Fire Island: Why We’re Exced About This New Gay Rom-Com

Contents:

• THE VERY GAY HISTORY OF FIRE ISLAND
• FIRE ISLAND GAY TRAVEL
• BEFORE STONEWALL, CHERRY GROVE: HOW A BEACH TOWN BEME A GAY 'SAFE HAVEN'
• FIRE ISLAND: WHY WE’RE EXCED ABOUT THIS NEW GAY ROM-COM
• HOW FIRE ISLAND GOT ITS LGBT THEATER BACKCURTA UPCARSON MCCULLERS HELPED ANIZE THE FIRST PRODUCTNS AT CHERRY GROVE COMMUNY HOE AND THEATER THE LATE 1940S. THIS SUMMER THE THEATER’S $1.5M RTORATN WILL BE PLETE.CHARL SHAFAIEHUPDATED JUL. 01, 2017 8:46PM EDT / PUBLISHED JUL. 02, 2017 12:00AM EDT SETH WENIG/APEVERY PARTY IS A THEME PARTY FIRE ISLAND’S CHERRY GROVE, WHERE THE EQUENT CLICK-CLICK ON THE BOARDWALKS MAK RINTS WONR: ER HOOV OR A DRAG QUEEN’S HEELS? THIS IS NOT THE POPULAR IMAGE OF THE SUMMER “GAY UTOPIA.” MOST NJURE PANORAMAS OF MCLE PARTI, “CHELSEA BOYS,” AND LAVISH HOM WH PRISTE POOLS, BUT THAT’S THE P—THE LARGER AND RELATIVELY NEWER (1950S, PARED TO 1868) TOWN OF RECENT REALY-TELEVISN FAME. IN CHERRY GROVE, THE MORE LAID-BACK BEACH LONY NEXT DOOR DUBBED “AMERI’S FIRST GAY AND LBIAN TOWN” BY ANTHROPOLOGIST ESTHER NEWTON, THE THEATRIL IS EVER-PRENT. THIS PENCHANT FOR DRSG UP, WHETHER FOR A VEIAN MASQUERA OR GATSBY BASH, IS NOT JT AN EXPRSN OF MP. IT IS AN SENTIAL PART OF LIFE THAT TRAC BACK 70 YEARS, WHEN A VVILLE REVUE ENTLED THE CHERRY GROVE FOLLI OF 1948 WAS PERFORMED AT WHAT WOULD SOON TURN TO THE CHERRY GROVE COMMUNY HOE AND THEATRE. IN 2013, THIS BUILDG BEME THE THIRD OF ONLY FIVE LGBTQ S ON THE NATNAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLAC.IN AUGT, NEAR THE END OF A RICH EVENT SEASON THAT CLUS A PERFORMANCE BY JT VIVIAN BOND AND THE ANNUAL CHERRY GROVE PRI PARA WH DOMA VANQUISHER EDIE WDSOR AS THIS YEAR’S GRAND MARSHAL, THE SIX-YEAR FUNDRAISG AND FULL-SLE RENSTCTN OF THE HOE WILL BE PLETE.FIRE ISLAND’S SEPARATN OM THE MALAND HAS ALWAYS GIVEN LGBTQ PEOPLE THERE A SENSE OF EEDOM, WHETHER OM BIGOTED “LEWDNS LAWS” OR THE JEERS OF JUDGMENTAL NEIGHBORS. PROMENT GAY AND LBIAN CULTURAL FIGUR CLUDG W. H. AUN, NOëL COWARD, CHRISTOPHER ISHERWOOD, AND PATRICIA HIGHSMH NO DOUBT FELT THIS AS THEY SPENT TIME AMONG THE GROVE’S IDYLLIC BEACH AND R-EE BOARDWALKS. IN S EARLY DAYS AS A THRIVG SUMMER STATN, ONE PARTICULAR GROUP, A MANHATTAN THEATRE SET, FED THE HAMLET AS A CENTER FOR LIVE THEATRE AS WELL. AUTHOR CARSON MCCULLERS, PRODUCER-DIRECTOR CHERYL CRAWFORD (FOUNR OF THE ACTORS STUD), ACTRS MARCELLA SWANSON AND BERTHA BELMORE, AND THEATER CRIC GEE FREEDLEY HELPED ANIZE THAT BAREBON FIRST PRODUCTN 1948. CGAC AUDIENC ME OM AROUND THE THIRTY-ONE-E-LONG ISLAND AND NEARBY LONG ISLAND, WHERE THIS TYPE OF ENTERTAMENT WAS SRCE, AND EVEN AS FAR AS NEW YORK CY. EXCEMENT WAS SO HIGH AFTERWARDS THAT PARTI WERE HELD MANHATTAN TO RAISE MONEY FOR A THEATRE-CENTERED EXPANSN OF THE C.1900, SHGLE-VERED RRIAGE HOE THAT UNTIL THEN WAS ED ONLY AS A MEETG SPACE. RICHARD AVEDON, ANOTHER EQUENT RINT, NTRIBUTED TO THE PROJECT BY DONATG PROFS OM SAL OF PHOTOGRAPHS HE TOOK AT A FUNDRAISG HALLOWEEN FêTE. BY THE SUMMER OF 1949 AND THE RETURN OF THE FOLLI, A PROSCENIUM AND ORCHTRA P WERE PLACE.GAY THEATRE, LIKE QUEERNS SELF, RISTS A FIXED FN. IN THE GROVE, TWO CHARACTERISTICS STAND OUT. BROADWAY THE 1940S AND ‘50S WAS HOSTILE TO QUEER PEOPLE, JT AS THE HAYS CO SPECIFILLY TARGETED LGBTQ ACTORS AND THEM HOLLYWOOD, MAKG DIFFICULT FOR MAJORY-GAY OR EVEN GAY-CLIVE CREATIVE TEAMS TO MOUNT PRODUCTNS. BUT GAY AND STRAIGHT PEOPLE WORKED SI-BY-SI FOR S ON PRODUCTNS AT THE COMMUNY HOE AND THEATRE, JT AS THEY LIVED, DRANK, AND TANNED TOGETHER ON THE BEACH. SENDLY, THE FOLLI AND SUBSEQUENT SHOWS, CLUDG THE STORIED 