“Somethg Special and Unique and Gay”: Your First Look at Fire Island | Vany Fair

Contents:

• THE VERY GAY HISTORY OF FIRE ISLAND
• BEFORE STONEWALL, CHERRY GROVE: HOW A BEACH TOWN BEME A GAY 'SAFE HAVEN'
• HOW DID FIRE ISLAND BEE SO GAY?
• CHERRY GROVE, WHERE GAY NEW YORKERS BEME ‘THEIR REAL SELV’
• EVERYTHG WE KNOW ABOUT FIRE ISLAND, A NEW GAY PRI AND PREJUDICE ADAPTATN
• FIRE ISLAND IS A TRIP TO GAY HEAVEN—OR IS IT HELL?COMEDIAN JOEL KIM BOOSTER AND SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE’S BOWEN YANG LEAD A JANE ATEN-SPIRED QUEER ROM.BY RICHARD LAWSONJUNE 2, 2022PHOTO BY JEONG PARK. COURTY OF SEARCHLIGHT PICTURSAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVEMY LAST TRIP TO FIRE ISLAND WAS 2019, A BUGGY, GHT WEEK DURG WHICH I FELT WOEFULLY ALIENATED OM MY HOEMAT (BY MY OWN DOG, NOT THEIRS) AND ALTOGETHER LONELY AND OLD AND GROSS AND TIRED. SUCH IS THE PERIL OF GOG TO A PLACE LIKE THAT—A GAY RETREAT THAT PROMIS THE FORTS AND EXCEMENTS OF FAIAR PANY, BUT ALSO HOLDS THE POTENTIAL FOR DIRE JAGS OF SELF-DOUBT. AT THE END OF MY TIME THERE, I GOT ON THE FERRY BACK TO LONG ISLAND AND CID I’D FALLY HAD ENOUGH. I HAD TRIED TO MAKE FIRE ISLAND WORK FOR ME, BUT I’D FAILED, TIME AND TIME AGA.IT’S A LOT EASIER TO RETURN THERE VIRTUAL FORM, NONTG AN IA OF THE PLACE OM A DIGAL DISTANCE RATHER THAN EXPERIENCG THE REAL, VODKA-SOAKED THG. WHICH IS JT WHAT THE NEW HULU FILM FIRE ISLAND (JUNE 3) OFFERS TO BOTH FIRE ISLAND VETERAN AND VIRG. DIRECTED BY ANDREW AHN AND WRTEN BY JOEL KIM BOOSTER, WHO ALSO STARS, FIRE ISLAND IS A ROMANTIC EDY OF MANNERS BASED ON JANE ATEN’S PRI AND PREJUDICE. GIVEN THE STRICT AND VEXG HIERARCHI OF FIRE ISLAND, KIM BOOSTER’S CHOICE OF TEMPLATE IS AN APT ONE. ALL OF ATEN’S Y AND PRICKLY SOCIAL MANVERG EASILY MAPS ONTO THE PARTICULAR GAY ESYSTEM PICTED THE FILM—TERPTED, OF URSE, BY VERY MORN BURSTS OF SEX AND DGS. THE GREATT ASSET OF FIRE ISLAND IS THE ISLAND SELF. MUCH OF THE FILM WAS SHOT ON LOTN THE LATE SUMMER AND EARLY FALL OF LAST YEAR, WHICH GIV THE FILM A CCIAL SPECIFICY. THOSE OF WHO’VE BEEN TO THE ISLAND BEFORE, FOR BETTER OR WORSE, MAY MORE POTENTLY REGNIZE THE STRANGE SIGNIFINCE OF SEEG, SAY, THE ICE PALACE LOOMG LARGE A GLOSSY, BUZZED-ABOUT MOVIE RELEASED ON A STREAMG PLATFORM OWNED BY DISNEY. BUT EVEN IF THE PLAC MEAN LTLE OR NOTHG TO A VIEWER, I’D THK THEY’LL STILL FEEL THE ENVELOPG PULL OF THE FILM’S GRANULAR TEXTURE, THE KEEN SENSE OF PLACE THAT SO MANY MOVI—FILMED ON ATLANTA SOUND STAG OR CANADIAN CI DRSED UP TO LOOK LIKE SOMETHG ELSE—SEEM TO LACK THE DAYS.AHN BATH THIS TH, SCRAGGLY LE OF SAND ACHG HU. HE AND