Important artifacts from a neglected history in the popular narrative of New York disco, from a moment of sexual freedom and promiscuity before the outbreak of the AIDS epidemic. Gay men naked sex party movietures and hidden cam boy to boy sex. Note: This chapter was conceived and written before the emergence of the Tea Party movement. Additionally, Inferno hosted Betsey Johnson’s S/S 1979 fashion show.īesides the club’s status as a hub in New York’s disco scene, these materials reveal its clandestine and sleazy side, which is unmentioned in all records and disco histories we’ve located: the member’ newsletter advertises an upcoming “sun & fun” trip to Fire Island, a weekend of “hundreds of men roughing it in pup tents and sleeping bags,” and Inferno’s “wide array of devilish entertainment.” Item #5741 Collection of materials from Club Inferno, a disco club that also organized heretofore unrecorded gay sex parties.Ī club where gay male promiscuity mingled with late-70s disco culture, Inferno was one of pioneering DJ Walter Gibbons’ regular performance spots and where Kenny Carpenter–who went on to become the Saturday night resident DJ at Studio 54–did the lights. A new documentary is under production after filmmaker Geoff Story made a unique discovery at an estate sale in St. (4) Inferno Membership application and original mailing envelope. 1) Fold-open flyer announcing the opening of Club Inferno.