114. Provincetown

Snarky Opener (0:00)

Won't you take me to Provincetown? Won't you take me to Provincetown?

Episode Introduction (0:27)

Hello, my LGBTQuties, and welcome back to another episode of A Jaded Gay. I'm Rob Loveless and today, I am a non-jaded gay because recently I was listening to Fleetwood Mac like I do. And I got an idea for a new book, which I love.

And I was already writing a book prior to this, but this new book just kind of like popped into my head, and I'm really feeling it. I think it's actually going to be shorter than book length, it'll probably be more of a novella.

So, I'm just feeling really inspired and want to just pursue that one. So, I started writing it, and I'm already two chapters in, so I'm just, it's fun. You know, the other book I'm working on, it's a little bit more serious, very scary, which I love my horror genre. But at the same time, like, I want to do some fun things, too.

So, I like to do the balance between scary and silly. So, just taking this see where it goes. And I'm I'm just really excited about it. Yeah.

Provincetown (1:17)  

Anyway, from writing books to reading beach reads. Today, we are talking about Provincetown.

So, way back when in 2022, we talked about gay villages. And then, last summer, we talked about the famous gay vacation spot Fire Island.

So, since it's summertime, I thought we'd take a look at another popular gay destination, which you all know and love as P Town. So, get those speedos ready because we are going to dive into it.

But first, let's pull our tarot card.

Tarot (1:48)  

So, the card for this episode is the Seven of Swords. Swords is tied to the element of air, which is masculine energy. So, it's very action-oriented.

Swords, it's typically tied to communication, both verbal and written. And it's also encompassing of our thoughts and ideas. So, you can think of phrases like the Sword of Truth, or the pen is mightier than the sword.

And in numerology, seven represents our inspired action and magic. Now, I heard in a podcast somewhere that a lot of people tend to be intimidated by the suit of Cups because it's all emotional and dealing with deep feelings. That one actually feels refreshing for me.

To me, Swords is scarier. And I think it's because in the traditional depictions of the Swords cards, they're all very, I don't know, scary. Like, just intimidating, not looking happy and nice. So, this suit always feels a little uhh when I draw it, but we got to deal with it.

So, when we draw the Seven of Swords in reverse, it's telling us that our plan or strategy isn't working. So, we need to figure out a new approach. And because of this, we may feel like we're suffering from impostor syndrome, and we might doubt ourselves.

But it's important to remember we can't give up on our ideas. This card isn't telling us that our idea is wrong. It's just telling us that we need to reorganize our thoughts surrounding it, reach inside for our inner magic, and find a new path forward.

So that way, we can take inspired action to achieve our goals. It just might look different than we thought it would originally.

The History of Provincetown (3:10)

So, with that in mind, let's get into it with a little history lesson. So, Provincetown is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, in the United States.

It's a coastal resort town and has approximately 3,600 permanent residents year-round, according to the 2020 census. However, during the summer, Provincetown's population explodes to approximately 60,000 people.

Between 3000 and 2000 BCE, the Wampanoag and Nauset tribes settled in the region, later followed by the Paomet tribe. And the area's waters were abundant with fish, which made this a prime area for these tribes to settle in.

Now, fast forward to 1614, Captain John Smith, you know from Pocahontas, he sailed off the coast of Provincetown, charted the area, and named its harbor Milford Haven. And the charts he created were used by Christopher Jones, the captain of the Mayflower, when he brought the pilgrims to America.

And actually, the Mayflower first landed in Provincetown harbor in 1620. But the Pilgrims only stayed in the area a short time because they stole corn from the Paomet tribe, which understandably caused conflict. So, because of that, the Pilgrims retreated to Plymouth.

As the 1600s progressed, the Provincetown area became a kind of Wild West, according to a blog post by Kinlin Grover, Cape Cod's leading brokerage. And this was because its harbor became a port of call for fishermen and seafarers, which resulted in drinking and gambling. It was also popular with smugglers and pirates, and its secluded nature made it an easy place to hide out. And for all of these reasons, the nearby Puritans at the time began referring to this area as Helltown.

And this was pretty interesting. Unlike other colonial towns, Provincetown didn't get a charter, and its residents lived outside of the Puritans' strict social order. Now, no one is certain about when permanent residents began settling in P Town because, again, it was largely a seasonal port.