CEMATOGRAPHER FELIPE VARA REY HAVE PTURED THE ROSY HAZE OF MAGIL SUMMER, KISSED BY WARM SUN AND FLECKED WH TWILIGHT DARKNS. (THE FILM’S WOOZY, INSTAGRAM-FILTER LOOK IS PERHAPS REMISCENT OF THE SHORT-LIVED GAY HBO SERI LOOKG—THOUGH I REALIZE THAT PARISON MAY READ AS NEGATIVE TO SOME. I MEAN A GOOD WAY.) AHN HAS SET A LOVELY STAGE FOR BUDDG ROMANCE AND FOR THE DULL PANGS OF VATN MALAISE. FIRE ISLAND PRENTS A WORLD BOTH SPRIGHTLY AND SOMBER, BEFTG OF THIS PARTY MEC WHERE EVEN A QUIET AFTERNOON BY THE POOL RRI WH AN ANX CH. KIM BOOSTER PLAYS NOAH, A HANDSOME, BED-HOPPG NURSE WHO IS MAKG AN ANNUAL PILGRIMAGE TO FIRE ISLAND WH HIS ART IENDS. HOWIE (BOWEN YANG) IS VISG OM SAN FRANCIS, WHERE HE HAS MPED TO FOR A JOB TECH. ZANY SIKICKS KEEGAN (TOMáS MATOS), LE (MATT ROGERS), AND MAX (TORIAN MILLER) HAVE MA THEIR WAY OUT OM THE CY, READY TO WHOOP UP AND OFFER CUTTG MENTARY. THE CHARACTERS ARE, AS THEY MIGHT BE A NOVEL, TAILED FOR BY NOAH’S NARRATN, WHICH ALSO GIV THE UNIATED A QUICK OVERVIEW OF THE LAY OF THE LAND—A B OF PROBABLY NECSARY EXPOSN GIVEN THAT FIRE ISLAND IS NOT AN ACCSIBLE PLACE FOR MOST PEOPLE, GEOGRAPHILLY AND FANCIALLY. MONEY IS ONE OF THE FILM’S PERSISTENT NCERNS. THE BOYS’ HOST, EARTHY-KOOKY LBIAN ER (MARGARET CHO), WILL HAVE TO SELL HER BELOVED HOE AFTER LOSG MOST OF HER MONEY BY VTG QUIBI. (A FUNNY EVOTN OF THE DOOMED STREAMER THAT WAS ONCE MEANT TO BE THE HOME OF A TV SERI THAT LATER BEME THIS FILM.) THAT PUTS THE IENDS STARK NTRAST TO THE RICH GUYS ON THE OCEANONT SI OF THE ISLAND, SNOOTY MCLE GODS WHO ARE, THE FILM POTEDLY REGNIZ, ALMOST UNIFORMLY WHE. AS ASIAN MEN ON AN ISLAND—AND WH A BROAR MUNY—THAT IS OFTEN NOXLY PREJUDICED AGAST THEM, NOAH AND HOWIE MT NTEND WH BEG OSTRACIZED A PLACE THAT IS, OSTENSIBLY, SUPPOSED TO BE A WELG HAVEN. THE PA AND TRATN OF THAT IS SPOKEN ALOUD THE FILM, BUT KIM BOOSTER ALSO LETS HOVER QUIETLY, BUT SISTENTLY, THE SUBTEXT OF MANY OTHER LOAD NVERSATNS. FIRE ISLAND IS NOT MEANT TO BE A PANACEA FOR THIS PROBLEM— IS, AFTER ALL, NOT NOAH AND HOWIE’S, NOR AHN’S AND KIM BOOSTER’S, PROBLEM TO SOLVE. THE FILM IS STEAD A NARRATIVE ABOUT PEOPLE NAVIGATG A DIFFICULT REALY, TRYG TO WRTLE A GOOD, FULFILLG TIME OUT OF A CIRCUMSTANCE THAT SOMETIM SEEMS TERMED TO PRIVE THEM OF THAT. THAT SERNS IS TERTG DIALOGUE, IF NOT ALWAYS PERFECT BALANCE, WH THE FILM’S BAWDIER, RNCHIER DIMENSNS. MOST POPULARAND JT LIKE THAT… PREPAR FOR ITS LAST SUPPERBY CHRIS MURPHYRILEY KEOUGH ON GROWG UP PRLEY, LOSG LISA MARIE, AND INHERG GRACELANDBY BRT HENNEMUTHTHE TV MOVIE IS MAKG A WEIRD, WONRFUL COMEBACKBY DAVID CANFIELDTHERE ARE ALSO TENSNS WH HOWIE AND