LGBT culture in New York City
New York City has one of the largest LGBT populations in the world. Brian Silverman, the author of Frommer's New York City from $90 a Day, wrote the city has "one of the world's largest, loudest, and most powerful" LGBT communities" and "Gay and lesbian culture is as much a part of New York's basic identity as yellow cabs, high-rises, and Broadway theater."[1]
Contents
History
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Charles Kaiser, author of The Gay Metropolis: The Landmark History of Gay Life in America, wrote that in the era after World War II, "New York City became the literal gay metropolis for hundreds of thousands of immigrants from within and without the United States: the place they chose to learn how to live openly, honestly and without shame."[2]
In the 1980s AIDS affected gay males, causing many of them to die. That crisis is the subject of the 1985 Larry Kramer play The Normal Heart, later adapted by HBO into a film.[3]
The Stonewall riots occurred in June 1969, which is widely considered the birth of the LGBT civil rights movement.
Demographics
Lonely Planet stated that of the demographics, the LGBT population has "one of the largest disposable incomes".[4]
New York City is a popular LGBT tourist destination.[5]
Geography
As of 2015 Chelsea in Manhattan is the main area of gay male socialization. The Christopher Street area of West Village in Manhattan historically was the main area of gay male socialization and as of 2011 it still had an LGBT presence. The East Village/Lower East Side area of Manhattan is also a gayborhood. Hell's Kitchen and Morningside Heights also have an LGBT presence.[5]
In Brooklyn, Park Slope is a gayborhood. Prospect Heights has an LGBT residential presence.[5]
Astoria has a notable LGBT presence.[5]
Politics
Politics in New York City are mainly left-leaning. Rosenberg and Dunford stated that this historically was "generally beneficial to the gay community".[5] In New York City Republican Party political administrations actively court LGBT voters.[5] LGBT voters were 3.4% of New York City's electorate in 1989.[6]
In the mid-1970s LGBT participation in New York City politics began. In the 1977 Mayor of New York City elections, Edward Koch was the preferred candidate; there had been speculation that Koch was secretly a homosexual. However Koch associated with religious figures opposed to homosexuality and did not pass LGBT civil rights bills, so in 1981 Frank Barbaro was the candidate preferred by the LGBT political groups.[7] In the 1985 mayoral election Koch had almost no support; Donald P. Haider-Markel, the author of Gay and Lesbian Americans and Political Participation: A Reference Handbook, wrote that Koch's "actions on AIDS seemed inadequate at best".[8] In the 1989 mayoral election David Dinkins received support from the LGBT community.[6]
Institutions
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center is in West Village, Manhattan.
Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE) is the country's largest and oldest organization dedicated to improving the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. SAGE is located at 305 Seventh Ave, 15th Floor NYC, NY 10001.
The Bureau of General Services – Queer Division (BGSQD) is a queer cultural center, bookstore, and event space hosted by The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center in New York City.
The Leslie Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art (LLM) is located in Manhattan.[9]
Lambda Legal is headquartered in New York City.
The Lesbian Herstory Archives is located in a townhouse in Brooklyn. It has 12,000 photographs, over 11,000 books, 1,300 periodical titles, and 600 videos. There are also thousands of miscellaneous items.[9]
The Bronx Community Pride Center was previously located in the Bronx.[9] The city government had funded the nonprofit agency. Lisa Winters, who headed the agency from 2004 until 2010, had stolen $143,000 from the agency; she was ultimately fired. She was convicted of stealing the funds and misusing a credit card belonging to another person. In April 2013 she received a prison sentence of two concurrent terms, each two to six years. Winters' theft resulted in the closure of the agency.[10]
Media
LGBT publications include Gay City News, GO, and Next.[5]
Out FM is an LGBT talk radio show.
Former publications include Gaysweek, The New York Blade, and New York Native.
Education
The New York City Department of Education operates Harvey Milk High School in Manhattan; it caters to but is not limited to LGBT students.
Religion
The Metropolitan Community Church of New York (MCCNY) is located in Manhattan.
Recreation
Heritage of Pride or NYC Pride organizes LGBT community events such as the LGBT Pride March. The New York Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Film Festival is held in the city. MIX NYC organizes other LGBT film festivals. The Fresh Fruit Festival exhibits works of LGBT artists.
Each month the New York Gallery Tours company offers an LGBT gallery tour.[9]
Historically, the St. Patrick's Day Parade has not allowed openly LGBT groups to participate. However, the organizers announced that in 2015 the first LGBT group will be permitted to have a float.[11]
New York City Black Pride is held annually in August.[12]
Escort raid
On August 25, 2015, the world's largest gay male escort website known as Rentboy headquartered in New York City was raided by the Justice Department. The website received over 500,000 unique visitors daily and had roughly 10,500 male escorts listed worldwide. The reason cited for the raid was that the website illegally operated as a prostitution service.[13][14]
References
- Kaiser, Charles. The Gay Metropolis: The Landmark History of Gay Life in America. Grove Press, 2007. ISBN 0802143172, 9780802143174.
Notes
- ↑ Silverman, Brian. Frommer's New York City from $90 a Day (Volume 7 of Frommer's $ A Day). John Wiley & Sons, January 21, 2005. ISBN 0764588354, 9780764588358. p. 28.
- ↑ Kaiser, p. xiv.
- ↑ Wolcott, James. "Death and the City" (Archive). Vanity Fair. May 2014. Retrieved on September 14, 2014.
- ↑ Lonely Planet New York City. Lonely Planet, September 1, 2012. ISBN 1743213468, 9781743213469. p. Google Books PT264 (Best LGBT section).
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 Rosenberg, Andrew and Martin Dunford. The Rough Guide to New York. Penguin Books, January 1, 2011. ISBN 184836590X, 9781848365902. p. 379.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Haider-Markel, Donald P. Gay and Lesbian Americans and Political Participation: A Reference Handbook (Political participation in America). ABC-CLIO, January 1, 2002. ISBN 1576072568, 9781576072561. p. 145.
- ↑ Haider-Markel, Donald P. Gay and Lesbian Americans and Political Participation: A Reference Handbook (Political participation in America). ABC-CLIO, January 1, 2002. ISBN 1576072568, 9781576072561. p. 144.
- ↑ Haider-Markel, Donald P. Gay and Lesbian Americans and Political Participation: A Reference Handbook (Political participation in America). ABC-CLIO, January 1, 2002. ISBN 1576072568, 9781576072561. p. 144-145.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 "NYC’s 5 Best LGBT Art Exhibits And Cultural Events" (Archive). CBS New York City. June 4, 2012. Retrieved on September 14, 2014.
- ↑ Cunningham, Jennifer H. "Disgraced ex-head of Bronx Pride Center, Lisa Winters, sentenced to 2-6 years in prison for grand larceny" (Archive). New York Daily News. Tuesday April 2, 2013. Retrieved on September 14, 2014.
- ↑ Sgueglia, Kristina and Ray Sanchez. "New York St. Patrick's Day parade to include first gay group" (Archive). CNN. September 3, 2014. Retrieved on September 14, 2014.
- ↑ http://www.nycblackpride.com/
- ↑ http://pix11.com/2015/08/25/rentboy-ceo-workers-arrested-in-raid-of-escort-service/
- ↑ http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2015/08/30/3696447/rentboy-raid-and-sex-trafficking/
Further reading
- Chauncey, George. 1994. Gay New York: gender, urban culture, and the makings of the gay male world, 1890-1940. New York: Basic Books.
