Anne Tischer and Bess Watts collection on marriage equality

Anne Tischer and Bess Watts describe themselves as accidental activists. Anne Tischer and Bess Watts are well known in the Rochester community as long time LGBT rights advocates. In 2004, Anne and Bess were the first same-sex couple to be refused a marriage license in Rochester. As front page news, they were married anyway by Reverend Jim Mulcahy in a public act of civil disobedience. Years of grassroots organizing followed, culminating in their founding of Equality Rochester and local chapters of Marriage Equality New York and Pride at Work AFL-CIO. Launching into union leadership Bess successfully pursued domestic-partner benefits for employees at Monroe Community College where she was employed. She received MCC “Innovation of the Year” award for initiating their safe-zone project and the Rochester Labor Council “Community Solidarity Award” for the work done by Pride at Work to forge LGBT-labor unity. Today Bess is the president of Civil Service Employee Association Local 828, national vice president of Pride at Work AFL-CIO and is on the executive board of Rochester Labor Council (RLC).

Anne and Bess have been repeatedly recognized for their efforts promoting LGBT civil rights: “STAR” awards from the Empire State Pride Agenda, a “community service” award from the GAGV and the “Tenacity with Aplomb” award from Metro Justice. Deemed instrumental in achieving the successful passage of New York’s marriage equality legislation in 2011, they were given the “Mother Jones” award by the Rochester Labor council, were recognized by the LGBT Bar Association of Greater New York (LeGal), received a bi-partisan proclamation of recognition from the Monroe County Legislature and served as grand marshals of the 2011 Rochester Gay Pride Parade.

Early on the couple recognized that lack of LGBT visibility was the biggest impediment to rights advances. To educate the public and foster relationships with other groups who might become allies, they extended their outreach into the wider community and became champions of “visibility.” They set up dozens of rallies, speaker panels, and educational events, sponsored by Rochester’s first “Gay History Fair” and helped organize the first same-sex Wedding Expo in Rochester. They made sure there were obvious LGBT supporters at every progressive event and labor rally possible.

Some of the most effective tools they used to build visibility and organizational relationships turned out to be arts, crafts, and photography. Armed with a good camera and openly representing Pride at Work, Bess took pictures at events ranging from Seniors’ dances to union conferences and used social media to effectively create linkages and build a database, Anne used her artistic skills to provide hundreds of media attracting signs to any organization or union that needed them. They taught “effective sign making and visibility” classes, made issue themed center-pieces for union parties, created performance art props for progressive causes and helped organizations build award winning parade floats.

Ultimately, the years of intense relationship building paid off. As the final push for marriage legislation votes began in 2011, Equality Rochester’s volunteers and coalition partners generated 1000 letters and 300 calls for each local State Senator weekly. And Rochester’s labor community actively supported Pride at Work’s call to action. Rochester produced the first GOP legislator to publically support marriage equality. Anne is a retired social services worker and Bess is a senior library technician at Monroe Community College. In 2006 Bess and Anne legally wed in Canada after 12 years together.