Bob 'Rose' Levine: Has Been Doing Drag in Fire Island Since 1955

LGBTQ&A

Jeffrey Masters

Society & Culture

4.7 • 703 Ratings

🗓️ 26 March 2024

⏱️ 31 minutes

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Summary

Bob "Rose" Levine talks about his first trip to Cherry Grove in 1955, being a part of the original drag "Invasion of the Pines" in 1976, and how the AIDS crisis changed Fire Island in the 1980s.

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This is a part of our special series, The LGBTQ+ Elders Project. Click here to listen to our interview with Joan Jett Blakk (a.k.a. Terence Alan Smith), the legendary drag queen who ran for president in 1992.

LGBTQ&A is hosted and produced by Jeffrey Masters. @jeffmasters1

Transcript

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0:00.0	In 1976 in Fire Island, a restaurant on the pine side of the island refused to serve
0:07.9	a drag queen.
0:09.5	She was from the Cherry Grove side, which at the time was a much more liberal and artistic place,
0:14.8	and when her friends found out, a group of them decided to all get into drag and ride
0:19.7	a water taxi over to the pines as a sort of
0:22.5	drag invasion.
0:24.7	One of the original drag queens who was there in 76 was Bob Rose Levine.
0:30.1	The invasion, as it's called, is now an annual event where drag queens come in from all over
0:36.0	to recreate this.
0:37.8	It's really one of the most exciting days on the island,
0:41.0	and Bob has continued to take part in it ever since.
0:45.0	Bob first came to Fire Island in 1955, almost 70 years ago,
0:50.2	and he has become a fixture of the island.
0:53.6	I also think of him as something of a history keeper
0:56.5	since he's been a consistent presence for the island's many, many changes.
1:00.7	There was no electricity.
1:03.2	There was no lights.
1:04.8	You had candlelights.
1:06.8	There was no fancy washing machines or showers.
1:11.6	You had to pump the water if you want you to take a shower.
1:16.6	It was a place where you could hide away.
1:20.6	I got to speak to Bob this past summer at his home in Cherry Grove.
	...

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