NOAH’S IENDSHIP TO BE ALT WH. HOWIE IS SECURE ABOUT HIS BODY AND HIS NERDY AWKWARDNS, SO UN-REFLECTED NOAH’S RIPPLED AME AND SEX-HAPPY JOIE VIVRE. WE GET THE IMPRSN THAT NOAH’S GROOVE IS A LTLE B NEW—ONCE, MAYBE, HOWIE SAW THEM MORE AS PEERS. THAT SAD DYNAMIC, ONE THAT MANY GAY MEN (AND OTHER PEOPLE, OF URSE) WILL FD ALL TOO RELATABLE, IS SHARPLY ADDRSED THE FILM. THOUGH, I WISH THAT FIRE ISLAND SPENT EVEN MORE TIME VTIGATG THE AILG MECHANICS OF THIS VAL IENDSHIP. THE MOMENTS OF NFSN AND ARGUMENT ARE WHEN FIRE ISLAND FEELS MOST PERSONAL, MOST TIMATE. BUT BEFORE LONG, ALAS, THE BS, AND BYNS, OF THE FILM’S PLOT MT BE ATTEND TO. LOVE TERTS POP UP AT TEA DANC, AS THEY’RE WONT TO DO. FOR NOAH THERE IS THE FILM’S MR. DARCY, WILL (CONRAD RIMORA), A STERN AND HUNKY LAWYER WHOSE CHILLY REACTN TO NOAH’S VERVE DO, OF URSE, MASK A DAWNG ATTRACTN. FOR HOWIE THERE IS THE BABY-FACED CHARLIE (JAM SCULLY), WHOSE MEAN-GIRL IENDS AND OBNOX EX-BOYIEND NTUALLY THWART HIS FLIRTATNS WH HOWIE. SATISFYG NCLNS TO THE ROMANTIC TRAVAILS ARE REACHED BY THE END, AS THEY MT BE, WHILE ALONG THE WAY THERE IS SOME TRIGUE WH A SOLICO INSTAGAY, DEX (ZANE PHILLIPS), WHO’S UP TO NO GOOD, AND A FEW PS FOR HIGH-EDY ANTICS OM KEEGAN AND LE. THOSE MANY MOVG PARTS ARE JUGGLED WELL ENOUGH BY AHN AND KIM BOOSTER—THOUGH, THROUGHOUT THE FILM THEY SEEM UNCERTA IF THEY WANT THIS TO BE A PROBG SOCIAL EDY OR A GALS-ON-VAY LARK. IT N BE BOTH, SURELY, BUT FIRE ISLAND HAS TROUBLE BLENDG THOSE HALV TO A HIVE WHOLE. THAT SAID, ’S MENDABLE THAT THE FILM SO ANKLY, SO AIRILY, PICTS THE ISLAND’S RNAL DULGENC. MAYBE ALL OF THAT STG SOMEWHAT DISRDANTLY ALONGSI THE MHIER, GENTLER STUFF IS A WORTHY APPROXIMATN OF WHAT IS TO BE ON FIRE ISLAND: HORNED UP AND MELANCHOLY, ADDLED BY BOTH CHEMILS AND RELENTLS HEAV OF EMOTN. IN THAT ASPECT, FIRE ISLAND GETS JT ABOUT RIGHT—M THE MOSQUO.MORE GREAT STORI FROM VANY FAIRRILEY KEOUGH ON GROWG UP PRLEY, INHERG GRACELAND, AND MORETE CRIME, TE FAH: THE SERIAL KILLER AND THE TEXAS MOM WHO STOPPED HIMTHE TAN SUBMERSIBLE DISASTER WAS YEARS THE MAKG, NEW DETAILS REVEALWHY THE GEIA INDICTMENT AGAST TMP AND HIS ALLI IS THE MOST SWEEPG YETIVANKA TMP IS NOT LETTG HER DAD’S MOUNTG LEGAL WO RU HER SUMMERA NEW SLIM AARONS BOOK CAPTUR A LOST WORLDTHE 25 BT SHOWS ON NETFLIX TO WATCH RIGHT NOWFROM THE ARCHIVE: TOO HEPBURN FOR HOLLYWOOD (2006)RICHARD LAWSON
• A GAY GUI TO FIRE ISLAND
• ‘FIRE ISLAND’: MEET THE POWER TR BEHD THE SUMMER’S SWEETT, FUNNIT GAY ROM-COM
• “SOMETHG SPECIAL AND UNIQUE AND GAY”: YOUR FIRST LOOK AT FIRE ISLAND
• ‘FIRE ISLAND’ IS THE RARE MOVIE WHERE EFFEMATE GAY MEN ARE IN ON THE JOKE

