Hi, Ms. Jen. I'm going to New York in a couple months and I really want to go to a few lgbtq+ spaces but I've never even been to one in my hometown so I don麓t know how to go about it or even approach people there, it makes me nervous.
Also, I麓m not out to the friends I锟斤拷m going on the trip with which makes me even more nervous.
I would love some advice, thank you :)
The last time I was in New York I think it was for the Stonewall 25th Anniversay. My first girlfriend and I organized a bus trip for a contigent of Iowan to attend. What a whirlwind that was.
New York is the home of so much lesbian/lgbt+history and there are several things you can see that would be common for any tourist. The Stonewall monument (which was not in place when I was there) looks to be very interesting. It is a Federal Park and free to visit.
Back in the 1990s we would pick up these books called "The Gay Yellow Pages" . Some were regional (like Chicago) others covered many larger cities all in one. They were, at best, sort of reliable, since they were only published every few years due to expense of printing them. LOL. We would always have a beat up copy in our car just in case the itch to visit Kansas City or Omaha struck us on a weekend. Here is a site for New York with a similar idea
Hopefully you can steal away from your friends to explore some of these places. BUT gay bars tend to be popular dance spots with a diverse crowd on weekend nights or when there is a show so it would not be that odd to be "straight" and go to a club.