LGBT New York City

With New York City being the heart of the LGBT rights movement far before the Stonewall riots of 1969 that pioneered the gay rights movement, the city is not only a safe haven but a rich location for LGBT travelers and others who are invested in the history and movement. Not only is New York City one of the safest locations in the world for LGBT travelers with protections that exceed far beyond those in many other areas of the country, but it is also incredibly dense in culture, with many native New Yorkers themselves barely scratching the surface of the gay civil rights history here.

Understand


Visitors here can visit the Stonewall Inn, the famous site often regarded as the beginning of the LGBT rights movement after the riots held in 1969, or to take part in the New York City Pride March, the largest of its kind with 150,000 participants and 5 million visitors in 2019.

However, tourists certainly shouldn't disregard the complex array of museums and sites devoted to the LGBT community off the beaten trail. Gay bars are present throughout the city and many restaurants are openly accepting to LGBT people, many of which are also devoted to the community's history as well. Museums documenting the silenced voices of LGBT community through history far before the 1960s are frequent, each telling their own unique story.

The New York City government is heavily involved in the culture and protection within the LGBT community, including a beautiful transformation of New York City during Pride Month ranging from flying rainbow pride flags on the city's buildings to raising awareness about arts, community centers, and literature relating to the community. If you want to travel somewhere dense in the culture and protection of the LGBT community, then New York City should be first on your list as the power the movement has had in the past century has given the city an entirely new but beautiful identity.

Greenwich Village, Chelsea and Hell's Kitchen are the most popular neighborhoods for LGBT people.

Stay safe
New York is for the most part a very LGBT-friendly city, however anti-gay hate crimes do sometimes occur in NYC.

The LGBT Community Center (see above) hosts many Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, and other twelve-step recovery groups. The center's Mental Health and Social Services division also sponsors support groups focused on coming out, transgender issues, bereavement, and other topics of concern to the LGBT community.