THE VERY GAY HISTORY OF FIRE ISLAND

From Osr Wil’s vis to the island 1882, to the steady velopment of Cherry Grove as “Ameri's First Gay and Lbian Town, ” Fire Island has long been a home and haven to LGBTQ visors and rints alike. Long before the Stonewall Rts set the movement for Gay Liberatn to motn, Fire Island provid an important enclave to rints and visors at a time when almost everythg about livg openly as a lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, or queer (LGBTQ) person was illegal the Uned Stat. The Cherry Grove Communy Hoe is exceptnally signifint for the enormo role played shapg what gradually evolved to Ameri's First Gay and Lbian Town.

As anizatns, the Cherry Grove Property Owners Associatn and Cherry Grove Arts Projects profoundly fluenced the muny's velopment, facilatg the gradual social acceptance, self-affirmatn, and tegratn of s gay and lbian rints to Cherry Grove's erng affairs and civic life. This tegratn of LGBTQ rints to daily life and events at s muny hoe afford Cherry Grove a sgular stat; beme the one of the first and, for many years, the only gay and lbian fluenced geography the Uned Stat. Its metamorphosis played out agast turbulent social and polil upheavals -- our natn's rponse to the pre- and early days of the homosexual liberatn movement.

The 1969 uprisg at the Stonewall Inn, which is largely creded as the turng pot the gay civil rights movement, has been documented by numero scholars. How did one particular summer settlement on Fire Island bee a ‘safe haven’ for gay men and lbians almost nety years ago, s before the uprisg at Stonewall Inn? It is the se of one of the olst gay and lbian muni the Uned Stat, suated wh two neighborg hamlets — Cherry Grove and the Fire Island P.

BEFORE STONEWALL, CHERRY GROVE: HOW A BEACH TOWN BEME A GAY 'SAFE HAVEN'

Durg the 1930s actors, wrers and craftspeople om the New York theatril world began headg to Cherry Grove, s remote and stic quali allowg for gay and lbians to exprs themselv eely — far away om a world that rejected and persecuted them. And they are joed by Parker Sargent, a documentary filmmaker and one of the curators of Safe Haven: Gay Life 1950s Cherry Grove, a new exhibn at the New-York Historil Society, highlightg photography om the llectn of the Cherry Grove Archiv Collectn.

Hartmann walked down, and what she saw is on display at a new exhib at the New-York Historil Society, as well as chronicled the 1993 book “Cherry Grove, Fire Island: Sixty Years Ameri's First Gay and Lbian Town” by Esther Newton.

Hartmann, now 90, was terviewed for the exhib, “Safe/Haven: Gay Life 1950s Cherry Grove, ” which opens Friday at the New-York Historil Society, on Manhattan's Upper Wt Si.

HOW DID FIRE ISLAND BEE SO GAY?

Hot Hoe, Grove Archiv CollectnCherry Grove was one of the first gay beach towns the Uned Stat, jog a handful of LGBTQ vatn spots and rorts that beme popular the pre-Stonewall era, along wh plac like Provcetown, Massachetts, and Sgatuck-Douglas, Michigan. Cherry Grove Archiv CollectnCherry Grove was different om the cy, where the gay bars were n by the mob, acrdg to Sargent, who scribed the urban waterg hol as “dark and seedy clubs” where “you always had to be reful that the lights would e on, ” signalg a police raid. ” Cherry Grove ntued to evolve after the 1950s, movg om a sanctuary for mostly whe and affluent gay men and women to a more clive place wh the advent of the 1960s, as the civil rights movement gaed tractn and more mercial real tate the area led to affordable hog optns for greater swaths of the muny.

"Cherry Grove Archiv CollectnPart of the missn behd “Safe/Haven: Gay Life 1950s Cherry Grove” is to create an archive where there has been none. “It's gettg that material out there for people to see and to rewre our history a way that has been very blank bee we tend to thk that gay life started at Stonewall. ” Today, Cherry Grove remas a beloved summer statn for LGBTQ beachgoers, particularly lbians, as has the adjog muny of the Fire Island P, which has tradnally tered to gay men.

CHERRY GROVE, WHERE GAY NEW YORKERS BEME ‘THEIR REAL SELV’

”Article ntu below advertisementIn fact, Cherry Grove beme known as “Ameri’s First Gay and Lbian Town, ” the NPS says, and NBC News adds that jos Provcetown, Mass., and Sgatuck-Douglas, Mich., as one of the few pre-Stonewall LGBTQ go on: “Long before the Stonewall Rts set the movement for Gay Liberatn to motn, Fire Island provid an important enclave to rints and visors at a time when almost everythg about livg openly as a lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, or queer person was illegal the Uned Stat. Fire Island – along wh other rort areas such as Provcetown on Cape Cod, Miami's South Beach, the Rsian River north of San Francis, and Rehoboth Beach Delaware – offers queer visors a wele retreat om mastream life, and has e to occupy a proment place gay culture. Cherry Grove beme creasgly popular among gays and lbians the 1930s, as s remote lotn – accsible only by boat – offered them a place to socialize eely beyond the disapprovg gaze of mastream society.

By the 1960s and 1970s, Fire Island's gay reputatn was cemented natnwi – part due to jok by televisn talk-show host Johnny Carson. The rort garnered further attentn 1966, when gay avant-gar poet Frank O'Hara died after he was h by a dune buggy on the beach. Durg the post-Stonewall gay liberatn era, the Grove, and even more so the P, beme famo for their wild parti, all-night dis dancg, abundant sex, and wispread dg e.

"In the 1970s, the P was the epicenter of gay life, a ccible for new ways of thkg about everythg om sexualy to flower arrangg, " wrote journalist Steve Weste. " Many longtime visors died durg the that followed, and social life began to revolve around fundraisers such as Gay Men's Health Crisis' annual Morng Party. Fire Island's glory days and the solatn that followed have been memorated gay men's lerature rangg om Andrew Holleran's Dancer om the Dance (1978) to Larry Kramer's Faggots (1978) to Felice Pino's A Hoe on the Ocean, a Hoe on the Bay (1997).

