Fire Island, New York

Fire Island is a barrier island in the southern part of Long Island. Within Fire Island, the neighborhood Cherry Grove is known for having a large LGBT community. There are several hundred houses in this area but this community is largely seen as a seasonal/summer getaway. The summer population is close to 2,000 whereas the year round population is only a staggering 15. Fire Island is somewhat of a refuge for the gay community especially men. The key reason I included Fire Island in my list of queer spaces is because it is was a place that queer people could get away to without discrimination and could truly be themselves. This is still not common today as it is still difficult for queer couples to travel to places where they don't face issues. Fire Island is one of the original gay-friendly vacation spots. There are very notable people who own residences on Fire Island such as Calvin Klein, Charles Renfro, David Geffen and many more. Christopher Rawlins, the author of "Fire Island Modernist: Horace Gifford and the Architecture of Seduction," says that Fire Island is an "inherently erotic landscape" and that the style of architecture of most of these houses is deeply sensual. This is another example of a queer space that is queer by community aka a gay village. I've added some of my favorite Fire Island residences below.

Residence by Andrew Geller 

Residence by Richard Meier