1950 PRODUCTN BERTHE OF A NATN (A GENR-FLECTED PARODY OF THE 1915 D. W. GRIFFHS FILM), FOCED ON TONGUE-AND-CHEEK HUMOR, DOUBLE ENTENDRE, AND FLUIDY OF GENR, PECIALLY THROUGH DRAG.THIS HISTORY HAD BEEN FOTTEN BY MOST CHERRY GROVE RINTS, MANY OF WHOM NSIRED SUCH ENTERTAMENT AS JT A B OF LOW-BROW, SILLY FUN. BUT 2010, WHEN A BUILDG SPECTN OF THE HOE REVEALED THAT EHER NEED TEARG DOWN OR IMMEDIATE, EXTENSIVE REPAIR, A CHANGE OF PERCEPTN OCCURRED. CARL LS AID BY REARCH UNRTAKEN BY RINT HISTORIAN CARL LS, PEOPLE BEGAN TO UNRSTAND THE SE’S UNIQUE PLACE GAY CULTURE. DEMOLN THEN BEME NCEIVABLE, AND DONATNS OM THE MUNY POURED . “THE RTORATN REVALIZED THE MUNY,” SAID JAM CRAPOTTA, A RETIRED BARNARD COLLEGE PROFSOR AND LONGTIME GROVE RINT. “IT GAVE A DIFFERENT SENSE OF PURPOSE. SAVG THE HOE BEME ABOUT SAVG OUR HISTORY AND, A WAY, CHERRY GROVE SELF.” THOUGH THE MUNY PROVID THE BULK OF THE $1.5 LN NEED, THE ERNMENT ALSO ASSISTED WHEN THE SE WAS MA THAT THIS WASN’T JT ANOTHER TY MUNY THEATRE. THE FERAL AND STATE-LEVEL SUPPORT CULMATED THE NATNAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLAC REGNN AND A FORMAL VIS BY NEW YORK SENATOR KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND WHO LLED THE SE “THE FIRST CIVIC ENTY TO TEGRATE GAY AND LBIAN TERTS TO ERNANCE AND SOCIAL LIFE.”BUT RTORATN DO NOT GUARANTEE CREASED TICKET SAL. “IN THE 1970S AND ‘80S, WE WOULD SELL OUT FIVE SHOWS, REVU, AND ALL KDS OF FUN THGS EACH SEASON,” SAID THOM “PANZI” HANSEN, PRINT OF THE ARTS PROJECT OF CHERRY GROVE (APCG). “SCE THE ‘90S, HOWEVER, PEOPLE STOPPED BUYG TICKETS. IT’S AN AGG PROCS—PEOPLE OFTEN NEED TO LIVE HERE FOR TEN YEARS OR SO BEFORE THEY BEG TO UNRSTAND THE MUNY. “THERE’S AN UPSWG SAL OF LATE, AND WE’RE ALSO BRGG DIFFERENT ARTISTS LIKE THERA CAPUTO, ‘THE LONG ISLAND MEDIUM.’ THE YOUNG PEOPLE ARE STARTG TO E, AND THE DRAG QUEENS PECIALLY BRG THEIR IENDS!” REGARDLS OF DIENCE SIZE, POMP IS NEVER SPARED FOR AN ARPG EVENT: THAT SEASON’S HOMEG QUEEN, ELECTED AT A MEMORIAL DAY PAGEANT, ENTERS TO “GOD SAVE THE QUEEN.” CARL LS THE HOE REMAS AN TEGRAL PART OF THE EVER-CHANGG BUT NSTANT ARTISTIC PRENCE CHERRY GROVE. VISUAL ART HAS CREASED S PROMENCE WH THE FIRE ISLAND ARTIST RINCY (FIAR) PROGRAM. “FIAR IS THE FIRST PROGRAM OF S KD THE UNED STAT EXCLIVELY FOR LGBTQ ARTISTS,” SAID CHRIS BOGIA, A NEW YORK ARTIST WHO FOUND FIAR 2011. THE FIRST SEASON HAD SEVENTY-FIVE APPLINTS FOR FIVE SPOTS; THIS YEAR, ABOUT FOUR-HUNDRED APPLITNS, OM AROUND THE WORLD, WERE RECEIVED. “IT’S WELL KNOWN THAT FIRE ISLAND’S LGBTQ MUNY HAS EP ROOTS THE PERFORMG ARTS, BUT CELEBRATED VISUAL ARTISTS LIKE ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE AND DAVID HOCKNEY WERE HERE TOO,” SAID BOGIA. “FIAR ARTISTS NTUE THAT LEGACY OF VISUAL-ARTS PRODUCTN AS THEY EXPERIENCE THIS AMAZG MUNY, WHERE PEOPLE OF EVERY GENR EXPRSN, AGE, AND LOR E TOGETHER.”INSTEAD OF STG DARK FOR MOST OF THE SEASON AS ONCE DID, THE HOE NOW FUNCTNS AS A TE MUNY CENTER FOR EVERY ASPECT OF SOCIAL LIFE, OM SUNDAY CHURCH SERVICE AND AN OPERA DISCSN GROUP TO AL-ANON MEETGS AND YOGA SSNS.THE FAL RTORATN WORK IS SCHLED TO WRAP UP AUGT TIME FOR THE ANNUAL HONORS DNER CELEBRATG THIS YEAR’S NOMATED CHERRY GROVERS FOR THEIR NTRIBUTNS TO THE MUNY. FOR THE FIRST TIME, WILL BE HELD AT THE HOE. $40,000 FOR A NEW SOUND SYSTEM NEEDS RAISG NEXT—WHICH MEANS MORE FUNDRAISG THEME PARTI.NEXT YEAR’S CULTURAL LENDAR WILL BE POSTED THE SPRG. CHERRY GROVERS DO NOT CLG TO THEIR DATEBOOKS AS THEY MIGHT THE CY THOUGH, AN EFFECT OF THE SATISFYG HAZE AFFECTNATELY LLED “BEACH BRA” THAT TAK OVER ANYONE WHO SPENDS EVEN A FEW HOURS THERE. CHARL SHAFAIEH

