Billy Name, Silver Factory Gatekeeper, Artist and Historian, interview in studio, New York City
“Andy knew me as Billy and I knew Andy as Andy, and there was no fame yet it was just the New York cultural world in the upper east side, this posh cultural world, you know, and it was mostly gay, and you know, but it was mostly fagots; every body was, who was successful.
I mean there is no really kind term to express the homosexual world before the gay revolution happened, you know, but it was a sub-culture, especially in the arts, the design area and much of the television production and commercial areas, and it’s so wonderful that it came out to be its own lifestyle instead of being hidden under a taboo culture, because everybody was so terrified and paranoid all the time, of loosing their jobs at the time you know.
So there was Andy and everybody was what now you may call gay but it wasn’t overt and
I think the Silver Factory was one of the arenas which allowed the cultural life of the homosexual world to integrate into the mainstream which is another part of the story. But I think that Andy’s audacity in allowing everyone to demonstrate their own talents freely without the inhibition of “hey you cant do that, that’s taboo, (Andy) put zero on taboos.