Interview with Bill Bowick

Bill Bowick's Lady Baltimore cupcakes are almost--almost--as famous as his really awesome spectacles. When you ask any given Charlestonian if they've been to Sugar Bakeshop, they'll say, "Oh, is the place run by the guy with the really cute spectacles? I love those things!" But besides the beloved eyewear, there are many things to love about Bill. For example, he moved all the way to Charleston with his partner, David, from New York City, to bestow the cookies and smiles readily available at his bakeshop upon us undeserving philistines. What else is there to love, you may ask? Well, read on, fair patron, and see for yourself...that is, if you can get past the most awesomest spectacles ever.

Tell me a little bit about yourself, where you’re from.

I was born in Cartersville, Georgia, but I was only there for a few months. My Dad is a Baptist minister, so my family moved a good bit when I was young. I grew up mostly in Chattanooga, I would spend my winters and fall there, and my summers in Charleston with my Dad. My parents divorced when I was eleven, and my Dad’s family was from Charleston and my Mom’s was from Chattanooga. So I would come to Charleston when most people were leaving because of the heat. It was a very interesting place, it was a different city then. I’m glad I was here then. At the time, I wasn’t very well entertained, I was pretty bored, but in retrospect it was a pretty interesting time to know Charleston, it was more off the beaten path.

So what brought you back here?

I really wanted to be in a smaller community where I could make more of an impact. And I knew Charleston. It’s such an interesting, charming, vital city, especially for a city of its size. I actually like the small size of it. When I was younger I wouldn’t have appreciated that but I do now. I had this idea of opening a business, but the idea of doing that in New York sounded so cut-throat, and maybe more difficult than it really needed to be, and we were kind of looking for a whole lifestyle thing, so for all of those reasons Charleston came up on our radar.

What motivates you to do what you do?

I like to do things for people, I like to make people happy. There are a lot of people with negative energy in the world, and it’s hard to be negative all the time. The whole time I lived in New York I had to remind myself not to smile too much. I feel like here I can just be myself and be happy and I can do this thing that I love to do for other people, thereby making them feel good. And baking is creative. In architecture, a creative thought might take a year or two, minimum, to be implemented. So I love the instant gratification from baking, it’s great and it’s very aesthetic, even in the approach, and in the final result.

Tell me about your original idea for Sugar, and how it’s developed.

The idea for Sugar is that we would sell small baked goods, and we wanted everything to be fresh, and local. I know its so trendy right now to be local. We see that as a sea change in the way people think. I hope that in the next few years, it won’t even be that big of a deal to identify as local, you’ll just expect that it would be. But we did want that, too. We wanted it to be local, fresh, and made from scratch. So that was the major concept. The name ended up being one of the most difficult things for us to decide on. We hit upon “Sugar” because, as architects, we like things that are pure and elemental. I like the idea of things that can be read in two ways as well, and there’s a lot of that in “Sugar, it’s a term of endearment in the South. So people can read it in two different ways, and appreciate it in both.

Tell me about an interesting experience you’ve had as a result of being in the community in such a public way, and owning a business.

Well, recently there was an article in the paper about us and out of the blue, we got a little note from another couple saying how great it is to see a positive impression of a gay couple in the community. That’s something that we really made an effort towards when we moved here. I have to admit, having grown up in the South, it was a little bit scary, because I had grown up here years previous, and I wasn’t sure what kind of reception we would get. I thought people might even avoid our store because of that. And we just decided that we were going to be--not in your face--just natural, and even in New York, sometimes you have to strive to make that happen. It feels real comfortable to us. We’ve had lots of positive interactions from people coming into the shop.

How do you define community?

To me a community has to be people who are bonded and working together. My utopian community is that everybody is there. I am not an elitist, I really want everyone to be there. Thats a good thing, to me, whereas a lot of people don’t want certain elements. That’s community, everybody is there and you’re dealing with each other.

What are three things you would want to see happen in Charleston in the next year?

Gay marriage would be a nice thing. I would also like to see more gay clubs in high schools, more outreach programs to younger people. I know there’s some of that, but I’d like it to become a normal thing, rather than an unusual thing. I would like to see a gay pride parade in downtown Charleston. I really am so happy that the parade happened this past year, but I feel like to really own it in this area, the parade needs to be downtown.

What projects are you currently involved in in the community?

I’m organizing the Halloween parade and fair, which is something that is new that I came up with because of community. This is a busy area, with a lot of streets that run through it, and we’re trying to create a cohesive community rather than something you just pass through. We’ve reached out to all different groups, we hope everybody will be there. I really want it to be a creative thing.

We also give our leftovers away to My Sister’s House and a soup kitchen. We also help with the YMCA.

Tell me what you think about the state of the gay community in Charleston. What do you think we have going on here? What do you think we could work on? What do you think are our strengths?

Well one of the greatest things is that campaign that AFFA had along the interstate. The thing is that--not just in Charleston but in the South--people really hid. I had friends who I grew up with, who stayed in the South, and they really lived through difficult times because of it. What I’m really looking for in the Charleston gay community is for people to feel at ease to be themselves. I really want that to happen, not for my own reasons but for everybody's happiness. They should be free to live their lives and not worry or live in fear or hide. They shouldn’t have to hide...One of the things that other cities have that I wish we had was a gay publication. they have them in lots of places, even Savannah has one. A little publication, a great guide, that really helps gel the community, it has ads for people who live and work here, it has events that are going on, it has ways to meet people, groups that are meeting. It’s a one-stop thing and you can take it with you.

