Independence Day “Drag Invasion”

On Independence Day my photographer friend, Justin Wee, and I visited The Pines on Fire Island in New York.

Independence Day Drag Invasion. Photo by Justin Wee.
Independence Day Drag Invasion. Photo by Justin Wee.

During the 70’s, a restaurant on the island denied entry to a visitor in drag. The Pines is a beach town on Fire Island, east of NYC with a predominately gay community . When the customer’s friends found out about the occurrence, they gathered local queens, and sailed in full drag by water taxi to storm the island. This created the tradition of a “drag invasion” on Fire Island Pines every July 4th. The event is repeated annually with hundreds of drag queens and performance artists.

The two of us combed the island for the fiercest and most unique queens. Much like the queens, both of us have unique visual styles.

Independence Day Drag Invasion. Photo by Justin Wee.
Independence Day Drag Invasion. Photo by Justin Wee.

A little about us:

Justin Wee is a photographer and writer who recently moved to NYC from Sydney, Australia.

justindoesthings.com

@djdumpling.

Ryker Allen is a 19 year old photographer focusing on queer male youth, he attends the School of Visual Arts.

rykerallen.com

@RykerAllen

Ryker Allen
Independence Day Drag Invasion. Shot by Ryker Allen.

Photography by Ryker Allen and Justin Wee, words by Ryker Allen.

Subvrtmag

1 thought on “Independence Day “Drag Invasion””

Leave a Reply