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.

FIRE ISLAND GAY TRAVEL

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. Listen Now: The Very Gay History of Fire Island.

FIRE ISLAND: WHY WE’RE EXCED ABOUT THIS NEW GAY ROM-COM

Go see the show Safe/Haven: Gay Life 1950s Cherry Grove at the New-York Historil Society. The Gay Travel Experience: Fire Island P, New York. Only reachable by ferry and nnected entirely by boardwalks, the seclud Fire Island P and Cherry Grove neighborhoods are tly a gay paradise.

They’ve grown to bee one of the most popular gay statns the world as a summer retreat. Fire Island P was historilly a safe haven for gay men to exprs themselv eely.

HOW FIRE ISLAND GOT ITS LGBT THEATER BACKCURTA UPCARSON MCCULLERS HELPED ANIZE THE FIRST PRODUCTNS AT CHERRY GROVE COMMUNY HOE AND THEATER THE LATE 1940S. THIS SUMMER THE THEATER’S $1.5M RTORATN WILL BE PLETE.CHARL SHAFAIEHUPDATED JUL. 01, 2017 8:46PM EDT / PUBLISHED JUL. 02, 2017 12:00AM EDT SETH WENIG/APEVERY PARTY IS A THEME PARTY FIRE ISLAND’S CHERRY GROVE, WHERE THE EQUENT CLICK-CLICK ON THE BOARDWALKS MAK RINTS WONR: ER HOOV OR A DRAG QUEEN’S HEELS? THIS IS NOT THE POPULAR IMAGE OF THE SUMMER “GAY UTOPIA.” MOST NJURE PANORAMAS OF MCLE PARTI, “CHELSEA BOYS,” AND LAVISH HOM WH PRISTE POOLS, BUT THAT’S THE P—THE LARGER AND RELATIVELY NEWER (1950S, PARED TO 1868) TOWN OF RECENT REALY-TELEVISN FAME. IN CHERRY GROVE, THE MORE LAID-BACK BEACH LONY NEXT DOOR DUBBED “AMERI’S FIRST GAY AND LBIAN TOWN” BY ANTHROPOLOGIST ESTHER NEWTON, THE THEATRIL IS EVER-PRENT. THIS PENCHANT FOR DRSG UP, WHETHER FOR A VEIAN MASQUERA OR GATSBY BASH, IS NOT JT AN EXPRSN OF MP. IT IS AN SENTIAL PART OF LIFE THAT TRAC BACK 70 YEARS, WHEN A VVILLE REVUE ENTLED THE CHERRY GROVE FOLLI OF 1948 WAS PERFORMED AT WHAT WOULD SOON TURN TO THE CHERRY GROVE COMMUNY HOE AND THEATRE. IN 2013, THIS BUILDG BEME THE THIRD OF ONLY FIVE LGBTQ S ON THE NATNAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLAC.IN AUGT, NEAR THE END OF A RICH EVENT SEASON THAT CLUS A PERFORMANCE BY JT VIVIAN BOND AND THE ANNUAL CHERRY GROVE PRI PARA WH DOMA VANQUISHER EDIE WDSOR AS THIS YEAR’S GRAND MARSHAL, THE SIX-YEAR FUNDRAISG AND FULL-SLE RENSTCTN OF THE HOE WILL BE PLETE.FIRE ISLAND’S SEPARATN OM THE MALAND HAS ALWAYS GIVEN LGBTQ PEOPLE THERE A SENSE OF EEDOM, WHETHER OM BIGOTED “LEWDNS LAWS” OR THE JEERS OF JUDGMENTAL NEIGHBORS. PROMENT GAY AND LBIAN CULTURAL FIGUR CLUDG W. H. AUN, NOëL COWARD, CHRISTOPHER ISHERWOOD, AND PATRICIA HIGHSMH NO DOUBT FELT THIS