EVERYTHG WE KNOW ABOUT FIRE ISLAND, A NEW GAY PRI AND PREJUDICE ADAPTATN

LGBT people ntue to be attracted to Fire Island's batn of natural bety, laid-back liftyle, and lively nightlife, but Cherry Grove and Fire Island P have changed wh the gay muny, reflectg s new matury and fay orientatn – or, as some might say, s assiatnism.

While the P' rints rema predomantly gay men, the Grove's nizens now clu queers of all ag, lbian upl wh children, and a growg number of people of lor – although the island's latg hog pric have put out of reach for many. Today, says journalist Jefey Esffier, people flock to Fire Island "not, as earlier generatns did, to experience a safe haven om homophobia, " but rather "to enjoy a social environment that reflects the history of past stggl and that ntu to offer the pleasure of livg towns where homosexualy is the norm. The romantic edy follows a tight-kn group of queer iends over the urse of a weeklong sojourn on Fire Island, a legendary gay holiday statn.

“Especially a place like Fire Island, where sudnly there are no straight people around to opprs and we have to fd ways to opprs one another, we recreate the artificial class systems and other hierarchi that exist the rt of the world but are jt magnified and felt so much more viscerally a place where ’s only gay people. “The movie talks about how Fire Island has been this place where gay men have historilly gone to feel safe, and asks what you do when you feel unsafe there, among your ‘own kd, ’” she said.

