New Yorkers like to believe that everything starts in New York City. And while that may be true (my NYC zip code keeps me biased), the city was and remains essential to the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement, and brims with gay history. Historic residences of key LGBTQ+ figures in American history—writers including James Baldwin, Lorraine Hansberry, photographer Alice Austen, and countless others—plus bars, community organizing spaces, public gathering and cruising areas, and so much more can be found all around the city.
The West Village is a bit of a nexus, being home to a plethora of pertinent LGBTQ+ historical locations (all of which are easy to hit in a self-guided walking tour.) But rich queer history can be found from the top of Manhattan to the tree-lined blocks of Brooklyn’s Park Slope and beyond. For more LGBTQ+ history experiences, check out the NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project, which maps over 450 historic sites across all five boroughs key to history, some dating as far back as the 17th Century.
Like any subculture in New York, plenty of once-queer spaces have been converted into condos or bank branches. But there are plenty of iconic, hyper-relevant destinations that are still open and contribute to the living history of LGBTQ+ New Yorkers and visitors alike. These are the can’t-miss places to visit if you’re interested in learning about the city’s queer past, as well as getting a taste of its present.
Read our full New York City travel guide here.
Every review on this list has been written by a Condé Nast Traveler journalist who knows the destination and has visited that activity. When choosing things to do, our editors consider landmarks and experiences that offer an insider’s view of a destination, keeping authenticity, location, service, and sustainability credentials top of mind.
