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[0:00] Jess Rothschild: I followed DJ Lina Bradford and I would see this woman playing an amazing DJ set to like a hype crowd on the beach somewhere that didn't look like New York City. And I was just like, how do I get there? I want to go there. Fire Island used to be a sleepy 19th century beach town that has transformed itself into a modern day queer Mecca. I kept calling it like gay adult camp. But this version of camp, there are drugs. People on boats must be like, what the fuck is going on on Fire Island? This is my fucking Shangri-La. Like men dressed as women, women dressed as men. I'm Jess Rothschild, and in Finding Fire Island, we're going to take you behind the curtain of the mystique, the legends and lore of the island told by those who've witnessed its evolution from the 1950s to today.

Truman Capote came. Why can't we get the real Liza Minnelli? A true and tragic tale of the death of the great poet Frank O'Hara. Queer history has often been told through the lens of loss and disappearance, but Fire Island has transcended that to survive as a stunning fantasy world and cultural touchstone. I had heard of Fire Island, but I never went until 1955. We had to sleep in front of Tommy Toon's house on the beach because I couldn't afford to stay anywhere. Are you aware this house is currently on sale again for six and a half million dollars? I've never heard of any house on Fire Island going for that kind of money. We're going deep on the ritual of tea, the invasion, sharehouse culture, the rivalry between Cherry Grove and the Pines, and even hear from those who actually live here through the winter.

It's funny, it's in my movie, ripped from the headlines of my own life. I know a number of rich, Black, gay people, and they are not going out to Fire Island. The great walk across the meat rack. And then somebody would have to walk me home at night through the meat rack, which was also, that's a whole other story. Fire Island has not only been a witness to our history, but a refuge and reflection of where our community has been and where we're headed. The ocean was as calm as could be. I'm riding along this mystical land I've heard about. It was just beautiful. It was like, oh my God, this is Fire Island? This is like heaven.