Throwback Thursday takes a look at iconic Fire Island and Its Gay Impact

August 29, 2024
HANK ORSO

A couple of years ago the romantic comedy Fire Island was released. Loosely based on the classic Jane Austen novel Pride and Prejudice, it introduced a new generation of baby gays to the historical and iconic gay hotspot. This twink-thin strip of land that runs along the south shore of Long Island outside Manhattan has made an indelible imprint in LGBTQ+ history and pop culture. A mecca for wealthy and privileged straights and gays, and those who can save up their pennies for a week's vacation, find what writer Gabriele Magni says is "the satisfaction of the senses, of the experiences so often policed on the mainland.”

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Drinking, dancing, partying, and lots of cruising and sex. This is what Fire Island has really become known for. A hedonistic treasure trove of delights. As Magni wrote: “Indulgence often reigns supreme. Alcohol flows freely, smoking happens regularly, sex is a promised reality."

The island, especially the two focal points centered around Cherry Grove and The Pines, started to become places of queer refuge in the 1920's when gays and allies, often connected to the theater industry, started traveling there as a means of escape and community. They were seeking what Fred Koester, a visitor since the early fifties, was seeking: a “wonderful feeling” of being “all of a sudden the majority rather than the minority. I really wanted to be in an all gay environment.” In fact, anthropologist Esther Newton called it "America's first gay and lesbian town."

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When the island was struck by a hurricane in 1938 which destroyed many homes, it opened up the opportunity for members of the community to buy land in Cherry Grove and The Pines more cheaply. This facilitated the creation of a solid gay community in the area which has only grown and thrived since. A testament to resilience for some, and to the chagrin of others who lament the circuit party atmosphere that can arise.

Yer boy Hank here has only experienced this wonderland in film, and films like Parting Glances and Longtime Companion recognize that along with the party also comes loss and death. Jack Parlett writing for the BBC calls it "a haunted place" before he points out the words of famed gay poet W.H. Auden. Auden was a frequent visitor to the island and wrote in his 1948 poem "Pleasure Island" that the place, a "lenient amusing shore / Knows in fact about all the dyings." The poet Frank O'Hara died in a dune buggy accident on the sands of The Pines, and in the classic Andrew Holloran novel Dancer in the Dark he refers to it as a place of "death and desire."

(And here is where I sidestep the use of Fire Island in American Horror Story: NYC because, well...c'mon, have you seen it?)

As one walks its paths and shores, one can't help but imagine the lives, passions, and losses of those who have walked the same journey. Not counting the decades of former residents, celebrities, and visitors before the 80's, the faces of those long gone due to the AIDS crisis must be staggering.

Parting Glances (1986) features a few key scenes when the main characters are at their youngest and most lively, then flips the script at the end as the island becomes the location where Steve Buscemi's "Nick" lures Richard Ganoung's "Mike" for some best friend reminiscing.

But it's 1989's Longtime Companion that uses the joy and sorrow of the island most effectively. It's a party location for different groups of friends throughout the film, many of whom die off as the film progresses. It culminates in a heart-wrenching finale. Three friends stroll on the empty beach and talk about a big AIDS protest soon to come. In the midst of their dialogue, they stop and imagine a throng of friends and lovers, those lost to time and the disease, returning to their favorite locale.