June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month, and our neighborhoods have more LGBTQ+ history than perhaps anyplace else on Earth. But did you know that until 2015 not a single site in NYC was landmarked for LGBTQ+ history? We’ve made some great strides since, securing landmark designation locally of the Stonewall Inn, Julius’ Bar, the LGBTQ+ Community Center, Caffe Cino, the Pyramid Club, and more. But there’s more work to be done, and the City continues to resist further landmark designations that recognize and protect this important history. 

We’re actively campaigning for a historic district South of Union Square that includes the former headquarters of the country’s first national gay rights organization, where enormous progress on ending anti-LGBTQ+ legal, medical, and social discrimination was made following the Stonewall Riots. It’s also where key sites are located connected to openly-LGBTQ+ figures including Robert Mapplethorpe, Frank O’Hara, Bessie Smith, Terrence McNally, Andy Warhol, Audre Lorde, and Robert Indiana (explore HERE). So far, the City has refused to consider the district. Will a new Mayor and a new Landmarks Preservation Commission Chair change course, or will they continue their predecessors’ opposition to recognizing this critical piece of our collective story?

TO HELP:

And join us on June 16 for a free lecture and discussion about this remarkable unprotected LGBTQ+ history in our neighborhood. 

Explore maps, tours, historic images, plaques, oral histories and more highlighting the LGBTQ+ history of Greenwich Village, the East Village, and NoHo HERE.