How New York’s Fire Island became an LGBTQ+ paradise – the long history of the iconic resort
Young women sunbathing at Fire Island beach in the 1960s. (Photo by Jerry Cooke/Getty Images)
Fire Island, which is located in the state of New York in the US, has long been considered an LGBTQ+ utopia.
The thin strip of land off the coast of Long Island features two main gay and lesbian hamlets: Cherry Grove and The Pines. It’s been described as “a gay summer world where time works differently.”
But how did it come to be so popular with LGBTQ+ people? Here’s everything you need to know about this vacation destination, including its long history.
Why is Fire Island famous?
Fire Island has made its mark in several aspects of pop culture over the years, including in novels, films, and music.
This is because Fire Island has long been a “safe haven” for LGBTQ+ people, decades before Stonewall and the gay rights movement began.
Gay men and lesbians began to flock to Fire Island in the 1920s. Initially, many of them were people who worked in or around the theatre industry in New York City.
The island became a symbol of freedom for LGBTQ+ people, offering them a place where they could freely express themselves and their sexuality without judgement or fear of retribution.
Queer people from the city would often go there on holiday. Then, in 1938, a hurricane destroyed many of the houses in Cherry Grove on the island (known as one of its “gay villages”), allowing LGBTQ+ people to buy up property cheaply from the families who previously owned them.
This created what anthropologist Esther Newton called “America’s first gay and lesbian town”.
Fred Koester, a gay man who visited Fire Island for the 1st time in 1954, told Newton of the “wonderful feeling” of being “all of a sudden the majority rather than the minority. I really wanted to be in an all gay environment.”
This is why Fire Island is synonymous with the LGBTQ+ community, and has become a vacation hotspot for modern queer people who want to feel the same freedom that their counterparts did.
More recently, American Horror Story: NYC includes the location in the show, featuring gay characters living there in 1981, while the 2022 romantic comedy Fire Island features a group of gay friends who go there for a week-long holiday and feel like they can be themselves there too.
Things to do on Fire Island
Cards on the table: Fire Island is a boozy, hedonistic, fun-filled place where you can let your inhibitions go.
Academic and writer Gabriele Magni wrote about her time on the island in 2022, saying: “Indulgence often reigns supreme. Alcohol flows freely, smoking happens regularly, sex is a promised reality. It is the satisfaction of the senses, of the experiences so often policed on the mainland.” (Yet, once can be perfectly happy spending a week writing on the island).
“There is no schedule on the island. Waking up, having lunch, having dinner are all ill-defined tasks that can happen at any time of the day. But there are rituals: tea, a sort of booze-infused dancing happy hour. Dancing at the Pavilion. Drag shows. Underwear parties.”
Beyond that, Fire Island is stunning and known for its beaches, trails, and scenic vistas. People visiting can trek up to the lighthouse, go boating, swimming, hiking, surfing, kayaking, and play tennis too.
The official tourism website says that “a weekend at Fire Island gets you back to nature” and has long been “a haven for generations of beach goers, outdoor enthusiasts, and watersport lovers”. Ahem.
How many people live on the island?
Approximately 777 people live there, according to the 2020 census. But there are several thousand seasonal residents, who only live on the island during the summer months – sort of like the Hamptons, but a lot cheaper.
How do you get there?
Fire Island is known as a “car-free paradise”; you can’t drive your car onto the residential part of the island.
But, you can drive to one of three ferry terminals: Bay Shore, Sayville, or Patchogue. From there, there are regular ferries to the island itself.
Alternative, it’s easy to get the train from Penn Station in New York City to each of the ferry terminals too.
British visitors will of course first have to fly in to JFK airport or Newark airport in order to visit Fire Island.
What is New Fire Island?
If Fire Island is a bit too far for you to travel, the good news is that a community of gay men are building a new “gay paradise”, inspired by the original queer residents of Fire Island.
However, it won’t be located in New York but rather it will be somewhere in the Mediterranean, offering a “new European gay vacation destination”.
The developers of New Fire Island say that it will be an “intentional community”, where gay people will come together to find a site, design it, and build the holiday destination of their dreams.
