The Dolls Invade Fire Island
Fire Island, which has been known as a gay vacation destination for a century and has been referred to as “America’s first gay and lesbian town,” is located off the coast of Sayville, New York. Tirado had the idea for the event after taking a “magical” trip to the island with her friends last summer. “There’s something about the utopian nature of Fire Island,” she described, “Filling it with people that are not usually making trips there, like lesbians and trans people and people of color, and feeling safe there – it felt like it could be ours.”
She was also struck by the historical richness of the island, which has served as a safe haven for queer people since the 1920s and provided refuge to many during the HIV/AIDS crisis of the 80s and 90s. But the island has since become a prohibitively expensive vacation site, overwhelmingly frequented by affluent white cis gay men and strikingly absent of almost anyone else. “It’s disappointing now that it doesn’t really feel as radical as it used to be,” Tirado lamented. “But what if we created that space?”
Tirado assembled a coalition to organize the event, including model Geena Rocero, designer Willie Norris, them EIC Sarah Burke, photographer Hunter Abrams, producer Alyza Enriquez, comedian Honey Pluton, drag artists Chiquitita and Cherry Jaymes, actress and organizer Ianne Fields Stewart, the tattoo artist @faggy_tats, and activist Cecilia Gentili. “It was really a matter of the collective,” Tirado said. “Nobody is the boss. Everybody was activating around the idea and putting in what they could, in real time.”
The inaccessibility of the island still presented an obstacle; the journey typically entails a train ride, shuttle, and ferry, and housing on the island is notoriously expensive to rent. But the organizers were able to provide financial support for trans women to travel to the island to enjoy free food, drinks, weed, and DIY tees by Norris.
When I asked Tirado if she had any personal highlights from the day she wanted to share, she laughed. “None that I can put in print, honestly.” Sounds like my kind of party!
