Letter from the Editor

Written by Tomik Dash

@tomik2point0

Photo by Dusty St. Amand

Last year when I launched Fag Rag Fire Island, I of course had absolutely no idea what the reception would be. Eight years prior, I had ended my foray in publishing, yet in recent years felt the urge to get back into it. I knew that if I was going to take the plunge, it had to be for something that really spoke to me. And after six consecutive summers in Fire Island I thought, there are so many micro-communities here… a magazine would be a beautiful way to connect them!

I put out a Preview Issue in March 2020, right before watching Governor Cuomo make the announcement that the state would be going into quarantine. I wondered if there would even be a Fire Island summer at all! Online I saw people cancelling their shares left and right. There was so much uncertainty about how things would play out that I gave considerable thought into postponing my plans until this year. But then I thought, fuck it! I’m going to continue as planned, and if I screw anything up, I’ll just blame it on the pandemic.

Despite extenuating circumstances, luckily I didn’t screw anything up. Last summer in Fire Island was very different, but it was still beautiful. And I’m incredibly grateful that the magazine was well received. So well received in fact that to my surprise, businesses in Provincetown were asking me if they could carry it as well. The two towns have had a long history of crossover between their admirers. So naturally I thought about what a new edition could look like in PTown. The community already has a bevy of amazing magazines with a long history of serving the LGBTQ community. There even used to be a Fag Rag newspaper some 40ish years ago run by a bunch of radical homos in Boston. Iconic! (See fagragmag.com for the article I wrote last year on why I chose this name.)

When thinking about how I wanted to approach Fag Rag Provincetown, of course my identity played a huge part in that. I remember asking a friend what he thought about PTown and he replied, “It’s more white than Fire Island, but less pretentious.” That stuck with me. In addition to focusing on the artists who make the Provincetown the vibrant and dynamic place that it is, I also wanted to find the underserved communities and tell their stories. The first step that I took was finding a Creative Director who was a person of color who had a strong relationship with the community. You’ll meet Izzy on the next page. They’re amazing! Together, we hope to bring something new to PTown that celebrates and amplifies the queer magic that it is known for. Thank you for joining us on this ride!