As a gay youth, I could never have imagined that I’d end up living in a community of LGBTQ people that would not only be my friends, but also act as mentors and muses.
In my new film Grove Girls, I want to explore the influence of gay community and the struggle for women’s equality, through documenting the female history of a very special place called Cherry Grove.
This unique LGBTQ haven exists on Fire Island just a few hours outside New York City, and it has been a hamlet for queer culture since the early 1900’s; starting as a small segregated gay society and turning into a mecca for men and women from all over the world.
Being free to exist in places that allow gay people to express themselves and forge relationships helped inspire the civil rights and freedoms we have today.
I believe it is vital to know the stories of those who came before us and it is so important to honor the struggles of our community.
From volleyball on the beach to emergency drills at the Fire House, hosting dinner parties or Community Association Board meetings- for decades gay women have been flocking to Cherry Grove to experience the natural beauty and establish a strong community of activism and equality.
When I premiered my documentary “The Panzi Invasion” at the Cherry Grove Film Festival in 2016, I was blessed to receive praise and support from the people that I hoped to touch most with the film. Since that first screening I’ve received messages from Russia, Italy and beyond- people telling me how they could see their own experiences mirrored in The Invasion of the Pines story.
Having done over a hundred interviews with Grove residents in the past three years, I’m so excited to tell the tales of the women who have fought for gay rights and invited me into their wonderful world with such kindness. Their love of Cherry Grove inspires me to maintain all that they worked so hard to create and preserve their fantastic history.
While I have been researching and interviewing for several years, I am in the last stages of putting the film together for release and hope to raise the funds for equipment, marketing and editing costs to have Grove Girls completed by summer 2018.