING.

A PHRASE THAT I'VE SORT OF COME TO LIKE

IS "CRAZY DREAMERS,"

AND I WAS--AT THAT TIME,

I THOUGHT SAN FRANCISCO AND CALIFORNIA

WAS FULL OF CRAZY DREAMERS,

AND THAT WAS WHERE I WANTED TO BE.

I BELONGED TO A LITTLE COMMUNE

OF LEFTOVER '60s FOLKS,

WHO WERE TRYING TO ESTABLISH AN ALTERNATIVE LIFESTYLE,

AND I WAS STRUGGLING WITH WAS I GAY,

WAS I BISEXUAL, YOU KNOW, WHAT IS GOING ON.

SO I COME OUT OF THE CLOSET,

IN THIS TERRIFYING MOMENT OF COMING TO THE GAY STUDENT UNION

IN SAN JOSE STATE IN SEPTEMBER OF 1975,

AND THE MINUTE I WALKED THROUGH THE DOOR,

AND I'M SURE MOST GAY MEN OF MY GENERATION,

MOST QUEER PEOPLE ARE GONNA HAVE A SIMILAR EXPERIENCE.

IT WAS LIKE YOU'RE HOME.

IT'S, LIKE, IT ALL FELT FAMILIAR.

IT ALL SEEMED LIKE, "OH.

HOW DID I NOT REALIZE THIS IS WHERE I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE?"

- MY FATHER REALLY WANTED ME TO GET A MASTER'S DEGREE,

AND I REALLY DIDN'T CARE,

SO THE COMPROMISE WAS I WOULD GO TO SAN FRANCISCO STATE,

'CAUSE SAN FRANCISCO WAS WHERE I WANTED TO BE.

I LIKED THE PEOPLE HERE. THEY JUST SEEMED MORE OPEN.

AND I ALWAYS WANTED TO MEET A NICE BLOND SURFER.

WHEN I MOVED OUT TO CALIFORNIA,

I WAS STILL IN THE CLOSET.

I DIDN'T COME OUT OF THE CLOSET UNTIL AFTER COLLEGE.

UM, I CAME OUT WITH A BANG.

I WAS IN A PRODUCTION OFTHE BOYS IN THE BAND.

FOR QUITE A FEW YEARS, I WAS A BIT OF A WORKAHOLIC.

I WAS IN MY STUDIO ALL THE TIME.

BY THE TIME I WAS 27,

I WAS HAVING ONE-MAN SHOWS IN NEW YORK,

AT GALLERIES-- GOOD GALLERIES IN NEW YORK.

AND I DIDN'T KNOW IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THAT EASY.

IT WAS JUST EASY.

AND I WAS PRETTY OBSESSED WITH MY WORK,

AND I WAS FOR QUITE A LONG TIME.

AND--UNTIL I GOT SICK, REALLY.

I WAS FIRST LIVING IN THE HAIGHT,

AND I REMEMBER WALKING DOWN HAIGHT STREET,

AND THERE WAS THIS GUY HANDING OUT LEAFLETS ON THE CORNER,

AND IT WAS HARVEY.

IT WAS HIS FIRST CAMPAIGN,

FIRST TIME HE WAS RUNNING,

AND HE INTRODUCED HIMSELF AND I TALKED TO HIM,

SO I WENT TO WORK FOR HIM.

AND I WAS HANDING OUT LEAFLETS.

AND, YOU KNOW, DOOR HANGERS AND THINGS LIKE THAT.

AND THAT WAS VERY EXCITING,

'CAUSE I HAD BEEN SOMEWHAT POLITICAL IN COLLEGE.

I'D GOTTEN SICK OF IT,

BECAUSE ALL MY ROOMMATES WERE S.D.S.,

AND IT WAS VERY MILITANT.

AND HARVEY WAS JUST A LOT GENTLER,

AND A LOT MORE FUN.

MY PARTNER AT THAT TIME, STEVE,

WAS ALSO FAIRLY POLITICAL.

ANY TIME THERE WAS A MARCH OR A DEMONSTRATION

OR A CANDLELIGHT THING, WE WERE ALWAYS THERE.

UM, IT WAS IMPORTANT TO US.

THOSE WERE THE THINGS

THAT MADE US FEEL CONNECTED TO THE COMMUNITY.

CASTRO STREET WAS JUST STARTING TO HAPPEN,

AND YOU WOULD ALWAYS RUN INTO PEOPLE YOU KNEW,

AND IT REALLY FELT LIKE A VILLAGE,

AND THE CASTRO JUST STARTED TO FEEL

LIKE THE VILLAGE YOU ALWAYS WANTED.

- IF YOU TOOK A BUNCH OF YOUNG MEN

AND SAID, "HAVE AS MUCH SEX AS YOU CAN HAVE,"

HOW MUCH SEX WOULD THEY HAVE?

A LOT OF SEX.

THE SENSE WAS IF GAY IS GOOD, GAY SEX IS GOOD, YOU KNOW?

AND MORE GAY SEX IS EVEN BETTER.

AND PEOPLE OFTEN SAY OF-- OF MY GENERATION,

WE CAME TO SAN FRANCISCO TO BE GAY.