FIRE ISLAND IS A TRIP TO GAY HEAVEN—OR IS IT HELL?COMEDIAN JOEL KIM BOOSTER AND SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE’S BOWEN YANG LEAD A JANE ATEN-SPIRED QUEER ROM.BY RICHARD LAWSONJUNE 2, 2022PHOTO BY JEONG PARK. COURTY OF SEARCHLIGHT PICTURSAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVEMY LAST TRIP TO FIRE ISLAND WAS 2019, A BUGGY, GHT WEEK DURG WHICH I FELT WOEFULLY ALIENATED OM MY HOEMAT (BY MY OWN DOG, NOT THEIRS) AND ALTOGETHER LONELY AND OLD AND GROSS AND TIRED. SUCH IS THE PERIL OF GOG TO A PLACE LIKE THAT—A GAY RETREAT THAT PROMIS THE FORTS AND EXCEMENTS OF FAIAR PANY, BUT ALSO HOLDS THE POTENTIAL FOR DIRE JAGS OF SELF-DOUBT. AT THE END OF MY TIME THERE, I GOT ON THE FERRY BACK TO LONG ISLAND AND CID I’D FALLY HAD ENOUGH. I HAD TRIED TO MAKE FIRE ISLAND WORK FOR ME, BUT I’D FAILED, TIME AND TIME AGA.IT’S A LOT EASIER TO RETURN THERE VIRTUAL FORM, NONTG AN IA OF THE PLACE OM A DIGAL DISTANCE RATHER THAN EXPERIENCG THE REAL, VODKA-SOAKED THG. WHICH IS JT WHAT THE NEW HULU FILM FIRE ISLAND (JUNE 3) OFFERS TO BOTH FIRE ISLAND VETERAN AND VIRG. DIRECTED BY ANDREW AHN AND WRTEN BY JOEL KIM BOOSTER, WHO ALSO STARS, FIRE ISLAND IS A ROMANTIC EDY OF MANNERS BASED ON JANE ATEN’S PRI AND PREJUDICE. GIVEN THE STRICT AND VEXG HIERARCHI OF FIRE ISLAND, KIM BOOSTER’S CHOICE OF TEMPLATE IS AN APT ONE. ALL OF ATEN’S Y AND PRICKLY SOCIAL MANVERG EASILY MAPS ONTO THE PARTICULAR GAY ESYSTEM PICTED THE FILM—TERPTED, OF URSE, BY VERY MORN BURSTS OF SEX AND DGS. THE GREATT ASSET OF FIRE ISLAND IS THE ISLAND SELF. MUCH OF THE FILM WAS SHOT ON LOTN THE LATE SUMMER AND EARLY FALL OF LAST YEAR, WHICH GIV THE FILM A CCIAL SPECIFICY. THOSE OF WHO’VE BEEN TO THE ISLAND BEFORE, FOR BETTER OR WORSE, MAY MORE POTENTLY REGNIZE THE STRANGE SIGNIFINCE OF SEEG, SAY, THE ICE PALACE LOOMG LARGE A GLOSSY, BUZZED-ABOUT MOVIE RELEASED ON A STREAMG PLATFORM OWNED BY DISNEY. BUT EVEN IF THE PLAC MEAN LTLE OR NOTHG TO A VIEWER, I’D THK THEY’LL STILL FEEL THE ENVELOPG PULL OF THE FILM’S GRANULAR TEXTURE, THE KEEN SENSE OF PLACE THAT SO MANY MOVI—FILMED ON ATLANTA SOUND STAG OR CANADIAN CI DRSED UP TO LOOK LIKE SOMETHG ELSE—SEEM TO LACK THE DAYS.AHN BATH THIS TH, SCRAGGLY LE OF SAND ACHG HU. HE AND CEMATOGRAPHER FELIPE VARA REY HAVE PTURED THE ROSY HAZE OF MAGIL SUMMER, KISSED BY WARM SUN AND FLECKED WH TWILIGHT DARKNS. (THE FILM’S WOOZY, INSTAGRAM-FILTER LOOK IS PERHAPS REMISCENT OF THE SHORT-LIVED GAY HBO SERI LOOKG—THOUGH I REALIZE THAT PARISON MAY READ AS NEGATIVE TO SOME. I MEAN A GOOD WAY.) AHN HAS SET A LOVELY STAGE FOR BUDDG ROMANCE AND FOR THE DULL PANGS OF VATN MALAISE. FIRE ISLAND PRENTS A WORLD BOTH SPRIGHTLY AND SOMBER, BEFTG OF THIS PARTY MEC WHERE EVEN A QUIET AFTERNOON BY THE POOL RRI WH AN ANX CH. KIM BOOSTER PLAYS NOAH, A HANDSOME, BED-HOPPG NURSE WHO IS MAKG AN ANNUAL PILGRIMAGE TO FIRE ISLAND WH HIS ART IENDS. HOWIE (BOWEN YANG) IS VISG OM SAN FRANCIS, WHERE HE HAS MPED TO FOR A JOB TECH. ZANY SIKICKS KEEGAN (TOMáS MATOS), LE (MATT ROGERS), AND MAX (TORIAN MILLER) HAVE MA THEIR WAY OUT OM THE CY, READY TO WHOOP UP AND OFFER CUTTG MENTARY. THE CHARACTERS ARE, AS THEY MIGHT BE A NOVEL, TAILED FOR BY NOAH’S NARRATN, WHICH ALSO GIV THE UNIATED A QUICK OVERVIEW OF THE LAY OF THE LAND—A B OF PROBABLY NECSARY EXPOSN GIVEN THAT FIRE ISLAND IS NOT AN ACCSIBLE PLACE FOR MOST PEOPLE, GEOGRAPHILLY AND FANCIALLY. MONEY IS ONE OF THE FILM’S PERSISTENT NCERNS. THE BOYS’ HOST, EARTHY-KOOKY LBIAN ER (MARGARET CHO), WILL HAVE TO SELL HER BELOVED HOE AFTER LOSG MOST OF HER MONEY BY VTG QUIBI. (A FUNNY EVOTN OF THE DOOMED STREAMER THAT WAS