This popular Facebook page is a portal to 1970s and '80s NYC gay history
A growing Facebook group, Gay New York 1970s and 80s, serves as a virtual online time machine, guiding its tens of thousands of followers back to an era many of them never knew while building a vibrant online community for the future.
For a vivid trip to the LGBTQ past, forget quantum physics or flux capacitors — a growing Facebook group, Gay New York 1970s and 80s, serves as a virtual online time machine, guiding its tens of thousands of followers back to an era many of them never knew while building a vibrant online community for the future.
Its popular posts, which routinely get thousands of likes, range from you-are-there recollections of legendary clubs like Studio 54 and The Saint to remembrances of first apartments, first loves and first losses in the AIDS epidemic. This wide array of gay New York stories preserve the past while also make it come alive with Fire Island home videos, vintage Pride photos, DJ playlists and even gay bar matchbook collections. But its 44,000-plus members don’t just reminisce about the old days; they converse with each other about the fun, formative decade after Stonewall as well as the challenges faced in the ‘80s during the AIDS crisis.
Michael Hawke in New York City's Central Park in May 1976.Courtesy Michael Hawke“I’m just blown away,” said Michael Hawke, 68, surprised by the popularity of the page that he created — not to mention the passion and participation of its members. “It’s amazing how much this group means to all these people.”
Born and raised in Richmond, Virginia, Hawke moved to New York City in 1976, when he was just 21 years old, to pursue work as a model and actor. He’s shared many of his own tales of the city with the group, like a Christopher Street encounter with Marsha P. Johnson, his stint as a stripper at The Show Palace Theater, and wild stories about the city’s burgeoning nightlife scene. But he also posts painful memories of heartbreak, addiction and all the loss he experienced, especially during the ‘80s.
“New York was beloved to me — it was my Oz,” said Hawke about how much his 17 years in New York still means to him. “That’s where I learned to grow up.”
Rating: 5