Doug Emhoff (third from right) with attendees at a fundraiser for Kamala Harris on Fire Island.
Photo: Courtesy of E. Alex Jung
The first sign of a vibe shift occurring on Fire Island Pines were the three young men sitting in a row on the upper deck of the Friday 9:20 am ferry, sweating through their button-downs and dark gray slacks, surrounded by bare chests and four-inch inseams. “Are those Mormons?” one observer asks, glancing backwards. “They’re here to spread the good word,” jokes another.
The good word of Kamala Harris, that is. The cadre of aides with roller bags and North Face backpacks were the first wave of D.C. émigrés to turn heads on the boardwalk of the Pines, the gay New York getaway island. Soon, they would be followed by Secret Service agents in staunch black suits and snipers positioned at the Botel, the hotel condemned for safety code violations last year, and the roof of Eric Schrader’s house, the owner of the Pines Pantry. At which point it would be safe enough for the passage of Doug Emhoff and Chasten Buttigieg, the second and fourteenth gentleman respectively, who would arrive via Suffolk County police boat escort. They, and a crowd of almost 200 would converge on a tasteful 7-bedroom, 7-bathroom house on the bayside owned by Marius Meland, a Norwegian immigrant who came to the U.S. to work as a journalist in the ‘90s before making a tidy $150 million fortune starting — and then selling — Law 360, and his husband Eng Kian Ooi.
The attendees were mostly gay men, young to retired professionals who worked at white collar firms of various kinds (architecture, law, consulting). Pillars of the community like Eric Sawyer, a founding member of ACT UP and co-founder of Housing Works, were present. The biggest dilemma for most was how to dress for an outdoor reception in the dead heat of August at noon. There was one chic Thom Browne skirt, but no visible whale tails. Mostly chinos, polos, camp-collar button downs in summery prints, and some Kamala Harris merch. No gay celebrities (although Andrew Rannells had been seen elsewhere on the island). Donations ranged from $250 to $25,000. Andrew Tobias, one of the hosts of the event and a former DNC treasurer (and a New York contributing editor in the ‘70s), told me they reached a political milestone for the Pines, raising a record $325,000, which bested the time Cher raised $200,000 for Hillary Clinton in 2016.
At around 12:30 they turn the gas off the grill (no open flames) and gather everyone around the pool in direct sunlight. The music was gay wedding playlist — Miley Cyrus’s “Party in the USA,” RuPaul, Sylvester — not a Brat summer. At 1 p.m. the speeches begin. Everyone talks about the future. Meland says that this election is “a dichotomy between freedom and tyranny.” Tobias proffers the possibility of a “gay first gentleman.” He introduces Chasten Buttigieg, encased in a blue blazer and khakis, who talks about his soon to be three-year-old twins Gus and Penelope and how looking at them makes him think of the future (his parents are taking care of them right now). He speaks about his mother and her battle with cancer and how the Affordable Care Act saves lives. He stresses the importance of gun control to save our kids. There’s something curiously disconnected and a little bit underwhelming, as though this were a stump speech he could be giving anywhere, maybe Iowa.
Chasten Buttigieg.
Photo: Courtesy of E. Alex Jung
Unburdened by the weight of gay respectability politics, Doug Emhoff was looser to play to the audience. He took off his blazer and rolled up shirtsleeves. He told the Soul Cycle story again, about how he was doing spin in West Hollywood with his gay besties when the news of Biden stepping down broke. Even though everyone here has read a version of this story already, it kills. He’s got solid comedic timing, mixing his background as an entertainment lawyer with casual burns. He calls JD Vance Trump’s “little sidekick” — a descriptor the campaign also invoked on Vance’s birthday — and his performance as “amateur hour.” If the Harris campaign has infused a sense of pugilism into the campaign, Emhoff is an affable fighter. The philosophy of “we go high” feels like a relic. He brings up the recent Dobbs decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, and threatens to overturn Griswold v. Connecticut, in which the Supreme Court established the right to privacy, which he describes as “the right to be.” “So while it kind of sucks to get personally attacked by that dude. And it sucks to see him attack my wife repeatedly and question her very identity,” he says. “Let’s focus on what they’re really trying to do: taking away your rights, your freedom, your very way of life. Good news, we have an alternative!”
The Harris team kept the press away from both gentlemen and ushered us unceremoniously out the door before the mingling and photo op began. Up until then, the gossip at the party was that the hosts Meland and Ooi were part of the political donor class who pressured the party to convince Biden to step down after his disastrous debate performance against Trump. The best way to communicate their dismay was by pausing their financial contributions to Biden’s campaign. “If I could put my two cents in the pot then I wanted to say something,” Ooi told me. Meland is more circumspect, saying that he “felt the way everybody felt” after the debate. “I do think he made the right choice, because it was time for a new generation,” he said. “You see this enormous release of energy that’s happening. I haven’t felt this way since Obama.”
Most conversations followed a similar cadence. There would be the requisite metaphorical kissing of Biden’s ring: He put the country before his ego! A great man! Look at what he accomplished in one term! (Not a word on Gaza.) But really everyone was relieved, maybe even excited, when Biden announced he wouldn’t seek a second term. Their November vote would be given with enthusiastic consent rather than grudging obligation. “I was at the Gillibrand event,” one attendee says, referring to a press conference the New York Senator had given on Fire Island a week before Biden announced he wouldn’t seek reelection. “The mood was in the doldrums.”
And of course there was a little giddiness at the thought of a first and second gentleman serving in the White House. (Maybe Chasten could help Doug with the Christmas decorations?) The ongoing veepstakes have allowed such gay indulgences. After all, did you see how well Pete Buttigieg did on Fox? And that Harris reportedly had a 90-minute meeting with him for the job the same day? “I’m biased,” says Ooi. “I’d love it if it were Buttigieg or Gretchen Whitmer, but I don’t think it would be.” (The Michigan governor has said she plans on staying in office through 2026.) Still, the consensus was that Harris picking the secretary of transportation as her running mate was too risky. Buttigieg would likely land another cabinet seat, preferably a little higher up the rung. “Pete would be lucky to get Secretary of State,” one attendee said to me. “Is he qualified?” asked his partner.
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