ONCE MEANT TO BE THE HOME OF A TV SERI THAT LATER BEME THIS FILM.) THAT PUTS THE IENDS STARK NTRAST TO THE RICH GUYS ON THE OCEANONT SI OF THE ISLAND, SNOOTY MCLE GODS WHO ARE, THE FILM POTEDLY REGNIZ, ALMOST UNIFORMLY WHE. AS ASIAN MEN ON AN ISLAND—AND WH A BROAR MUNY—THAT IS OFTEN NOXLY PREJUDICED AGAST THEM, NOAH AND HOWIE MT NTEND WH BEG OSTRACIZED A PLACE THAT IS, OSTENSIBLY, SUPPOSED TO BE A WELG HAVEN. THE PA AND TRATN OF THAT IS SPOKEN ALOUD THE FILM, BUT KIM BOOSTER ALSO LETS HOVER QUIETLY, BUT SISTENTLY, THE SUBTEXT OF MANY OTHER LOAD NVERSATNS. FIRE ISLAND IS NOT MEANT TO BE A PANACEA FOR THIS PROBLEM— IS, AFTER ALL, NOT NOAH AND HOWIE’S, NOR AHN’S AND KIM BOOSTER’S, PROBLEM TO SOLVE. THE FILM IS STEAD A NARRATIVE ABOUT PEOPLE NAVIGATG A DIFFICULT REALY, TRYG TO WRTLE A GOOD, FULFILLG TIME OUT OF A CIRCUMSTANCE THAT SOMETIM SEEMS TERMED TO PRIVE THEM OF THAT. THAT SERNS IS TERTG DIALOGUE, IF NOT ALWAYS PERFECT BALANCE, WH THE FILM’S BAWDIER, RNCHIER DIMENSNS. MOST POPULARAND JT LIKE THAT… PREPAR FOR ITS LAST SUPPERBY CHRIS MURPHYRILEY KEOUGH ON GROWG UP PRLEY, LOSG LISA MARIE, AND INHERG GRACELANDBY BRT HENNEMUTHTHE TV MOVIE IS MAKG A WEIRD, WONRFUL COMEBACKBY DAVID CANFIELDTHERE ARE ALSO TENSNS WH HOWIE AND NOAH’S IENDSHIP TO BE ALT WH. HOWIE IS SECURE ABOUT HIS BODY AND HIS NERDY AWKWARDNS, SO UN-REFLECTED NOAH’S RIPPLED AME AND SEX-HAPPY JOIE VIVRE. WE GET THE IMPRSN THAT NOAH’S GROOVE IS A LTLE B NEW—ONCE, MAYBE, HOWIE SAW THEM MORE AS PEERS. THAT SAD DYNAMIC, ONE THAT MANY GAY MEN (AND OTHER PEOPLE, OF URSE) WILL FD ALL TOO RELATABLE, IS SHARPLY ADDRSED THE FILM. THOUGH, I WISH THAT FIRE ISLAND SPENT EVEN MORE TIME VTIGATG THE AILG MECHANICS OF THIS VAL IENDSHIP. THE MOMENTS OF NFSN AND ARGUMENT ARE WHEN FIRE ISLAND FEELS MOST PERSONAL, MOST TIMATE. BUT BEFORE LONG, ALAS, THE BS, AND BYNS, OF THE FILM’S PLOT MT BE ATTEND TO. LOVE TERTS POP UP AT TEA DANC, AS THEY’RE WONT TO DO. FOR NOAH THERE IS THE FILM’S MR. DARCY, WILL (CONRAD RIMORA), A STERN AND HUNKY LAWYER WHOSE CHILLY REACTN TO NOAH’S VERVE DO, OF URSE, MASK A DAWNG ATTRACTN. FOR HOWIE THERE IS THE BABY-FACED CHARLIE (JAM SCULLY), WHOSE MEAN-GIRL IENDS AND OBNOX EX-BOYIEND NTUALLY THWART HIS FLIRTATNS WH HOWIE. SATISFYG NCLNS TO THE ROMANTIC TRAVAILS ARE REACHED BY THE END, AS THEY MT BE, WHILE ALONG THE WAY THERE IS SOME TRIGUE WH A SOLICO INSTAGAY, DEX (ZANE PHILLIPS), WHO’S UP TO NO GOOD, AND A FEW PS FOR HIGH-EDY ANTICS OM KEEGAN AND LE. THOSE MANY MOVG PARTS ARE JUGGLED WELL ENOUGH BY AHN AND KIM BOOSTER—THOUGH, THROUGHOUT THE FILM THEY SEEM UNCERTA IF THEY WANT THIS TO BE A PROBG SOCIAL EDY OR A GALS-ON-VAY LARK. IT N BE BOTH, SURELY, BUT FIRE ISLAND HAS TROUBLE BLENDG THOSE HALV TO A HIVE WHOLE. THAT SAID, ’S MENDABLE THAT THE FILM SO ANKLY, SO AIRILY, PICTS THE ISLAND’S RNAL DULGENC. MAYBE ALL OF THAT STG SOMEWHAT DISRDANTLY ALONGSI THE MHIER, GENTLER STUFF IS A WORTHY APPROXIMATN OF WHAT IS TO BE ON FIRE ISLAND: HORNED UP AND MELANCHOLY, ADDLED BY BOTH CHEMILS AND RELENTLS HEAV OF EMOTN. IN THAT ASPECT, FIRE ISLAND GETS JT ABOUT RIGHT—M THE MOSQUO.MORE GREAT STORI FROM VANY FAIRRILEY KEOUGH ON GROWG UP PRLEY, INHERG GRACELAND, AND MORETE CRIME, TE FAH: THE SERIAL KILLER AND THE TEXAS MOM WHO STOPPED HIMTHE TAN SUBMERSIBLE DISASTER WAS YEARS THE MAKG, NEW DETAILS REVEALWHY THE GEIA INDICTMENT AGAST TMP AND HIS ALLI IS THE MOST SWEEPG YETIVANKA TMP IS NOT LETTG HER DAD’S MOUNTG LEGAL WO RU HER SUMMERA NEW SLIM AARONS BOOK CAPTUR A LOST WORLDTHE 25 BT SHOWS ON NETFLIX TO WATCH RIGHT NOWFROM THE ARCHIVE: TOO HEPBURN FOR HOLLYWOOD (2006)RICHARD LAWSON

