As one of the first public AIDS fundraisers in the Hamptons (and one of the first arts-led AIDS benefits), A Gala Night for Singing activated a network of gay residents, weekenders, and allies with strong ties to New York City’s arts and advocacy scenes. The event was co-organized by the East End Gay Organization (EEGO), founded in 1977 to build community and fight discrimination on Long Island’s East End, and the Linda Leibman Human Rights Fund, created to honor a beloved local activist. Together, these groups fostered political change and mutual aid—including East Hampton’s landmark 1985 vote to ban anti-gay discrimination. Fashion designer Stan Herman, then chairman of EEGO, co-chaired the benefit, underscoring how the fashion industry mobilized early in the AIDS crisis through grassroots leadership. The event was catered by Ina Garten, later known as the “Barefoot Contessa,” indicating the broad coalition of cultural figures contributing to early AIDS organizing in the Hamptons. The concert featured rising opera stars Aprile Millo and Jerry Hadley and was produced by Opera News editor Robert Jacobson and impresario Matthew Epstein. Their participation signaled how deeply the AIDS crisis had affected the classical music world, and how artists were among the first to mobilize cultural capital for support and remembrance.