As we have done with many other diversity Months — Black History,Women's History, Hispanic Heritage, Asian Pacific heritage — Guided By History is presenting a series of posts celebrating Pride month. This year is especially important, as it marks the 40th anniversary of Stonewall and the beginning of LGBT awareness.
Tim Collins is Wells Fargo's Experiential Marketing Chief. He oversees several Marketing operations, including the History Team. Recently, I asked him about his experiences since Stonewall. Tim's life is a terrific historical marker for the progress of this movement: its development — and his — move across time together. (CR)
CR: Stonewall happened when you were in grade school — right at the end of the year. Do you remember that particular heat spell, which was happening that week? Did you see anything on TV?
TC: The Stonewall riots 
happened when I was 10 years old. It was local news in New York, but not in Philadelphia, where I grew up. I do remember the heat wave though. Everyone was worried there might be a repeat of the riots that followed the assassination of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy a year earlier.
CR: What were your impressions? How did they connect with your own developing sense of yourself?
TC: I knew I was gay when I was four years old. But I never let anyone know until I was twenty.
CR: Within a short time, Gay activism emerged as the 60s quieted down. Gay rights got a bigger spotlight. What was your experience?
TC: I started to hear more about Stonewall in subsequent years. New York held the first commemoration only a month later, but it really took off as an annual event. There were regular events — Christopher Street in New York, and "Christopher Street West" in LA. Then came Anita Bryant and Harvey Milk. The media started to report on it. That’s when I knew that I was not alone.
CR:: During the 80s, AIDS radically changed Gay life. But I also remember LGBT people were more and more — what’s the right word? — usual in those years: LGBT people were visible everyday, where only a few years earlier they were not. What was that era like for you?
TC: The onset of AIDS was a particularly terrible time. I remember throwing out address books every two years because most of the people in it were dead. But over the years there was more hope than hopelessness, as we have made progress in employment, safety, health and family. Since then, Pride month has provided an annual snapshot of the struggle of LGBT people around the world.
CR:: What were your challenges over the years? What things ended up being easier than you expected? What things ended up being more difficult than you expected?
TC: When I was 20, my mother found out I was gay. She cried because she worried that I could never get married and I would die alone. But it worked out OK — as you know, Darrell and I celebrated our 20th anniversary last year. I sooo wish she had been alive to see it. It’s a long way from Stonewall.
CR:: Since then, you’re a Wells Fargo executive. What’s your experience with Wells Fargo as a place to work?
TC: I am sooo proud to work for a company that has been supportive from the beginning…since 1986.
Woohoo!
Thank you for sharing your story.