Hamptons Pride Celebrates Launch as New LGBTQ Organization

Pride is burgeoning in the Hamptons! Right on the heels of last Sunday’s Dan’s Papers Out East End Impact Awards, another debut event is celebrating the local LGBTQ+ community and its allies through Hamptons Pride, a brand-new local organization, officially kicking off their good works next week.

The festivities begin on Sunday, September 12 with an outdoor tea dance on Wainscott Green from 3–7 p.m. (which is already sold out), followed by an after party from 9 p.m.–midnight at The Clubhouse in East Hampton.

“There are so many people who are in favor of this, and they’re really onboard,” Hamptons Pride’s Tom House, a writer and bartender for 20 summers at Club Swamp and its later incarnations, Star Room and Sway, says, pointing out that Hamptons Pride is already getting support from East Hampton Town and the Wainscott CAC. In addition to making Wainscott Green a special gathering place for the local LGBTQ+ community and their allies, he envisions Hamptons Pride as offering support for LGBTQ+ youth and activities for adults and young people in their community. “We want to be a social resource,” House adds, noting that he hopes to connect with the Gay-Straight Alliance groups at Hamptons schools, and present concerts, movie nights and other fun things to do.

The launch and after party are just the beginning of many great things to come.

Sunday’s first event takes place at the former location of The Swamp—the last and longest-running gay club in the Hamptons—on what is now Wainscott Green, a park on Montauk Highway and East Gate Road in the Town of East Hampton. The outdoor gathering, which includes beer, wine, cider, soft drinks and light bites, and is happening at the exact place and time of the Swamp’s famous Sunday tea dances. And it’s truly conjuring the club’s storied past, with former Swamp DJ Karin Ward spinning right over the spot where she and other deejays spun a generation ago. Organizers hope to honor the past and celebrate the future at this historic groundbreaker, ushering in a new generation of Pride for the East End’s LGBTQ+ population and their allies.

A Hamptons Pride Launch After Party will follow in the main bar of The Clubhouse (174 Daniels Hole Road) in East Hampton, across from the East Hampton Airport. The ticketed indoor retro-disco dance night will feature music from DJ Watts (aka Anthony Lee) and drag performance by the evening’s emcee Naomi the Crown Jewel of the Hamptons, as well as raffles, group dancing, hula hooping and more. Cash bar.

Tickets to The Clubhouse after party are available through Eventbrite and proceeds from both events benefit the 100% volunteer Hamptons Pride nonprofit—a new Hamptons organization devoted exclusively to Pride. All money raised will develop the activities and programs House spoke about for East End LGBTQ+ people and their allies. “And we hope that means everyone!” the organizer says in the event announcement, offering a welcoming, all-inclusive message to the community.

Proof of vaccination or a recent negative COVID test will be required at check-in for both events, and complimentary Pride masks will be provided for anyone who wishes to wear them.

Learn more about Hamptons Pride, the launch and even some history about The Swamp, or to donate, visit hamptonspride.org.