Gay Guide
Listing and event details can change quickly. Please verify with the venue directly before visiting. Lavender Atlas is not responsible for third-party accuracy.
About LGBTQ+ Fire Island
Fire Island's two gay hamlets are among the oldest queer resort communities in the United States. Cherry Grove was already known as a safe haven by the 1950s, and in 1948 its Community House began staging what is described as America's first gay theatre, which still runs today. In 2013 the Community House and Theatre was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The island is car-free. Ferries cross the Great South Bay from Sayville to both hamlets, and boardwalks link the houses to the bay and the ocean beach. Cherry Grove is the come-as-you-are side, with the Ice Palace at the Grove Hotel, billed as the longest continually running LGBTQIA+ nightclub in the world, and drag, music and sunsets at Cherry's on the Bay.
Show less
Next door, the Pines is the sleeker scene, centred on its harbour. The Blue Whale has been there since 1966, the Pavilion is the dance club and Sip-n-Twirl the harbourside lounge, and the old Botel reopened in May 2026 as The Tryst, a 30-room hotel with a pool club. Afternoons run on the tea dance, starting at the Blue Whale and moving on to the Pavilion.
On 4 July 1976 a boatload of Cherry Grove drag queens sailed to the Pines after Teri Warren had been refused service at the Blue Whale for wearing drag. That protest became the Invasion of the Pines, which marked its 50th year in 2026 with almost 100 queens on the ferry. At the end of July, the Pines Party weekend raises money for the Pines Foundation and other causes with a Saturday night beach party that runs until dawn.
The season runs from Memorial Day to Labor Day and peaks in July and August. Most visitors stay in share houses or in the island's handful of hotels, among them the Grove Hotel and The Madison in the Pines.
A Pines landmark since 1966, credited as the birthplace of the 'Tea Dance,' offering harbor views and a classic social atmosphere.
Gay-popular Fire Island Pines hotel commonly used by NYC LGBTQ+ travelers in-season.
Cherry Grove hotel on the bay and home of the Ice Palace nightclub, both Fire Island staples since the mid-1950s.
Tea dance and dance club at the harbor in Fire Island Pines.
Bayfront bar and restaurant in Cherry Grove with sunset views, drag shows, live music, weekend drag brunch and dancing, open for the summer season.
The harbour hotel in Fire Island Pines, long known as the Botel, reopened by Tryst Hospitality in May 2026 with 30 rooms, each now with its own bathroom, a refreshed pool club, and the Blue Whale and the Pavilion on the same waterfront.
Harbor lounge in the Pines with a real dance floor, strong sound and video, and DJs from pre-party cocktails through late night. It's a fixture of Invasion weekend.
The famed Cherry Grove disco on the bay, billed as the world's longest continually running LGBTQIA+ nightclub, now reimagined.
The Atlantic beach at Fire Island Pines, reached by boardwalk from the harbour across the narrow, car-free island.
The Atlantic beach at Cherry Grove, a few minutes' walk across the narrow, car-free island from the bay and the ferry dock.
The annual Pride celebration in Cherry Grove, one of Fire Island's two historic LGBTQ+ communities. Cherry Grove is one of the oldest gay resort communities in the United States and its Pride is an intimate, beloved event.
Stony Brook University's LGBTQ+ Center, supporting queer and trans students with programs and a safe space.