1990s | Bammer 2021

Mar 30
1 min

Group Travel, Mykonos - 1990 Style

STORY: 1989 to mid-1990s—My husband, Ron Oyer, had a travel business in the 1990s that catered to gay men, geographically mostly from...

Mar 14
2 min

Porn Star Turned Therapist

BAMMER47: When I met Stu Fenton at a Fire Island pool party in August 1999, he didn’t divulge much about his life. But, when we...

Jan 27
5 min

Madonna Didn’t Call

STORY" I grew up in South Africa. In 1994, we were promised a new constitution with protected rights and social acceptance for gays. I...

Dec 21, 2020
2 min

The 1993 March on Washington

STORY: I attended the March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay, and Bi Equal Rights and Liberation on April 25, 1993, with a group of...

Dec 21, 2020
6 min

What I Learned

STORY: It was one of those days I will never forget. It was the Spring of 1999, probably in late March, just after my birthday. It was on...

Jul 12, 2020
4 min

Catharsis

STORY: In the mid-nineties, I was a naive 21 y.o. young man, full of fear about my budding homosexual orientation. Coming out was not an...

Jul 2, 2020
10 min

For Dougie

STORY: I grew up in a family of “eccentrics.” I’m a direct result of their quirks and quips, attenuated somewhat by the many years I...

Mar 2, 2020
2 min

Looking Back

STORY: Two recent developments refocused my attention on all the friends I lost to AIDS in the 80s and 90s. Recently, Peter Gorobetz, a...

Jan 20, 2020
3 min

Remembering Workouts and Worries

STORY: It was once the epicenter of the gayest neighborhood in New York City. Today, any traces of the infamous Chelsea Gym are nearly...

Jan 4, 2020
9 min

Busted!

STORY: In The Fall of 1996, I was twenty years old and had just moved into my own apartment in LA. I was going to school, working full...

Nov 14, 2019
1 min

BAMMER and Me: Confessions of a Male Escort turned Addiction Counselor (Part 1)

PODCAST—EPISODE 9: Stu Fenton has had quite the life! In his early twenties, Stu was a Colt model and a male escort. That high life led...

Nov 12, 2019
6 min

The Dead, The Living, and The Inheritance

STORY: Fall is a time of sad anniversaries for me. When I tested positive for HIV in the fall of 1988, it was hardly surprising. Many sex...

Aug 9, 2019
6 min

Angels and Demons

STORY: We five were an unusual gang—“the famous five”—as we liked to call ourselves. It was comprised of me, my best friend Mark, his...

Jul 20, 2018
5 min

Marcus

STORY: 1989—I met Marcus Lutsky at Uncle Charlie’s Downtown Bar in NYC in the Spring of 1989. It was a Saturday night and I was on the...

Jun 10, 2018
5 min

Making My Grandmother Cry

STORY: I make my grandmother cry. I come out to her and her fists close and her eyes fill up. She is silent for the longest moment and...

Jun 9, 2018
1 min

Me and Michael

STORY: A few pictures of Michael Dowell and me in the early-to-mid-90s. We lost Michael in 1995. This next shot is a self-portrait he...

Jun 9, 2018
1 min

Fire Island Weekends

STORY: In all my years at the Pines, my housemates were always fellow worker bees who toiled hard for our time at the beach. Our delight...

Jun 9, 2018
1 min

At the Gay Games IV

STORY: In June 1994, the world gathered in New York for Gay Games IV as well as for a massive march outside the United Nations marking...

Jun 8, 2018
2 min

Luis

NOTE: Viktor Carrasquero, a young Venezuelan emigre in Hong Kong, authorized us to share the following story from his early life. Back in...

Jun 8, 2018
1 min

Project Runway: Water Island Edition

STORY: Circa 1997: While Cherry Grove and The Pines were the centers of gay life on Fire Island, another small enclave of gay culture...

