Mar 29, 20211 min read

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 13, 20212 min read

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 26, 20215 min read

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 20, 20202 min read

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 20, 20206 min read

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 11, 20204 min read

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 1, 202010 min read

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 1, 20202 min read

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 19, 20203 min read

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 3, 20209 min read

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 13, 20191 min read

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 11, 20196 min read

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 8, 20196 min read

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 19, 20185 min read

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 9, 20185 min read

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 8, 20181 min read

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 8, 20181 min read

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 8, 20181 min read

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 7, 20182 min read

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 7, 20181 min read

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...