AS THEY SPENT TIME AMONG THE GROVE’S IDYLLIC BEACH AND R-EE BOARDWALKS. IN S EARLY DAYS AS A THRIVG SUMMER STATN, ONE PARTICULAR GROUP, A MANHATTAN THEATRE SET, FED THE HAMLET AS A CENTER FOR LIVE THEATRE AS WELL. AUTHOR CARSON MCCULLERS, PRODUCER-DIRECTOR CHERYL CRAWFORD (FOUNR OF THE ACTORS STUD), ACTRS MARCELLA SWANSON AND BERTHA BELMORE, AND THEATER CRIC GEE FREEDLEY HELPED ANIZE THAT BAREBON FIRST PRODUCTN 1948. CGAC AUDIENC ME OM AROUND THE THIRTY-ONE-E-LONG ISLAND AND NEARBY LONG ISLAND, WHERE THIS TYPE OF ENTERTAMENT WAS SRCE, AND EVEN AS FAR AS NEW YORK CY. EXCEMENT WAS SO HIGH AFTERWARDS THAT PARTI WERE HELD MANHATTAN TO RAISE MONEY FOR A THEATRE-CENTERED EXPANSN OF THE C.1900, SHGLE-VERED RRIAGE HOE THAT UNTIL THEN WAS ED ONLY AS A MEETG SPACE. RICHARD AVEDON, ANOTHER EQUENT RINT, NTRIBUTED TO THE PROJECT BY DONATG PROFS OM SAL OF PHOTOGRAPHS HE TOOK AT A FUNDRAISG HALLOWEEN FêTE. BY THE SUMMER OF 1949 AND THE RETURN OF THE FOLLI, A PROSCENIUM AND ORCHTRA P WERE PLACE.GAY THEATRE, LIKE QUEERNS SELF, RISTS A FIXED FN. IN THE GROVE, TWO CHARACTERISTICS STAND OUT. BROADWAY THE 1940S AND ‘50S WAS HOSTILE TO QUEER PEOPLE, JT AS THE HAYS CO SPECIFILLY TARGETED LGBTQ ACTORS AND THEM HOLLYWOOD, MAKG DIFFICULT FOR MAJORY-GAY OR EVEN GAY-CLIVE CREATIVE TEAMS TO MOUNT PRODUCTNS. BUT GAY AND STRAIGHT PEOPLE WORKED SI-BY-SI FOR S ON PRODUCTNS AT THE COMMUNY HOE AND THEATRE, JT AS THEY LIVED, DRANK, AND TANNED TOGETHER ON THE BEACH. SENDLY, THE FOLLI AND SUBSEQUENT SHOWS, CLUDG THE STORIED 1950 PRODUCTN BERTHE OF A NATN (A GENR-FLECTED PARODY OF THE 1915 D. W. GRIFFHS FILM), FOCED ON TONGUE-AND-CHEEK HUMOR, DOUBLE ENTENDRE, AND FLUIDY OF GENR, PECIALLY THROUGH DRAG.THIS HISTORY HAD BEEN FOTTEN BY MOST CHERRY GROVE RINTS, MANY OF WHOM NSIRED SUCH ENTERTAMENT AS JT A B OF LOW-BROW, SILLY FUN. BUT 2010, WHEN A BUILDG SPECTN OF THE HOE REVEALED THAT EHER NEED TEARG DOWN OR IMMEDIATE, EXTENSIVE REPAIR, A CHANGE OF PERCEPTN OCCURRED. CARL LS AID BY REARCH UNRTAKEN BY RINT HISTORIAN CARL LS, PEOPLE BEGAN TO UNRSTAND THE SE’S UNIQUE PLACE GAY CULTURE. DEMOLN THEN BEME NCEIVABLE, AND DONATNS OM THE MUNY POURED . “THE RTORATN REVALIZED THE MUNY,” SAID JAM CRAPOTTA, A RETIRED BARNARD COLLEGE PROFSOR AND LONGTIME GROVE RINT. “IT GAVE A DIFFERENT SENSE OF PURPOSE. SAVG THE HOE BEME ABOUT SAVG OUR HISTORY AND, A WAY, CHERRY GROVE SELF.” THOUGH THE MUNY PROVID THE BULK OF THE $1.5 LN NEED, THE ERNMENT ALSO ASSISTED WHEN THE SE WAS MA THAT THIS WASN’T JT ANOTHER TY MUNY THEATRE. THE FERAL AND STATE-LEVEL