There are events and places that have become iconic in queer culture…and the Meat Rack on Fire Island is arguably the most (in)famous gay male cruising spot in recent history. Though there have been destinations for carnal desires throughout time, none have been more glamorized or stigmatized than this exquisite stretch of land just outside New York City.

Have you been there? Have you lied about being there?

The sordid history of the Meat Rack is about more than simple sex. It was birthed from repression and persecution and it speaks to our need to find safe spaces to explore our queer selves. Since it became popularized in homo-circles in the 1940’s, the Meat Rack has been used as a place for anonymous sexual adventures for decades. During the McCarthy Era men found freedom in the sandy strip of grass and trees between Cherry Grove and the Fire Island Pines. As gay liberation expanded our ideas of what it meant to have “community”, men frequented the Meat Rack to experience a sexual freedom and to cultivate their queerness.

The Carrington Tract, The Meat Rack, the Judy Garland Memorial Highway…no matter what you call it, this legendary queer destination has a story that relates to our LGBTQIA+ identity, even if you’ve never been there.

Directed by photographer koitz (Gay Fire Island) and filmmaker Parker Sargent (The Panzi Invasion), IN THE MEAT RACK documentary explores the long history of this queer haven, the sex and the struggles, and how the space exists in today’s online cruising culture.