The Empire Prides of Summer
Volume 49, Issue 10

The boys packed the dance floor en masse at the oceanfront home of Ernie Cervi, Dr. Alan Gandolfi and Will Shulz in the Fire Island Pines on August 20 for the Empire State Pride Agenda (ESPA)’s sixth annual island fundraiser. This beachside fête, dubbed Rites of Summer, drew more than 300 hard bodies while local favorite Tony Moran spun an eclectic mix of dance anthems and Latin beats.

ESPA Executive Director Alan Van Capelle, who The News spotted dancing without his shirt on throughout the four-hour soirée, said that Pines residents remain some of his organization’s most steadfast supporters. And he added that the Pines itself remains an important source of inspiration in the ongoing struggle for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) rights.

“The Pines is part of the culture of the community,” Van Capelle said in an interview shortly after the party began. “Coming to the Pines is like coming home. Generations of gay Americans feel a connection to Stonewall [while others] feel an extended connection to Fire Island.

ESPA, founded in 1990, is the country’s largest statewide LGBT advocacy organization. And since its conception, the group has successfully lobbied lawmakers in Albany to support the Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act, which Gov. George Pataki signed into law in 2003. ESPA also worked alongside the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force to persuade the state to extend survivor benefits to gays and lesbians who lost their partners in the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, and has supported a number of other measures of importance to LGBT New Yorkers.

Alongside these legal victories, ESPA continues to reach out to organized labor, big business and the state’s religious community through “Pride in the Pulpit” and other initiatives.

“We have been extremely successful,” Van Capelle said. “We are building the foundation by which future legislative victories will be built.”

ESPA raised more than $40,000 at this year’s fundraiser and supporters, such as Gilbert Baker, who created the rainbow flag that now symbolizes LGBT people around the world, said that this annual party is one of the best of the busy but short Pines fundraising season.

“I love ESPA,” Baker said while he took in the sights wearing a wig of Jimi Hendrix-esque red dreds and multiple rainbow sarongs. “I’ve been walking around saying, ‘Show me your Empire State pride!’”

Pines resident Schuyler Hook readily agreed.

“There are hot boys and a great view and it’s for a great cause,” he said. “You can’t be better than that.”