WATCH: All the tea on the history of gay mecca Fire Island, as told by the queer icons who’ve lived it

Just off the coast of New York state lies a magical, gay getaway known as Fire Island. And though it may be small—no bigger than nine square miles of land—it’s a place with many, many stories to tell.

Whether you’ve been there or not, surely you’ve had friends regale you about their lazy days and wild nights spent in the fabled town, which has become a destination for queer folks from all over the world.

But what do you know about the actual history of Fire Island? How did it go from sleepy beach town to an epicenter of gay arts, theater, and culture? Well, a brand new docu-podcast series has all the tea.

From the Broadway Podcast Network and writer Jess Rothschild comes Finding Fire Island, which unpacks the legends and lore of the queer hamlet, tracing back to its evolution in the mid-century, gradually becoming a pivotal facet of the LGBTQ+ revolution.

To tell these stories, the podcast has assembled a killer coterie of queers who have both been part of that history and find themselves making regular pilgrimages there now.

For starters, the cast of last year’s delightful gay rom-com Fire Island is well represented. Writer/star Joel Kim Booster—who based his clever Pride And Prejudice adaptation off of his own vacations to the Pines—shares his experiences, and so do Margaret Cho and Matt Rogers.

Additionally, the legendary DJ Lina Bradford, iconic screenwriter Paul Rudnick (Sister Act, The First Wives Club), writer and Real Housewives expert Brian Moylan, former editor-in-chief of The Advocate Zach Stafford, cabaret director Ben Rimalower, and Cherry Grove stalwarts Bob “Rose” Levine and Thom “Panzi” Hansen all share their memories with the podcast.

Related:

PHOTOS: New museum offers rare glimpse at gay life in the 1940s, on Fire Island and beyond

The collection presents “the glamour and grit of yesteryear, with a strong dose of homoeroticism” — sign us up!

Led by Rothschild (one of the founding writers of Autostraddle and the host of Hot Takes & Deep Dives), Finding Fire Island will tackle some of the destinations most infamous stories and go deep on the rituals of High and Low Tea, the historic drag “Invasion” in 1976, the culture of shared housing, and the long-standing “rivalry” between the Pines and Cherry Grove.

Though our queer history is riddled with stories or losses and hard-fought battles, Fire Island has remained a place of resilience and joy, transcending hardships “to survive as a stunning fantasy world and cultural touchstone”—that’s the story this podcast sets out to tell.

Finding Fire Island premieres July 6 on the Broadway Podcast Network, or wherever you get your podcasts. Check out a visual trailer for the series below:

Related:

Rare footage of Fire Island gay wedding offers a peek at pre-Stonewall era LGBTQ life

The 8mm film recently sold on eBay for almost $1000.