Jackson Heights
overview
Jackson Heights, where the Queens Pride Parade takes place annually, has had a gay presence since it was developed in the 1920s. This collection highlights the neighborhood’s diverse LGBT history through bars and clubs (particularly significant to Latino New Yorkers) as well as sites of social gathering and political activism.
While much of New York City’s known LGBT history and life centers on Manhattan, we are currently working on adding more sites throughout Queens to our website. If you have a suggestion, please fill out our online form.
This theme was made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature, and a grant from Con Edison.
Historic Sites in Jackson Heights
In 1993, the inaugural Queens Pride Parade and Multicultural Festival took place in the historically gay neighborhood of Jackson Heights and was the first such event to be organized in... Learn More
This Jackson Heights church, opened in 1923, became an important hub for diverse community groups, including LGBT groups, beginning in the mid-1970s. During the 1990s, it was the meeting location... Learn More
This street sign in Jackson Heights commemorates Julio Rivera, a gay Puerto Rican man who in 1990 was brutally attacked by three skinheads in the nearby schoolyard and soon after... Learn More
Guillermo Vasquez was a leading gay rights, AIDS, and Latino community activist in Queens who emigrated from Colombia in 1972. Seventeen years after his 1996 death from AIDS-related complications, this... Learn More
Cartoonist Howard Cruse, credited as the “godfather of queer comics,” and leading community activist Ed Sedarbaum lived in this Jackson Heights apartment building from 1979 to 2002. During this period,... Learn More