SUPPORT CULMATED THE NATNAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLAC REGNN AND A FORMAL VIS BY NEW YORK SENATOR KIRSTEN GILLIBRAND WHO LLED THE SE “THE FIRST CIVIC ENTY TO TEGRATE GAY AND LBIAN TERTS TO ERNANCE AND SOCIAL LIFE.”BUT RTORATN DO NOT GUARANTEE CREASED TICKET SAL. “IN THE 1970S AND ‘80S, WE WOULD SELL OUT FIVE SHOWS, REVU, AND ALL KDS OF FUN THGS EACH SEASON,” SAID THOM “PANZI” HANSEN, PRINT OF THE ARTS PROJECT OF CHERRY GROVE (APCG). “SCE THE ‘90S, HOWEVER, PEOPLE STOPPED BUYG TICKETS. IT’S AN AGG PROCS—PEOPLE OFTEN NEED TO LIVE HERE FOR TEN YEARS OR SO BEFORE THEY BEG TO UNRSTAND THE MUNY. “THERE’S AN UPSWG SAL OF LATE, AND WE’RE ALSO BRGG DIFFERENT ARTISTS LIKE THERA CAPUTO, ‘THE LONG ISLAND MEDIUM.’ THE YOUNG PEOPLE ARE STARTG TO E, AND THE DRAG QUEENS PECIALLY BRG THEIR IENDS!” REGARDLS OF DIENCE SIZE, POMP IS NEVER SPARED FOR AN ARPG EVENT: THAT SEASON’S HOMEG QUEEN, ELECTED AT A MEMORIAL DAY PAGEANT, ENTERS TO “GOD SAVE THE QUEEN.” CARL LS THE HOE REMAS AN TEGRAL PART OF THE EVER-CHANGG BUT NSTANT ARTISTIC PRENCE CHERRY GROVE. VISUAL ART HAS CREASED S PROMENCE WH THE FIRE ISLAND ARTIST RINCY (FIAR) PROGRAM. “FIAR IS THE FIRST PROGRAM OF S KD THE UNED STAT EXCLIVELY FOR LGBTQ ARTISTS,” SAID CHRIS BOGIA, A NEW YORK ARTIST WHO FOUND FIAR 2011. THE FIRST SEASON HAD SEVENTY-FIVE APPLINTS FOR FIVE SPOTS; THIS YEAR, ABOUT FOUR-HUNDRED APPLITNS, OM AROUND THE WORLD, WERE RECEIVED. “IT’S WELL KNOWN THAT FIRE ISLAND’S LGBTQ MUNY HAS EP ROOTS THE PERFORMG ARTS, BUT CELEBRATED VISUAL ARTISTS LIKE ROBERT MAPPLETHORPE AND DAVID HOCKNEY WERE HERE TOO,” SAID BOGIA. “FIAR ARTISTS NTUE THAT LEGACY OF VISUAL-ARTS PRODUCTN AS THEY EXPERIENCE THIS AMAZG MUNY, WHERE PEOPLE OF EVERY GENR EXPRSN, AGE, AND LOR E TOGETHER.”INSTEAD OF STG DARK FOR MOST OF THE SEASON AS ONCE DID, THE HOE NOW FUNCTNS AS A TE MUNY CENTER FOR EVERY ASPECT OF SOCIAL LIFE, OM SUNDAY CHURCH SERVICE AND AN OPERA DISCSN GROUP TO AL-ANON MEETGS AND YOGA SSNS.THE FAL RTORATN WORK IS SCHLED TO WRAP UP AUGT TIME FOR THE ANNUAL HONORS DNER CELEBRATG THIS YEAR’S NOMATED CHERRY GROVERS FOR THEIR NTRIBUTNS TO THE MUNY. FOR THE FIRST TIME, WILL BE HELD AT THE HOE. $40,000 FOR A NEW SOUND SYSTEM NEEDS RAISG NEXT—WHICH MEANS MORE FUNDRAISG THEME PARTI.NEXT YEAR’S CULTURAL LENDAR WILL BE POSTED THE SPRG. CHERRY GROVERS DO NOT CLG TO THEIR DATEBOOKS AS THEY MIGHT THE CY THOUGH, AN EFFECT OF THE SATISFYG HAZE AFFECTNATELY LLED “BEACH BRA” THAT TAK OVER ANYONE WHO SPENDS EVEN A FEW HOURS THERE. CHARL SHAFAIEH

