Montage
Rita Fischer (RF): When you called and came out it was quite a shock. I had no inkling—none whatsoever. You tell me you're gay, and I said….
Bryan Wilmoth (BW): Dad found a love letter from a guy in my box of things. He read this letter and lost it. He took me for a ride and dropped me off in the middle of the night with a five dollar bill, that’s ….
Alexis Martinez (AM): When I came out to my mom that I was transgender, I think I was 13 or 14, and she called the police. And I always remember that when the police showed up, they just laughed and told her….
Matthew Levine (ML): Suddenly as I'm handing money to the bartender a deafening silence occurred. The lights went up, the music went off and you could hear a pin drop, literally.
Music interlude
Adam Kampe (AK): That was Rita Fischer, Bryan Wilmoth, Alexis Martinez, and Matthew Levine, four voices from StoryCorps OutLoud, the latest initiative from StoryCorps featuring stories from the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and quESTIONING, or LGBTQ, community. TO SHED MORE LIGHT ON THe PROGRAM, I SPOKE WITH TWO VERY KNOWLEDGEABLE FOLKS AT STORYCORPS.
Andrew Wallace (AW): My name is Andrew Wallace and I’m the manager of StoryCorps OutLoud.
Nadia Reiman (NR): And my name is Nadia Reiman and I am the producer for StoryCorps OutLoud.
AW: This summer will mark the 45th anniversary of Stonewall which was the uprising that many agree was the catalyst for the modern gay rights movement. So I think historically it’s a moment to really take a step back and to promote listening across generations, across the community to really consider what it means to be LGBTQ in this country today.
NR: When we are recording stories for OutLoud we really want to make sure that we acknowledge and record the voices of the generation that lived pre-Stonewall because these people are, are not heard of as much as younger voices.
AW: This is a fantastic story that really takes us back to 1969 at the Stonewall Inn here in New York in Lower Manhattan. Michael Levine is talking to his friend Matthew Merlin about what it was like to be there on that night and what he experienced.
ML: We go out onto Christopher Street and there are what look like100 police cars all facing the entrance and crowds of people looking at us. The kids coming out of the Stonewall, the onlookers, the police, everyone was just kind of standing there. It was not a riot in the sense of people breaking furniture and police hitting people over the head. It was just an enormous crowd of people. And then the police started to say, "OK everyone, leave," and the drag queens, they're the ones who said to the police, "We're not leaving." And they formed a chorus line outside in front of the bar. And they stood there dancing in the street. They were all Puerto Rican drag queens and Irish cops. It was a funny, funny confrontation. When we came back on Saturday night, we stood there on the street and held hands and kissed, something we would never have done three days earlier. It made me feel wonderful. I stood there with chills.
Music interlude
NR: You know, one of the things that we really loved about Rita and Jay Fisher’s interview is how honest it was. And I think it’s rare to hear people especially a mother and a son talk about sex, and especially talk about sex when the son is gay and there’s like a large age gap between them. And it was just so dynamic and fun and so honest. And I think it’s one of the things that made this story jump out for us.
JF: When you talked about not knowing about me being gay, I mean, I consider you a lot of things but dumb isn't one of them, and I had left so many clues.
RF: I don't know what clues you're talking about.
JF: I had somebody over for three times a week for five years.
RF: In my house?
JF: In your house. I would not be so dumb now. I have what they call gaydar.
JF: God bless.
RF: I can pick them up in a minute.
Musical interlude
AK: Andrew Wallace
AW: For everybody who comes into the booth, there’s a totally unique story and set of experiences that they bring to the recording and to the community. I think it’s also really important and it’s a really core element of our work to make room for the incredible diversity of voices that are under that umbrella of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer.
AK: Nadia Reiman
NR: One of the moments that I love the most about Alexis Martinez and her daughter in this conversation is when her daughter sort of references that now after Alexis transitioned she was able to talk to her about like sort of girly things that she never thought she’d be able to talk to her about. It’s such a relatable moment.
Musical interlude
AM: When I look back at it, it was almost schizophrenic, because I would be wearing combat boots and blue jeans and a leather jacket. But underneath, I would have like stockings and a bra. And so, I remember it as a very dark period. I mean I really didn't believe that anybody could love somebody like me.