Part of s power is that skillfully balanc the more ser them wh a distctly gay sense of humor: Be on the lookout for a hysteril scene volvg the game Heads Up!

Especially a place like Fire Island, where sudnly there are no straight people around to opprs and we have to fd ways to opprs one other, we recreate the artificial class systems and other hierarchi that exist the rt of the world but are jt magnified and felt so much more viscerally a place where ’s only gay people. I ma a very small, gay Korean Amerin movie lled “Spa Night” back 2016, and I jt assumed that the pennt film world would be where I’d stay for my entire reer bee of the typ of stori I want to tell. Cho: The movie talks about how Fire Island has been this place where gay men have historilly gone to feel safe, and asks what you do when you feel unsafe there, among your “own kd.

It remds me of the time I was at a party and a gay guy beme fur when another gay guy fot that Elizabeth Berkley is “Showgirls.

A GAY GUI TO FIRE ISLAND

And ’s always so heated bee I thk that, as gay men, we often assume that we’re all nsumg the same culture, and that’s actually not te.

I know that I share that experience wh you and wh many other queer people, and I jt wanted to take a moment to honor the gay clatn for diva worship. Art & Dign|Cherry Grove, Where Gay New Yorkers Beme ‘Their Real Selv’ ADVERTISEMENTCherry Grove, Where Gay New Yorkers Beme ‘Their Real Selv’In the 1950s, the Fire Island hamlet was a refuge for gay men and lbians. Muny took shape among New Yorkers on a remote Fire Island hamlet known as Cherry, visors spent summer weekends sunbathg and partyg, formg one of the untry’s first gay beach towns when beg openly gay uld rult ostracism or imprisonment.

The imag “Safe/Haven: Gay Life 1950s Cherry Grove” e om the Cherry Grove Archiv Collectn, a volunteer anizatn formed 2011, about 40 years after the muny archivist Harold Seeley began assemblg Historil Society; Glenn Grove Archiv CollectnSome of the photographs show the quotidian ease and enjoyment that me wh exprsg outlawed sexualy a safe space: In one, a pair of men kiss at a hoe party; another, two women s close together on the beach. The photographer Richard Avedon and his wife were also the photographers behd the imag rema mostly unknown, many were likely the gay whe men who first began to filtrate the island the late 1940s and 1950s, followed by lbians.

‘FIRE ISLAND’: MEET THE POWER TR BEHD THE SUMMER’S SWEETT, FUNNIT GAY ROM-COM

Acceptance — and the joy characteristic of the place — foretold the flourishg of gay and lbian life New York Cy and beyond, she said.

” Kravz/Cherry Grove Archiv CollectnA versn of this article appears prt on, Sectn C, Page 13 of the New York edn wh the headle: Gay New Yorkers Beg, the 1950s. While some may only have bee aware of Fire Island when the gay rom- me out last year, the popular queer mec actually has a long and rich untold stori of this formerly-sleepy beach town turned gay party spot is the subject of Fdg Fire Island, a new podst by the Broadway Podst seri was created, executive produced and narrated by Hot Tak & Deep Div host Js Rothschild, who was also one of the foundg wrers of Autostraddle, and boasts terviews wh Fire Island stars Margret Cho, Joel Kim Booster, and Matt RogersFdg Fire Island will take listeners on a journey through the history of Fire Island, om the hamlets of Cherry Grove and The P to dg fueled parti and moments of queer joy. As an owner of a hoe there, I n tell you that Fire Island as a whole do not attract a gay crowd, but that there are but two towns famo for their largely gay populatn -- the P and Cherry Grove.

Asi om the high end rtrants, art galleri, clubs and antique stor, home purchased up and g gay neighborhoods are sted to go up value.

“SOMETHG SPECIAL AND UNIQUE AND GAY”: YOUR FIRST LOOK AT FIRE ISLAND

As Searchlight Pictur scrib, the film is an "unapologetic, morn day rom- showsg a diverse, multicultural examatn of queerns and romance" centerg on two bt iends (Joel Kim Booster and Bowen Yang) who set out to have an unfettable summer 's everythg we know about the From Town & CountryJoel Kim Booster and Bowen Yang lead the Yang and Joel Kim Booster Fire ParkBooster stars as Noah, a "happily, fiantly sgle" gay man, and Yang stars as his bt iend Howie. Such is the peril of gog to a place like that—a gay retreat that promis the forts and excements of faiar pany, but also holds the potential for dire jags of self-doubt.

All of Aten’s y and prickly social manverg easily maps onto the particular gay esystem picted the film—terpted, of urse, by very morn bursts of sex and dgs. (The film’s woozy, Instagram-filter look is perhaps remiscent of the short-lived gay HBO seri Lookg—though I realize that parison may read as negative to some. Fire Island is referenced a lot popular culture, for example the Fire Island TV seri and a new gay Pri and Prejudice adaptatn set on Fire Island.

The optns below should give you spiratn on where to start when you vis Fire Bars and Clubs Fire IslandThere are plenty of gay bars and nightclubs Fire Island to satisfy your cursy. It also has a large dance floor and rotatg DJs, to keep you groovg the night hotels Fire IslandFire Island's populary wh the LGBTQ+ muny as a statn means that, by extensn all of the hotels are gay-iendly at the mimum.

‘FIRE ISLAND’ IS THE RARE MOVIE WHERE EFFEMATE GAY MEN ARE IN ON THE JOKE

This mak easier when choosg a hotel here, as you don't have to worry too much about the of the hotels the area are gay-owned and n, providg a tailored stay by hosts that unrstand the needs of an LGBTQ+ Dune Pot Gut Hoe is a gay-owned hotel loted the party hot spot, Cherry Grove. Set at New York’s famed gay vatn statn, “Fire Island” is a heartfelt and hilar “Pri and Prejudice” riff, set to the tune of a queer iend group navigatg the toxic landm of gay male social hierarchy. But the film is undoubtedly Booster’s baby, and wh Yang’s star power and Ahn’s creative guidance, “Fire Island” marks a new era not only for Asian Amerin film but also mastream gay edi.

“If you want to get technil about , started 2016 as a threat, ” Booster said of the day the gay “Pri and Prejudice” ia vised him.