{"items":["6062c8a69cce370015de6ac2","604db4ce6aebef00576fce72","604bba29fba5350015da905f","604fb32a75cbda0058de87ca","604fc00f173f5d00586d2a44","604b66188a961400154b0790","604b7be9bd0755004124d68c","604bb4cb183a6b001556e12b","604fa07398305d00588f2453","604b652cf1ede50015ce7c67","603e50b9e2894b00166b4dee","604fb032c9d84c004133f45c","604a85157b72da00155b3125","604bbb3192f15700573fd3c2","604bba93b4436f0015702349","604bc2ed0f25220015423c2d","604b71f6a07ccd00157ffa39","604a86bf1894b500418096b8","604bb995a1575800419642e4","604f9f45e6a550005786e0a8"],"styles":{"galleryType":"Columns","groupSize":1,"showArrows":true,"cubeImages":true,"cubeType":"fill","cubeRatio":1.3333333333333333,"isVertical":true,"gallerySize":30,"collageAmount":0,"collageDensity":0,"groupTypes":"1","oneRow":false,"imageMargin":32,"galleryMargin":0,"scatter":0,"rotatingScatter":"","chooseBestGroup":true,"smartCrop":false,"hasThumbnails":false,"enableScroll":true,"isGrid":true,"isSlider":false,"isColumns":false,"isSlideshow":false,"cropOnlyFill":false,"fixedColumns":1,"enableInfiniteScroll":true,"isRTL":false,"minItemSize":50,"rotatingGroupTypes":"","rotatingCropRatios":"","columnWidths":"","gallerySliderImageRatio":1.7777777777777777,"numberOfImagesPerRow":1,"numberOfImagesPerCol":1,"groupsPerStrip":0,"borderRadius":0,"boxShadow":0,"gridStyle":1,"mobilePanorama":false,"placeGroupsLtr":true,"viewMode":"preview","thumbnailSpacings":4,"galleryThumbnailsAlignment":"bottom","isMasonry":false,"isAutoSlideshow":false,"slideshowLoop":false,"autoSlideshowInterval":4,"bottomInfoHeight":0,"titlePlacement":"SHOW_ON_THE_RIGHT","galleryTextAlign":"center","scrollSnap":false,"itemClick":"nothing","fullscreen":true,"videoPlay":"hover","scrollAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","slideAnimation":"SCROLL","scrollDirection":0,"scrollDuration":400,"overlayAnimation":"FADE_IN","arrowsPosition":0,"arrowsSize":23,"watermarkOpacity":40,"watermarkSize":40,"useWatermark":true,"watermarkDock":{"top":"auto","left":"auto","right":0,"bottom":0,"transform":"translate3d(0,0,0)"},"loadMoreAmount":"all","defaultShowInfoExpand":1,"allowLinkExpand":true,"expandInfoPosition":0,"allowFullscreenExpand":true,"fullscreenLoop":false,"galleryAlignExpand":"left","addToCartBorderWidth":1,"addToCartButtonText":"","slideshowInfoSize":200,"playButtonForAutoSlideShow":false,"allowSlideshowCounter":false,"hoveringBehaviour":"NEVER_SHOW","thumbnailSize":120,"magicLayoutSeed":1,"imageHoverAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","imagePlacementAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","calculateTextBoxWidthMode":"PERCENT","textBoxHeight":0,"textBoxWidth":200,"textBoxWidthPercent":50,"textImageSpace":10,"textBoxBorderRadius":0,"textBoxBorderWidth":0,"loadMoreButtonText":"","loadMoreButtonBorderWidth":1,"loadMoreButtonBorderRadius":0,"imageInfoType":"ATTACHED_BACKGROUND","itemBorderWidth":1,"itemBorderRadius":0,"itemEnableShadow":false,"itemShadowBlur":20,"itemShadowDirection":135,"itemShadowSize":10,"imageLoadingMode":"BLUR","expandAnimation":"NO_EFFECT","imageQuality":90,"usmToggle":false,"usm_a":0,"usm_r":0,"usm_t":0,"videoSound":false,"videoSpeed":"1","videoLoop":true,"jsonStyleParams":"","gallerySizeType":"px","gallerySizePx":1060,"allowTitle":true,"allowContextMenu":true,"textsHorizontalPadding":-30,"itemBorderColor":{"value":"rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)"},"showVideoPlayButton":true,"galleryLayout":2,"targetItemSize":1060,"selectedLayout":"2|bottom|1|fill|true|0|true","layoutsVersion":2,"selectedLayoutV2":2,"isSlideshowFont":false,"externalInfoHeight":0,"externalInfoWidth":0.5},"container":{"width":1060,"galleryWidth":1092,"galleryHeight":0,"scrollBase":0,"height":null}}

Back to Top