Lesley Etherly Martinez (LEM): I remember as a little girl that you would say these things like, "Well, I know that I'm not loved." I just remember growing up like, "Daddy, I love you." You know, it was just such an important thing for me to express to you how much you mattered. And, it was a big to-do, I discovered some female clothes—it was sort of, you know, my uncovering the secret.
AM: You asked me, "Why?" And I think if I had tried to cover it up, a lot of trust would have been lost between us.
LEM: It was like freedom because now I could talk to you freely about being a girl, you know, and you're the one who taught me how to put on makeup.
AM: You know, I was really torn between being a female role model and a dad. And so, I said to myself, OK, well be the best parent. Whatever it takes, however I do it, you have to look out for your baby.
Musical interlude
AK: Andrew Wallace
AW: I think what communicates and what’s communicated through these is just the power of love and connection between individuals who genuinely care about each other.
AK: Nadia Reiman
NR: In this audio segment, Bryan Wilmoth is talking to his younger brother Michael about being kicked out of the house because he is gay. It’s basically a story of reforming or forming your new idea of family after parts of your biological family reject you which, I think, is something that unfortunately a lot of people in the LGBTQ community can relate to.
BW: And I really missed my brothers and sisters when I left home. I remember hearing that if you guys talked to me, if I'd call the house, that you'd get a beating because Dad didn't want you to "catch gay." And you guys believed that.
Michael Wilmoth (MW): Granted, it was a fear-based belief.
BW: Of course, but you know it was still something I had to try to fix. And so, as each of you guys moved out or got kicked out of the house…
MW: Or ran away …
BW: Or ran away, in your case. I would make an effort to try to contact you guys and be a big brother again.
Now, Luke-Henry I didn’t even know because he wasn’t born till I was like 19 or 20. And I hadn't seen him since…ever.
And I got a call and the voice on the other end said, “Bryan? This is your little brother, Luke.” By this time, you know, he was estranged from mom and dad, too. And he wanted to go to the University of Dallas. So I took my savings, which wasn’t a lot, and I bought one, one-way ticket and one round-trip ticket to Dallas.
Mind you, this is a Catholic school, and I’m the big, gay brother. I'm running around getting him set up for his dorm room. And we go through this whole weekend, and at the end, I gave Luke a hug and a kiss and told him how much I loved him, and he started walking away.
And I was just watching after him, like, Wow, I really finally got to be a big brother. And at that moment, he turned around and mouthed, “I love you.” It was the most beautiful moment I had ever experienced.
Crescendo music, fade out
AW: I think all of these stories have the power of communicating something really universal that cuts through often times a lot of the challenges that we carry with us living who you are in this world that’s not always the most welcoming of diverse sexual identities and gender identities. We can share these stories that are incredibly evocative and emotionally moving through the radio, through our website StoryCorps.org and getting these diverse experiences out into the world at this moment of reflection and also celebration for the accomplishments of the movement today in 2014.
It’ll All Work Out up and under
AK: SPECIAL THANKS TO ANDREW WALLACE, NADIA REIMAN AND JEREMY HELTON.
to hear more stories about the intersection of arts and community, check out ARTS.GOV/NEARTS. that’s a r t s.g o v / n e a r t s.
For the National Endowment for the Arts, I’m Adam Kampe. Thanks for listening.
MUSIC CREDITS:
Excerpts of “Beauty” by Nult from the album, Asil Liseli, used courtesy of Creative Commons via WFMU’s Free Music Archive.
Excerpt of “sunrise” from the album, Bridge to the Other Place, used courtesy of New Albion Records and “a radiance” from the album, Seeds of Happiness, both arranged and composed by jeffrey roden and used by permission of the big tree music (BMI).
Excerpt of “The Pharoahs (instrumental)” by Neko Case from the album, Middle Cyclone, used courtesy of Anti-.
Excerpt of “It’ll All Work Out” by Blake Mills, from the album Break Mirrors, used courtesy of Record Collection Music and by permission of Modern Works Music Publishing (BMI).