However, in 1692, Massachusetts absorbed Plymouth colony, and Provincetown became known as Province Lands. Then, in 1709, Cape Cod's population had grown enough that the Town of Truro and the dunes of Provincetown were incorporated, which helped calm the area's wild reputation.

As a result, more English settlers arrived in Provincetown, and it was incorporated in 1727. However, the Massachusetts General Court didn't grant residents the right to own land, but they were allowed to squat in the built-up section of P Town as long as they fished or farmed. And it wasn't until 1893, so 166 years later, that P Town residents were granted titles to the land they lived on.

Similarly to Fire Island, whaling was a big industry throughout the 1700s. It actually helped spawn an economic revival in the community. And Provincetown was the wealthiest town in Massachusetts by the 1870s.

By the 1890s, though, its wealth began to disappear because the oil industry was replacing whaling. As a result, the fisheries started to dwindle. Additionally, fishermen had poor catches in 1889, and a depression occurred in the 1890s, resulting in fish prices plummeting.

In 1898, a storm known as the Portland Gale wiped out nearly half of P Town's wharves and some 20 boats in the harbor. And struggling businesses in the area couldn't afford to rebuild. And keep in mind, at this time, residents had only begun to hold titles for the land they lived on for five years or so.

Provincetown’s Transition to Tourism (6:46)

But, since many affluent residents remained in Provincetown, it became a tourist destination. And this was in part because the town already had four major hotels established throughout the 1800s to accommodate sailors and fishermen who spent most of their time at sea.

There was also a regular steamship service from Boston, and in 1873, a railway link was created between Wellfleet and the mainland. So, following the depression and destruction in the 1890s, Provincetown was kind of already prepared to become a tourist destination for its next chapter. Also, around this time is when the area began to be considered as an arts colony.

In 1899, Charles W. Hawthorne opened the Cape Cod School of Painting, and students from across the East Coast flocked to the area. By the time World War I began, Provincetown had a well-established reputation and was attracting well-known artists like Hans Hoffman and writers like Norman Mailer and Eugene O'Neill. Partially because of its reputation as an arts colony, Provincetown was considered a bohemian art community with a feeling of freedom and acceptance.

And in the 1960s, it evolved into a gay destination. Also, in 2004, Massachusetts became the first state to legalize same-sex marriage, and Provincetown became one of the country's top wedding destinations.

So, you can see from that brief history, there are quite a few similarities between Provincetown and Fire Island. The whaling industry impacted its economy, and the arts community attracted LGBTQ+ visitors.

So, with that all in mind, let's delve more into the queer history of P Town.

Provincetown’s Queer History (8:24)

According to the New England Historical Society, following the Cape Cod School of Art opening in 1899, the Summer School of Painting opened in 1900. Free thinkers from Greenwich Village, another gayborhood, came to Provincetown, including gay painters Marsden Hartley and Charles Demuth.

And then came the Great Summer of 1916, which was a phrase coined by Hartley. That summer, many artists, including Hartley, had recently returned to America from Berlin, Paris, and London due to World War I. But while they had visited those cities, they had experienced the relaxed attitudes towards sex, and they liked it.

Provincetown had six art schools at that time, and artists, along with writers, flocked to the area. Here's an excerpt:

"Hartley had arrived in P Town with a group of friends from Greenwich Village. They were into theater, Freud, Marx, and free love. Among them were John Dos Passos, John Reed, and Emma Goldman. An unknown mariner, Eugene O’Neill, joined them as well. His father was an actor, and he had tried without success to find a stage for his plays. The year before, the Greenwich Village group had formed an amateur theatre company, the Provincetown Players. They agreed to put on O’Neill’s play, Bound East for Cardiff. Unlike anything the audience had ever seen before, it revolutionized American theatre."

Fast forward to 1940, Provincetown was now established as both a gay village and an arts colony. And that is the year that Tennessee Williams arrived in P Town. And if that name sounds familiar, it's because he's considered one of America's greatest playwrights known for his award-winning plays, including The Glass Menagerie in 1944, A Streetcar Named Desire in 1947, and Cat on a Hot Roof Tin in 1955, among others.

