If you are interested in NYC history, LGBTQ history, or their intersection, do yourself a favor and check out Christopher Street Tours. Founded by Michael Venturiello, who bases the tours on the extensive historical research he did while a student at nearby NYU, this organization provides a really thorough history with a true sense of place.

Of course I'd heard of the Stonewall riots--but I learned a tremendous amount here about the local culture, the activists, the nearby women's prison (the infamous House of Detention--Mae West, Angela Davis, Andrea Dworkin, Dorothy Day, and Ethel Rosenberg were all inmates), the involvement of the mafia, and even the street layout--providing a much fuller picture of the protests there than I'd ever had before. Our visit to the AIDS Memorial, with its resonant words by Walt Whitman, was another highlight. As was our visit to "the Center" (the The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual & Transgender Community Center) and seeing the powerful and sexually-explicit mural by Keith Haring in what had been a bathroom.

Covering a gamut of LGBQT history from the early demonstrations of the 1960s, through the Gay Liberation movement, Pride parades, the AIDS crisis and ACT UP, the opening of the Stonewall National Monument, and the current political controversies regarding transgender youth, the tour was informative, fascinating, welcoming, and inclusive.

Website: https://christopherstreettours.com/

Email: info@christopherstreettours.com

Telephone: (646)397-3768