In an increasingly stressful world, summer vacations don’t only provide a blissful break from Zoom meetings, status reports, and all the other soul-smothering demands of the 9-to-5; they’re also downright restorative. In the next few months, Americans will journey to nature reserves and theme parks, beach resorts and camp sites, family gatherings and roommate reunions in search of much-needed rest and relaxation. For LGBTQIA+ people, though, a few days at an out-of-the-way location are especially important.
There’s no place on Earth where LGBTQ people are a “natural” majority. We’re distributed at random throughout the population, and while we might refer to certain ZIP codes as “gayborhoods,” that generally signifies that for a handful of blocks in an enormous city, recognizably queer people make up 20, 30, or maybe 40% of the community. We are everywhere, but we’re rarely there in large numbers. That’s why the joy of queer vacation destinations like Provincetown, Mass., Fire Island, N.Y., home to Cherry Grove and The Pines; Rehoboth Beach, Del.; Ogunquit, Maine; Palm Springs, Calif.; or other LGBTQ enclaves is so necessary: Because for however long we can afford to be there, we get to experience the pleasure of being part of the majority, for our cultures and aesthetics to be the default.
A quick primer for anyone who has never had the good fortune to visit such a place. Queer vacation destinations have a few things in common: a remote location that deters casual visitors and permits a degree of anonymity, relative proximity to cities with a strong queer community, gorgeous vistas around every corner, and performance spaces aplenty. Still, there’s no guarantee that a gay resort will spring from such geography. There’s no set route to enclave status, but once a critical mass of LGBTQ visitors is reached, the network effect applies. Arty lesbians go to Provincetown and party gays to Fire Island Pines for the same reason football fans go to…
