Art lovers can visit the Menil Collection’s extensive and diverse works, including Warhol, Pollock, and Picasso. If you’re not in the mood for extravagant queens doing their best Whitney Houston and Rihanna impressions, the neighborhood has plenty of cultural attractions. The drag scene appears to be especially flourishing with shows at numerous venues happening anytime from brunch to late night. Montrose Mining Company and Bayou City Bar and Grill hold lively dance and drag shows. However, many LGBTQ institutions still exist in this shifting neighborhood. Like many creative and LGBTQ neighborhoods, notably New York’s West Village and San Francisco’s Castro, Montrose has become quite gentrified. For example, the first openly gay or lesbian mayor of a major American city, Annise Parker, was elected in Houston in 2009. The LGBTQ community has stood and continues to stand in stark contrast to typical Texas politics and culture, but it’s existence, particularly in Montrose, has created a more open dialogue in Texas.
Montrose played a significant role in the rise of Houston’s LGBTQ activism. In Queens, Jackson Heights serves as the hub for both a thriving immigrant community as well as a sizeable portion of the city’s Latino LGBTQ population - the neighborhood hosts Queens Pride, a jubilant festival that helps kick off Pride Month across the entire city. Park Slope, Bushwick, and Williamsburg, in Brooklyn, have plenty of gay or gay-friendly nightlife venues, community centers, and visible LGBTQ locals. It’s not just Manhattan, though, that has its arms open to the LGBTQ community. Harlem and neighborhoods uptown have also seen smaller bars and lounges continue to open in recent years. Above that, Hell’s Kitchen is maybe Manhattan’s gayest neighborhood, and seemingly every week bars and restaurants are opening that cater almost exclusively to an LGBTQ clientele. A bit farther north, Chelsea - home to heavy-hitting art galleries and the High Line - is still a bastion of gay life, with a few bars clustered around Eighth Avenue. Of course, the hub of all things queer-friendly is in the West Village - site of the Stonewall Riots, now home to the Christopher Street Pier, the Stonewall National Monument, the finish line for the nation’s largest LGBTQ Pride parade, several gay and lesbian bars, and a deeply entrenched (but dwindling) gay population. New York City is, in fact, a collection of neighborhoods spread across five boroughs, and you’re likely to find an LGBTQ-friendly watering hole or community in nearly every corner of the city. West Village, Chelsea, and Hell’s Kitchen, New York City But on behalf of the other eleven months of the year, here are five thriving LGBTQ neighborhoods across the U.S. It’s a great opportunity to celebrate the diversity and the accomplishments of the LGBTQ community around the world. and internationally in the hosting of a wide range of cultural events and marches. This commemoration has expanded across the U.S.
June was designated as the month of celebration to honor the Stonewall riots of New York City, which occurred in June 1969. The current administration may have chosen not to officially recognize it, but this month is LGBTQ Pride month. A rainbow flag flies in New York's West Village.