Bess Watts. Photos provided.
Rochester – You would have to be living under a rock not to know labor and LGBTQ activist Bess Watts and her wife Anne Tischer. Their extraordinary lifetime commitment and reputation advocating for labor rights and LGBTQ equality is now bordering legendary status. For over two decades, they have paved a remarkable path for future generations to follow and at the same time, elevated grassroots activism into a true art form.
As of October 30, Bess will be retiring from her job at Monroe Community College Libraries after a stellar 24-year career at the educational institution in Brighton, NY.
Watts, 62, hails from Bluebell, Utah and did a six-year stint in the United States Army from 1976-82. After her honorable discharge release, she worked in libraries in the San Diego, CA area before moving to New York State in 1987.
In 2002, Bess got her first taste of CSEA unionism when she became a unit steward. Watts educated herself to the language of the collective bargaining agreement and knew full well at the time all of her fellow employees were not being treated on an even playing field. Watts would quickly admit she got into activism by accident to advocate for her family, but soon realized through unionism she had the opportunity and skills to influence public policy and really make a difference in the lives of her coworkers and in her community.
Early on, Watts and Tischer recognized lack of visibility and disorganized participation were big impediments to improving worker rights and to advance civil rights. To educate the public and foster relationships with other groups who might become allies, they extended their outreach into the wider community and became omnipresent. They set up dozens of rallies, marches, speaker panels, and educational events, sponsored Rochester’s first “Gay History Fair” and helped organize the first same-sex Wedding Expo in Western New York. They developed strong social media skills and built an impressive data distribution list.
In 2004, Bess and Anne 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. Bess was the clear choice to lead the labor constituency group Rochester & Finger Lakes Chapter of Pride at Work, AFL-CIO which was officially chartered in 2007.
Watts became a national VP of Pride at Work, AFL-CIO in 2012.
In 2009, Watts was elected as the president of CSEA Monroe County Local 828. At the CSEA Annual Delegates Meeting in Buffalo that fall, Watts took to the microphone to convince more than a thousand activists to embrace all members regardless of how we personally identify. She said, “I have always viewed equal marriage as a workplace rights issue. Truly, an injury to one is indeed an injury to all.”
In 2012, Bess was tapped as the national vice president of organizing for Pride at Work and focused her energies on growing the movement. She won her third four-year term as CSEA local president in 2017.
After being elected or appointed to several union positions, Watts continued to build bridges and educate others about CSEA’s and Pride at Work’s call to action to support marriage equality and to insert LGBTQ inclusive language into labor contracts. Ultimately, the years of reciprocity and intense relationship building started to pay dividends.
As the final push for the passage of marriage equality legislation began to take shape in 2011, union volunteers plus coalition partners generated thousands of letters and 300 calls of support each week to Monroe County area state senators. In doing so, the Rochester area produced the first GOP legislator to publicly support the effort which created the tipping point in the senate chamber for the marriage bill to pass muster.
Deemed an instrumental player in achieving that goal, Bess was recognized as the recipient of the “Mother Jones” award by the Rochester Labor Council, honored 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 a grand marshal of the 2011 Rochester Gay Pride Parade with her wife Anne.
Bess has been repeatedly recognized for her efforts promoting labor and LGBTQ civil rights. She has received the “STAR” award from the Empire State Pride Agenda twice, a community service award from the Gay Alliance of the Genesee Valley and the “Tenacity with Aplomb” award from Metro Justice. Other career highlights include the MCC “Innovation of the Year” award for initiating their safe-zone project, United Way “Community Champion” award and the Rochester Labor Council “Community Solidarity” award for the work done by Pride at Work to forge LGBTQ and labor unity.
Throughout the years, Bess has also taught classes for schools and nonprofits in “effective sign making and visibility” and made issue themed center-pieces for union parties, created performance art props for progressive causes and helped organizations build award winning parade floats.
Watts is retiring as an Interlibrary Loan Specialist / Senior Clerk, the president of CSEA Monroe County Local 828, a national vice president of Pride at Work AFL-CIO and was on the executive board of Rochester Labor Council.
Watts future plans include spending more time with her loved ones and traveling the USA.
-Ove Overmyer