And, I don't know if Tennessee Williams was ever publicly out, but he had several relationships with men. And that summer when he arrived in Provincetown, he described four groups who made up Provincetown's residents:

·       First, there were the flamboyant gay summer visitors

·       Next were the elite artists and writers who came to write, paint, dance, or act

·       There were also gay wash ashores who came as visitors and stayed year-round to work or run businesses

·       And the last group was described as the Yankee, Portuguese and mixed-race native gays

Also in 1940, The Provincetown Advocate, the town's newspaper of record at the time, printed the word homosexual for the first time ever. And this word wouldn't be published in the New York Times until 1967.

By the 1950s, Provincetown entertainment culture evolved, and many of its nightclubs feature drag acts. In fact, in 1952, Phillip "Phil" Baiona, known by his drag named Bella Baiona, opened Weathering Heights. It was the first bar to openly cater and advertise to the LGBTQ+ community in Provincetown. However, that same year, P Town selectman enacted regulations that banned drag shows and forbade bars and restaurants from encouraging quote-unquote the habitual gathering place for homosexuals of either sex.

The selectmen then took this further by trying to shut down places where homosexuals congregated. And, in July 1960, Weathering Heights was shut down by the selectmen because they denied the owner a liquor license. And you might remember some of those liquor license and private bottle club regulations from the episode about the Mafia's relationship to gay bars.

Anyway, shopkeepers responded to the selectmen's enactments with their own quote-unquote Shopkeepers Plea, saying Provincetown was no longer a comfortable vacation spot and was becoming less interesting and less entertaining.

Queer Provincetown Milestones (12:08)

And here are some other queer Provincetown milestones. In 1966, gay artist and fellow Pittsburgh boy Andy Warhol brought his Exploding Plastic Inevitable to Provincetown. It was a multimedia variety show featuring the Velvet Underground. And according to the Provincetown Business Guild, this show turned the worlds of art and LGBTQ+ culture on their heads.

Also, that year, Lynne Carter, a popular drag performer in Provincetown, bought The Pilgrim House, which was one of those four early hotels in P Town we talked about. According to its website, The Pilgrim House first opened for business in 1810.

In the 1900s, it doubled as a nightspot. And then, in the 1950s, a dance orchestra played on Saturday nights in what was then called the Sea Dragon Club. In the 1960s, It was known as the Madeira Club and hosted all kinds of talent, including comedy.

In fact, in the summer of 1967, Lily Tomlin actually had a successful run at The Pilgrim House just two years prior to joining the cast of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In on NBC, which brought her national attention. And Lily Tomlin has been in a relationship with her wife, Jane Wagner, since March 1971, and the two married on December 31, 2013.

Now, The Pilgrim House's history section on its website talks about the various owners of the property, but they don't ever mention Lynne Carter. However, a 1973 article notes that Carter was the headline act at the hotel for several years.

Now, I'm not sure how long she held ownership of The Pilgrim House, but in October 1990, it was destroyed in a four-alarm blaze that required more than 100 firefighters from seven cape towns to extinguish it. And then, sometime in the early 90s, Donald R. Edwards rebuilt it. And while it occupied roughly the same footprint, in its new incarnation, the property was more about entertainment than accommodation, though it did have 20 guestrooms.

In 1970, LGBTQ+ activists held a Labor Day Solidarity March to honor the one-year anniversary of Stonewall despite being denied a parade permit by the town. Then, in 1975, the first Fantasia Fair was held. And according to Digital Transgender Archive, it was founded in 1975 by Ariadne Kane.

And Fantasia Fair was an annual week-long conference in Provincetown, Massachusetts, to explore issues relevant to the trans community. Now known as Trans Week, it is the oldest continuing transgender event in the world and a pioneering celebration in transgender activism.

In 1976, Womencrafts opened, which is a lesbian-owned and operated bookstore with a mission to promote the work of female artisans, authors, and musicians. It remains one of the few feminist bookshops in the country, as well as an important resource for queer women in Provincetown.

Then in 1978, the Provincetown Business Guild was founded, which aims to elevate and cultivate the queer identity of Provincetown, drive LGBTQ+ tourism, and support their local businesses. It's a membership organization that promotes Provincetown as the travel destination for the LGBTQ+ community and is one of the oldest LGBTQ+ business associations in the country.

That same year, the Provincetown Business Guild produced the very first Carnival, which is now a signature P Town event every year. According to Ptown.org, Carnival is P Town's original summer celebration of community, expression, and creativity. The week-long festival attracts tens of thousands of guests from all over the world to enjoy parties, performances, costume contests, and the celebrated Carnival Parade.

In 1983, the Provincetown AIDS Support Group, now known as the AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod, was founded, which opened its doors to hundreds of people living with AIDS who were seeking assistance and treatment.

And in 1990, the Spiritus Riot occurred during Labor Day weekend in protest of the arrest of drag queen Vanilla. Now, details are limited on this. I couldn't really find a full story, but from what I gathered, Vanilla was performing in the center of Commercial Street and was arrested.

Now also on Commercial Street is Spiritus Pizza, which draws in a large gay crowd. And while witnessing Vanilla's arrest, people at Spiritus began protesting. They surrounded the police cruiser and actually freed Vanilla. The cops told her to walk to the police station and many joined her, and she arrived with a crowd of hundreds.

And this riot is said to have emerged as an expression of anger over police harassment of the LGBTQ+ community. And soon after this occurred, the Provincetown Police Department implemented reforms, including hiring LGBTQ+ officers. Again, I couldn't find many details on this. So, if you know more about this story, please reach out to me.

Anyway, let's fast forward to the early aughts. In 2001, John Burrows and the P Town Bears organization created P Town Bear Week to celebrate the bear community, its admirers, and those who just love hanging with the bear community.

And according to P Town Tourism, Provincetown Bear Week is the largest gathering of bears in the world, with tens of thousands coming to Provincetown during this annual event to go to parties, bars, and clubs throughout the town.

And then, as we touched upon earlier, on May 14, 2004, marriage equality came to Massachusetts. And Provincetown welcomed hundreds that day who were seeking marriage licenses, resulting in the town making headlines around the world.

And, as of 2010, the United States Census Bureau released data that showed Provincetown had the highest rate of same-sex couples of any municipality in the country, making Provincetown quote unquote the gayest town in America.

Episode Closing (17:52)

So, there you have it. Head on down to P Town. And connecting back to the tarot, Seven of Swords in reverse. It's telling us that while our ideas might be good, the actions and steps we've been taking currently aren't working to achieve that goal.

And just like we saw in Provincetown, it originally started as a port for sailors and fishermen. It had kind of a rowdy crowd at first, but, over time, people began settling there year-round. And then, that early community saw a downturn as the whaling industry declined, and they hit an economic depression.

And there was that giant storm that struck Provincetown and damaged a lot of property. But in spite of that, over the years, Provincetown saw an increase as an arts colony, bringing liberal and free thinkers to the area. And eventually, it evolved into the gay vacation spot it is today.

So, just like the ups and downs of Provincetown, we may see our successes ebb and flow as we're trying to achieve our long-term goals. You know, we may think that to achieve this goal, we have to take steps A, B, C, D, right in that order. But life doesn't always pan out the way we thought it would.

So maybe there's a personal storm that's hit us and left us kind of picking up the pieces, figuring out how we can get back to that goal. So, instead of trying to recreate the process you've been doing, think through what you want to achieve.

Think of your strengths and talents. And try to think outside of the box of how you can make that happen. Really look inward. Again, channel that inner magic so you could take inspired action to achieve that goal in a different way than you thought you might.

Connect with A Jaded Gay (19:13)

And as always, thank you so much for listening. I hope you enjoyed this fun summary episode. You know, it's always fun kind of learning a little bit about gay history tied in with some fun gay meccas.

I haven't been to Provincetown, but I know some friends who have gone, and they loved it. So, it's definitely on my travel list for the future. But I'd love to hear about your experiences.

If you're someone who's been to Provincetown before, please feel free to reach out. Let me know what you loved about it. What maybe wasn't so great? What are some bars or restaurants or art shows you recommend seeing? Let me know, and send an email to rob@ajadedgay.com.

Please also remember to rate, review, and subscribe. I greatly appreciate it. For more information on this episode, along with resources, links to merchandise socials, all that fun stuff, you can visit the podcast website, ajadedgay.com.

You can also connect with the podcast on Instagram, TikTok, SoundCloud, and YouTube @ajadedgaypod. You can follow me personally, Rob Loveless, on Instagram @rob_loveless.

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And remember, every day is all we have, so you got to make your own happiness.

Mmm-bye.

Outtake (21:00)

It actually helped spawn...ugh, hated that.