By Jackie Nudd
During the summer of 1983, the Board of Directors of GAGV decided to hold their Tenth Anniversary Dinner at the Rochester Chamber of Commerce. There was a lengthy debate as to whether the application would be approved, but it was decided to go forth with the plan. The Board consisted of members with strong convictions that it was way beyond time to move the Alliance into the mainstream Rochester Community,
To the astonishment and relief of all, the approved application was received within a very short time. Committees were formed and plans moved quickly to get tickets printed and flyers made announcing the Tenth Anniversary Dinner along with the named location where it was to be held. The whole Gay Community was abuzz that the Alliance’s Tenth Anniversary Dinner was going to be held in the ballroom of the prestigious Chamber of Commerce.
On approximately September 14, ten days before the date of the dinner, Jackie Nudd, President -Elect of the Alliance, received a call from Tom Mooney, President of the Chamber of Commerce. During the course of the conversation, Mooney advised Nudd that he had just discovered that the application to hold GAGV’s Tenth Anniversary Dinner at the Chamber had been approved. He went on to tell Nudd that as President he had made the decision to cancel that application. Nudd argued that with only ten days left, the change of venue would mean that the Alliance would have to cancel the event. Mooney refused to reconsider. The Chamber was out.
Nudd immediately contacted Yve Skeet, the Editor of the Empty Closet, and told her about the phone conversation with Mooney. Board members were notified and a special meeting was called. At the meeting, it was decided that even with the time constraints the Tenth Anniversary Dinner would go on if at all possible. The Top of the Plaza Restaurant was contacted and gladly agreed to host the dinner. The Committees took charge and redid everything to notify the community of the change of venue. On September 24, 1983, The Tenth Anniversary Dinner went on as planned and the Alliance moved into the Rochester mainstream community.
At that Special Meeting it was decided to pursue a discrimination suit against the Chamber. Nudd would try to set up a meeting with Mooney, and Skeet would accompany her. Within the week , Nudd called Mooney and he agreed to a meeting. Upon arrival at Mooney’s office, Nudd introduced Skeet to him as the Editor of the Empty Closet. It is Nudd’s recollection that in addition to taking copious notes Skeet also tape recorded the meeting.
During that meeting Mooney made the statement that, ”The Chamber of Commerce cannot be perceived by the community as approving of you people.” Both Nudd and Skeet were furious and outraged at his comments and soon ended the meeting.
Skeet, wrote the story and it was on the front page of the October issue of the Empty Closet. It had long been suspected that a few of the better reporters of the two major local papers, The Democrat and Chronicle and The Times Union, regularly read the Empty Closet, Within hours of the Empty Closet hitting the streets, two of those reporters contacted Nudd and Skeet for interviews. Those same reporters were finally able to chase down Mooney for comments. By the next morning, the Greater Rochester area knew that the Rochester Chamber of Commerce had discriminated against the Gay Community
Once the story hit the newsstands all the local television stations wanted interviews with Skeet, Nudd and Mooney. Skeet and Nudd gave interviews that included Mooney’s by now infamous statement. During his televised interview, Mooney appeared chagrined, angry, guilty, defiant, and defensive.
That evening Nudd received a phone call from Mooney who was so furious he could hardly speak,. He was outraged because he was sure that Nudd had not told him that Yve Skeet was a reporter. Once Nudd clarified that she had in fact introduced Skeet as the Editor of the Empty Closet, Mooney hung up on her.
The story stayed on the front page of the two newspapers for days, and within weeks the Alliance filed a discrimination suit with the New York State Department of Human Rights against the Chamber of Commerce and Tom Mooney personally . The Board of Directors of the Alliance made the decision not to pursue a financial settlement with the Chamber, but sought to change their discriminatory policy regarding the rental of their facility. The final settlement of that suit was that the Chamber of Commerce could never deny the use of their facility for a litany of reasons including sexual orientation.
That following Spring, The Gay Men’s Chorus held their concert in the ballroom of the Rochester Chamber of Commerce. Nick Williams, Director of the Chorus, stepped to the microphone and said the following, “I, Nick Williams, on behalf of the Gay Men’s Chorus welcome you to the Chamber of Commerce.” The crowd went wild. Rochester’s Gay Community was now and forever an integral part of the mainstream Rochester Community.