16 LGBTQ Walking Tours for LGBTQ History Month

When I’m traveling, I love taking a walking tour to get oriented to the city. And one of my favorite kinds of walking tours to take are LGBTQ walking tours. These guided tours help me feel right at home when I’m first getting to know a city. And they usually show off the gay neighborhood, too! 

While you might expect to find a gay walking tour of New York City, there are LGBTQ walking tours all over the United States. This blog post rounds up some of the best queer history walking tours to check out on your next queer vacation! 

This post was originally written in 2022 and updated in 2026 with additional tours, fresh links, and more photos.

Philadelphia LGBTQ History Walking Tour

Gay walking tours of Philadelphia that shine a light on underrepresented historical figures, from women to LGBTQ history.

Highlights on 90-minute walking tour of Philadephia’s gayborhood include:

• The city’s oldest gay bookstore
• Philadelphia LGBTQ rights pioneer Barbara Gittings, who organized the local chapter of lesbian organization Daughters of Bilitis
• Lots of queer murals honoring local LGBTQ icons
• Time to browse the oldest gay bookstore in the US, Giovanni’s Room 

Philadelphia LGBTQ walking tours are offered daily at 3 pm. 

The Philadelphia LGBTQ walking tour covers 1 mile and lasts 90 minutes.

New York City LGBTQ History Walking Tours

When it comes to gay walking tours, New York City offers so many incredible sounding tours to choose from! There are six LGBTQ walking tours centered around the city’s queer hub: Greenwich Village. 

Here’s what each queer walking tour offers, so you can pick the right tour for your gay group. 

Greenwich Village Pride Tour 

The LGBTQ Walking Tour of Greenwich Village brings queer history to life with stops at:

• Stonewall Inn, the bar where it all happened
• NYC Aids Memorial
• NYC’s LGBT Community Center
• Christopher Park

Tours are likely to sell out, so book in advance. 

Oscar Wilde Gay Walking Tours of New York City

If you’re looking for something a little different from the Stonewall LGBTQ walking tours, consider these LGBTQ history tours from Oscar Wilde, which runs several gay history and art tours. 

• LGBTQ Met art tour: Oscar Wilde’s newest tour is themed around all the super gay art that can be found in the Metropolitan Museum. Visit an NYC institution, clock erotic art on ancient Greek vases and queer-coded Renaissance paintings. It’s a tour of the Met unlike any you’ll find elsewhere. This is perfect for the culture lovers in your queer travel crew!
• All the P*nises in the Met: Yup, you can take a singularly focused tour of n*ked males, if that’s your thing…
• Greenwich Village gay history walking tour: Beginning at the historic Stonewall Inn, you’ll explore the West Village’s counterculture and gay history from the Beats to Andy Warhol.

New Orleans LGBTQ Walking Tours 

New Orleans is one of the most LGBTQ inclusive cities in the South, so it’s no surprise the city has several LGBTQ walking tours!

NOLA Drag Walking Tour

Hosted by local drag queen Quinn Laroux, this NOLA drag tour spotlights the contributions of BIPOC, queer and trans people, and women to New Orleans’ queer culture. Pause at the famous 700 Club for a cocktail while Quinn schools you on New Orleans’ LGBTQ drag icons, trans history, and famous LGBTQ residents. 

Note: these tours aren’t offered in July and August because of the heat and humidity.

I went on this tour when I visited New Orleans and had a blast. I appreciated the focus on queer women and trans history in New Orleans – and all of the research that Quinn had done to create the tour!

LGBT Queer History Walking Tour from New Orleans Secret Tours

Meet at the Louisiana LGBT+ Archives Project, where you can explore the exhibit before your tour begins. Then walk through the French Quarter learning about New Orleans’ role in queer culture. From the early LGBTQ+ settlers, who helped create the permissive culture the city is known for, to the tragic fire in the Upstairs Lounge bar, which killed 32, to the gay krewes representing in Mardi Gras, this tour celebrates the LGBTQ+ community in New Orleans.

Boston LGBTQ Walking Tours

In Boston LGBTQ walking tours are offered by The Gibson House, a historic house.

The Gibson House’s LGBTQ history tour takes place at 6 p.m. on the first Thursday of the month.

This tour focuses on Boston’s gay community in the early twentieth century. You’ll learn about Charlie Gibson, the Victoria era gay subculture which he belonged to, and Boston’s LGBTQ community from then to now. Charlie Gibson grew up in Boston’s wealthy Back Bay neighborhood and embraced a bohemian lifestyle – a term that was queer coded in the late Victorian era. 

Gibson escaped conservative Boston society for France where he had a male lover he stayed in touch with throughout his life. Gibson eventually returned to Boston to care for his dying mother. He remained a bachelor, and opened his private family home for queer community gatherings.

Boston Gay Art Tour

Oscar Wilde offers a Boston gay art tour. Held at the Museum of Fine Arts, this 2-hour tour promises a sexy Jesus painting, John Singer Sargent works and much more. I haven’t taken this particular tour, but I’ve been to the MFA tons of times and it’s well worth your visit. 

Queer Louisville: Kentucky LGBTQ Walking Tour + Free Drink

Louisville’s LGBTQ history walking tour shows off the hidden queer history of Louisville and Kentucky. The tour takes place in the city’s Highlands neighborhood, where you’ll find several beloved gay bars, a local bookstore with a dedicated queer section, and the original disco ball factory (still in operation).

The tour covers 1.5 miles, lasts 90 minutes, and includes a cocktail or cocktail at a local gay bar plus time to browse books (jealous). Along the way, you’ll learn about the Prohibition era Black drag artists, queer Appalachian artists and authors, and the true stories of Queer Kentucky.

Tours run every Saturday at 11 am. You can also book a private tour for your group. Use code “LINDSEY10” to save 10% off your booking. 

Charleston LGBTQ History Tour

Charleston, South Carolina offers a self-guided LGBTQ walking tour focused on seven historical sites with LGBTQ significance. 

See the spots where notable lesbian and bisexual writers Gertrude Stein and Edna St. Vincent Millay hung out, the home of transgender woman writer Dawn Langley Simmons, and the home where a former Charleston Museum director lived in a Boston marriage, a historical term referring to lesbian couples who lived together, with her socialite wife. 

The Lavender Landmarks tour is unique for centering the experiences of lesbians, bisexual women, and trans individuals. Grab your copy of the LGBTQ walking tour map and deepen your appreciation for queer roots!

Did I miss one of your favorite LGBTQ walking tours? Leave a link in the comments and I’ll update the post.

Save this list for later!