How do you define queer?

I am really infatuated with the idea of ownership of things, like when you talk about derogatory terms for someone. My partner David doesn’t really like me to use this, but sometimes I’ll use the term queer in a powerful way. It’s all about how you think about it. I do think we are different, and that’s a great thing. If a white straight guy was different he’d celebrate, and we shouldn’t be ashamed of being different, we should celebrate it and be happy about it. I don’t totally know the roots of the term, but it comes from otherness and difference. I think it’s a good thing, a term that we can use to empower us.

Name one stereotype that has been deployed against gay people and debunk it.

Let’s talk about promiscuity and relationships. In the seventies, people used to talk about that a lot. Most of society was in these monogamous relationships, and it was like look at these gay people, they’re sleeping with everyone they have no relationships, they can’t even do it, they’re too childlike, you’d hear things like that. What I really think is that what we were missing was the institution of relationships in gay heritage. There wasn’t much written about it, and people didn’t really even--you know, in my generation, we were inventing how to be a gay couple that would stay together for a while. So I think we have that now, we have that example, so I think, you know this whole thing about gay marriage--it’s not so important that we have to be exactly like everyone else, but we should have that capability, and I think that when you look at the fact that we are striving to be in these relationships and have them be named legitimate, that really debunks that theory. We’re the same as everybody else. We may have our faults, but humans are social creatures. So that’s a myth.

What is your definition of feminism, and do you think it’s important to the LGBTQ movement and community?

Yeah, I think, and I read something about this, that a lot of the feminist movement was tied in [with the gay rights movement], it just wasn’t really addressed that way at the time. I see it as equality and power for women. Ironically, I think that feminism has really--I know that in an earlier generation men had a lot of difficulty with it, but I think it’s freed a lot of us form boxes that we were living in... My mom was a feminist when I was growing up. I think I’ve mentioned this to you before, but one thing I really like about younger feminists is that you sew and knit and things, or maybe you like to bake, and you know it doesn’t make you any weaker. And I think the earlier generation felt like they couldn’t do that and still be a feminist. So I think it’s great that women are embracing that past knowledge. Even a few years ago there was a commercial that said “Real men don’t bake” or something and it just makes me so mad every time I see stuff like that!

Tell me about growing up gay in the South.

It’s interesting because I just tried to behave a certain way. Even when I was a little boy I used to behave a certain way. My family was always tolerant of it, or they might’ve tried to guide me certain ways, but they would give me dolls for Christmas. So from a family standpoint it was supportive. But there’s definitely a religious element in the South. In my opinion, a lot of the religious element isn't really based in scripture, it’s interpretation. If you look at, for instance, divorce, it’s so prevalent in our society, well if you read the bible that’s a pretty terrible thing. Eating shellfish is pretty bad, too, but people choose to focus on gayness. So that’s a cultural thing. And that was difficult. I just hid, I mean even in school I didn’t join the art club or take art classes because I was trying to hide my creative aspect. So from those things it was bad. I think a lot of creative forces have come out of the South, if you look at great writers like Truman Capote or many, many others; a lot of great designers like Paul Rudolph, the architect. And I think a lot of that is from the adversity they experienced when they were growing up. So through that anguish or difficulty, good things have come, so I always try to focus on that as well.

Tell me how you feel about the rhetoric of choice we use in the gay community?

I don’t see how anyone could help to be conflicted about that. In all honesty, if I had a child, and I wanted them to live an easier life, I would probably wish that they weren’t gay. It would be easier. But at the same time, we shouldn’t be ashamed of it, or be unhappy, if we were to have a child who is gay. Differentness isn’t bad. It’s just different, so regardless of the reason, we shouldn’t be discriminated against. I’ve certainly used that “I didn’t choose this” discussion with religious people, and I do think it’s true. I am constantly mystified by people who say that gay people choose it. They’re not gay, they don’t really know. There are a lot of religious people who are never going to believe it, but I don’t think that should stop us from putting ourselves out there. I honestly think that the more familiar people become with it, the less religious people will bring it up. Like with feminism or segregation. Billy Graham used to speak that segregation was laid out in the bible. But things change, things will change.

What group in the community is doing a really great job trying to achieve social justice?

I think AFFA. We were impressed and pleased to find AFFA here when we moved to Charleston, and I’m sure other people have felt that way. It seems to be a good, solid force. It’s interesting because it’s out there, but it’s not confrontational, and I think they’ve achieved things, already.

If you had to ask yourself an interview question, what would you ask?

I would ask myself if I am happy here in Charleston. And we are. At first when we got here we weren’t sure. David was still working away, and we didn’t know that many people. I knew Charleston could be kind of a closed place. I didn’t want to live in a city where we were here but not really part of it. So we’ve just been delighted to become part of it and feel at home here.

Thanks Bill!

*Also, a note of apology for my absence from the ranks of bloggers who update in a timely manner. Some of us have to graduate okay? But don't worry, I'm back in the game.*