In ntrast to nearby lmer gay-popular towns like the Hamptons, people e to Fire Island for an actn-packed LGBT getaway.

Before gettg to the tails of this Fire Island gay gui, the sectn below briefly vers the prec history of the Fire Island gay muni.

Brief History of the Fire Island Gay Communy.

When gay and lbian members of society had no protectns agast discrimatn based on sexual orientatn, the hamlets on Fire Island were leral p om mastream life. Over time they have blossomed to today’s wonrful llective Fire Island gay muny. Over the years, the gay muni of Fire Island P and Cherry Grove have ntued to grow populary, even spe stctive events like hurrin and buildg fir.

The LGBT muny has proved rilient matag our sacred gay paradise outsi of btlg New York Cy.

Fire Island Gay Hotels, Rentals & Where to Stay. Both The P and Cherry Grove prise the gay area of Fire Island, where the LGBT muny stays.

They both are jt about 100% gay neighborhoods, not to mentn popular wh many gay celebri and fluential New Yorkers. In my opn, first-time Fire Island gay travelers should stay here sce provis more of the typil experience. There is no ferr area of this gay wonrland.

Fire Island Gay Hotels. While the majory of people stay vatn shar/rentals, there is one gay hotel The P and one Cherry Grove.

Note however, there isn’t necsarily any type of Fire Island gay rort. It’s adjacent to the Ice Palace Nightclub, home to Fire Island’s bt gay unrwear party. Fire Island P Gay Travel Experienc.