New York City Gay Culture

NewFest is New York's premier LGBT film, media and arts organization. It provides a platform for LGBT filmmakers and storytellers.

NewFest hosts the annual New York LGBT Film Festival, garnering thousands of attendees and over 100 films in the lineup every year.

There are talks and film viewings throughout the year. Check their website for more details.

Located in SoHo, New York, the Leslie-Lohman Museum is dedicated to presenting art by or reflecting the lives of LGBT+ people. The permanent collection includes works by major gay artists such as Andy Warhol, David Hockney and also lesser known artists.

You'll find a bit of everything here from avant-garde paintings, rare pulp novels and private *adult content* collections. Many of the artworks on display embody the gay experience throughout modern history. The shame, the pride, the isolation and everything in between.

The museum also holds various exhibits throughout the year centered around LGBT+ stories and their intersection with different indentities.

The Museum Of Sex opened on Fifth Avenue in 2002. It was the first dedicated sex museum in the world. From the bordellos of the 19th-century to gay bathhouses and Madonna's Sex Book, this museum presents the history of sex in America and beyond.

It's a must-see when you're in New York City. There are regular guided tours of the museum's highlights, as well as guided walking tours of NYC's hidden sexual history.

Fascinating exhibitions are held exploring many different topics - from trans punk-pop artists to rare works of erotica.

The Duplex is a historic theatre and piano bar in the heart of Greenwich Village. Long a gay-popular venue, it helped to launch the careers of Joan Rivers and Barbra Streisand. It's the home of New York cabaret and one of the major off-Broadway performance spaces.

There are regular drag shows on throughout the week. You can hang out in the Piano Bar and maybe even sing something if you're brave.

The Duplex demonstrates that bohemia isn't quite dead yet.

One of the world's biggest and greatest museums, The Met contains 5000 years worth of art. It's also where the Met Gala is held, probably the most exclusive society event of the year.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art contains many glimpses of gay history. There are homoerotic artworks from ancient Greece, intense and erotic paintings by Caravaggio and modern works by Gertrude Stein. You can also see artworks of the Emperor Hadrian and his boyfriend, Antinous.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is a great place to expand your mind and discover many of the most beautiful and significant artworks.

Since it opened in 1891, Carnegie Hall has been one of the premier venues for music performance in New York, and it's a landmark space for many gay performers. Countless LGBT+ composers have played here, including Samuel Barber, Benjamin Britten and Aaron Copland.

On one legendary night in 1961, Judy Garland performed. The show was recorded for her Judy At Carnegie Hall album, a masterpiece nearly all gay men of a certain age possess. She became the ultimate gay icon. Rufus Wainwright declared Garland to be a "gay saint" and recreated her show in 2006: Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall.

Carnegie Hall is a major gay landmark in New York. The Gay Men's Chorus often perform here.

Know your Herstory? If you're looking to brush up then head to the Lesbian Herstory Archives in Park Slope, Brooklyn. It's a museum, archive, and community centre dedicated to preserving the written history of ladies who love ladies. It's the world's largest archive of lesbian material.

Visiting the museum is only possible through appointments. Visit the Lesbian Herstory Archives to sign up for a timeslot.