On the Fourth of July, Cherry Grove held its 40th annual Invasion of the Pines, coordinated by Invasion Founder and first—and second—Homecoming Queen Panzi, with Homecoming Queen 2015 Demi-Tasse presiding.
For her lavish entourage, Demi-Tasse, in white, pulled together a host of past Homecoming Queens—Scarlett Oh!, the only biologically female Queen, attended by her own guards, in best Buckingham Palace regalia; Good AKA Angela Mercy; China; Ariel Sinclair; Charity; Donna Piranha; Ivana Cocktail; Coco Love; Lola Galore, with James; Margo, looking very Ann Miller-ish and bringing the late Billie Ann Miller to mind; Urban Sprawl; Beach DeBree; YaNeeda Dunes; Robin Kradles; and Whore D’Oeuvre, with handmaiden Rosebud—as well as a color guard, in white; other Queen’s Guards; a Black Leather Guard, consisting of her escort Mr. Fire Island Leather 2015 Edd Clark; spouse Frank Burdi, Mr. Long Island Leather 2003; John Tartamella; Mr. Fire Island Leather 2013 Candido Soares; and this writer, Mr. Fire Island Leather 2001, the first; her bestie Bella; Bobbie Green and Doreen Rallo; Emperor Fantasia; Lambikins; George McGarvey; and Keith. We were heralded by the Lesbian and Gay Big Apple Corps Marching Band, which happily came in from New York City and played such current hits as “Fancy,” “Bang Bang,” and “She’s up all Night to Get Lucky.” Arriving in the Pines on the second of two Invasion ferries, Demi serenaded the assembled, Barbra Streisand-style, with a triumphant “Don’t Rain on My Parade,” from “Funny Girl.” --- more ---

photo by Bruce-Michael Gelbert

Lesbian & Gay Big Apple Corps Marching Band

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This 40th Invasion turned out to be controversial and political because Ian Reisner and Mati Weiderpass, new owners of the Pavilion and other Pines businesses, had lent their financial support to homophobic Republican United States Senators and political candidates Ted Cruz, from Texas, and Ron Johnson, from Wisconsin; apologized; took back the apology; and trashed their customers in print as “cheap.” Everyone seemed to have an opinion about what should and shouldn’t happen on Invasion Day, from canceling the Invasion to sailing but not docking to sending over an empty “ghost boat.” What happened instead was that, as announced, Panzi and Demi and her entourage never left the Pines Dock and, after walking that runway, got right back on the boat to the Grove, which departed the Pines earlier than usual, without ever entering, accepting free drinks from, or spending money in any Pines bar, and celebrated instead at the Ice Palace, Cherry’s, Top of the Bay, and other Grove businesses. --- more ---

photos by Bruce-Michael Gelbert

mooned in the Pines (insets L-R: Miss Fire Island Brenda Dharling, Hal Hayes & Gil Neary, Ivana Cocktail, Robin Kradles & Hedda Lettuce, Demi-Tasse steers the Invasion boat, Porsche in the Pines, Demi-Tasse's "Don't Rain on My Parade")

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At one point, Panzi victoriously trounced and ground her heels into Ian and Mati dolls on the dock. Steven Menendez and other Invaders carried signs reading, “Smash Gay Oppression! Fight Back! Spend No Money at the Pines Bars!” Longtime Sip ’n’ Twirl owner PJ McAteer, guilty perhaps of little more than poor choice of business partners, in buying the Pavilion, the Blue Whale, and so on with Reisner and Weiderpass, brought a bouquet, a peace offering, to Panzi, before we boarded the boat back to the Grove. --- more ---

photo by Diana Di Prima

forground- Demi-Tasse & entourage, background- Homecoming Queens

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Though we would have much preferred otherwise, Reisner and Weiderpass did make money on the Invasion, selling “Pool Deck VIP Cabanas” for $1,000 and “High Tea Deck … VIP Experience” tickets for $100. Most celebrants did not, however, want to give up the exhilarating experience of honoring the anniversary of the first Invasion, remembering when late entrepreneur John Whyte, during the Bicentennial, refused the late Teri Warren service at the Blue Whale because she was in drag, but declined to turn away business from a dozen of her friends, when they returned in drag to avenge the slight; observing our country’s birthday shortly after the Supreme Court of the United States made same-sex marriage the law of the land; and marking the high point of Queen Demi’s reign, all in all a fitting climax to the Pride season.