What happened when the dolls invaded Fire Island

On Saturday, over 700 trans, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming New Yorkers flocked to Fire Island for the second annual Doll Invasion. The pool party was a “journey in solidarity” to a historically white East Coast vacation spot that’s become a haven for (mostly wealthy) cis gay men and lesbians. “I’ve never felt so comfortable and celebrated on Fire Island than this exact moment,” says drag artist TRSA, who performed in an intimate last-minute drag show and on the event's mainstage. “It’s one of the only happenings on the Island that really makes space for a hairy tranimal like myself.” From the early afternoon to sunset, there were flash tattoos, glam shots by Hunter Abrams, plenty of performances, a Luar bag raffle, and, according to comedian and Doll Invasion emcee Spike Einbinder, the day party finished with “a free Palestine chant led by Chiquitita at the end of the night leading into the group doll ‘Hey Big Spender’ number from the balconies of Reflections”. “Doll Invasion is the best day of the year,” he says.

Doll Invasion was an important act of reclaiming space, says musician and DJ Adam Bainbridge. “Especially on normative gay turf,” they say. To writer and G.L.I.T.S. organiser Ita Segev, it was also a “proclamation of belonging”. “Rich gay men get to frolic and exist freely in the exclusive and idyllic fire island because of directly impacted trans women who put their bodies on the line for collective liberation just a hop and a skip away in New York – where many still face the highest rates of systemic precarity,” she says. And it was also a hugely successful fundraising event, with the proceeds going to A4TE and Queer Art, free transportation provided by Working Families and Gender Liberation Movement, and sponsors like Gotham dispensary, Lyft, and Away. “In the midst of how horrible it is to be trans at this time – at any time – having nights like Doll Invasion reminds me how amazing it is, too,” says A4TE fund officer Victoria Foster. “Dancing with my sisters in a way only we can; exchanging knowing looks that say, ‘Yes girl, we made it here, tonight is happening, and we look hot, and we're alive.’”

Here, Fran Tirado, Doll Invasion founder and executive editor of Them, chats with Dazed about the first two years of the now-annual event, making enemies and allies, and the iconic Lina Bradford’s unexpected return to Fire Island.

Casting our minds back to the first event last year, what made you want to start Doll Invasion?

Fran Tirado: I had the idea for the event maybe three years ago. There’s a lot I can say about Fire Island in general, but the gist is that the vacation town is super gatekept. I myself started coming to the island before I came out as trans and always felt really disconnected from gay male spaces. I hated the culture and would experience microaggressions because I’d be rolling with gender-nonconforming people or trans people of colour. The island not being welcoming to trans people, at least infrastructurally, didn’t make any sense to me because Fire Island has been a queer safe haven for New York since the 1930s. But the island really doesn’t really do much to support those outside of the G in LGBTQ+.

Where did the idea for Doll Invasion come from?

Fran Tirado: Drag Invasion is a Fire Island tradition that comes from when Teri Warren was kicked out of a restaurant in The Pines because she was in full drag in 1976. She and all her friends got into full drag and loaded up into a tiny boat for an ‘invasion’ of the Pines. Now, after decades of progress, drag artists are now the face of soda can companies. They’re in PACs at the Democratic National Convention and have been pulled into the mainstream in a way that trans people have not. And so, in the ethos of the island’s history and of Drag Invasion (which is one of my favourite events ever), I asked myself what a Doll Invasion would look like. What would it look like to have trans and gender-nonconforming people descend on the island en masse, where they were not welcome? It is an attempt to create infrastructure and to radically invite trans people to the island for one day to say, ‘Even if you’re coming alone, you won’t be alone because there will be 100 other trans people on the ferry, and you will have free access to a party where you can wear a swimsuit and not feel weird about it’. We just want access to what is a really beautiful and lush place in queer history that belongs to us just as much as it belongs to everyone else.

What did you learn from last year that you wanted to bring into Doll Invasion this year?

Fran Tirado: Last year I definitely made some enemies because I very openly criticised the island’s general demographic and the fact that people like Michael Lucas, real estate agents, and Trump supporters live there and control a lot of the purse strings. Even though I felt like it was in my right to do so, a lot of people took my criticism very personally and made me their enemy. They also felt that we were actually ‘invading’, and one person even said to me that they felt like the island had ‘been pillaged’. But, from the enemies that I made, I also made tonnes of friends and allies on the island. Those people really stepped in this year and offered to help us because they believe in our cause. Even if this is a Doll Invasion, we can’t do this without allies. We have to have gatekeepers and property owners tapping in as well and saying, ‘Hey, I wanna help.’

What was one of your highlights from the event this year?

Fran Tirado: This year absolutely blew me out of the water fundraising-wise and we also did twice as well as I thought we would do capacity-wise. I never thought we would run out of 700 wristbands, and we did. But one thing that stuck out to me was that Lina Bradford, one of the most famous and marquee figures of Fire Island culture who famously refuses to return to the island, agreed to return to the island for Doll Invasion after almost ten years. This was a moment where she was like, ‘You know what? I said I would never come back to the island, but I’m gonna come back for the dolls.’ She also gave a really beautiful speech during her set about how the island has transformed and how she never really thought she would live to see the day where it might be so welcoming to trans people because, back in her heyday, she was the only one. That was a really special moment.

What should we expect from Doll Invasion 2025?

Fran Tirado: Next year we want it to be bigger and better. I know what the biggest property on the island is, and I want it, but I think the biggest goal for our team is always fundraising. I think we also just want to be paid more because it sucks that the majority of our budget goes to property owners, landlords, and insurance policyholders. So my hope for next year is that we have better allies. The allies of this year really stepped in, and we had major sponsors but still had to crowdfund in a major way to make ends meet. I want a big wig to get into my DMs and say, ‘I will put down for this rental and cover the entire thing; you just focus on everything else.’

Aside from sliding into your DMs with large sums of cash, how can people support Doll Invasion between now and then?

Fran Tirado: There are ‘All Dolls Go To Heaven’ hats and t-shirts available for purchase on our website, and all of the proceeds go to our event expenses and fundraiser. And everything we over-raise goes to our organisations, of course. Also, Adam Bainbridge has offered to release custom edits from the Doll Invasion sets.