Fire Island Gay Men Cherry Grove Fire Island Pines, New York USA

Gay Fire Island: Cherry Grove

CherryGrove-Fire Island Pines-FunMaps.com

Cherry Grove and Fire Island Pines, are the two predominantly gay communities on Fire Island out of the above 17. They are sister communities separated by an undeveloped stretch of the bay and beach with huge dunes and a maze of a forest alternatively known as the Carrington Tract, the Judy Garland Memorial Forest and the Meat Rack. Visitors can walk on the beach or through this enchanted forest to go to either of the towns.

Cherry Grove is considered America?s first predominately gay & lesbian resort town. Cherry Grove has about 300 colorful modest homes, a small downtown cluster of hotels, shops, bars and restaurants. This campy village by the sea boasts among its residents artists, drag queens, leather daddies, dykes, lesbian moms and a diverse working-class, which make it feel like a small town in Oz. Named for the predominance of wild cherry trees there in 1869, by the 1960s the community became known for the openly gay and bohemian lifestyle of its residents and international visitors.

A 2002 Cherry Grove Community Association Census found that 64.6% of respondents were partnered, 34% owned their houses or apartments, 50% rented and 16% were guests. Making it a safe haven for gay and lesbian couples and their families. See CGCAI.org to read the detailed Census findings:

Gender:
69% Male, 31% Female

Sexual Identification:
64.2% Gay
22.1% Lesbian
8.3% Straight
2.3% Bi-sexual
0.7% Transgender
2.4% Unknown

Age Range:
1% 18-25 years
10% 26-35 years
42% 36-50 years
26% 51-60 years
12% 61-70 years
3% over 80 years

Learn more about Cherry Grove and Fire Island Pines at these excellent websites: