Philadelphia to open one of the country's first LGBTQ+ visitor centers

PHILADELPHIA — When preparing to share Philadelphia's rich LGBTQ+ history with the hundreds of thousands of visitors expected to come to town next year for America's 250th anniversary, planners did not suffer from any shortage of stories.

"Philly does not take a backseat to any other city when it comes to national LGBTQ+ equality," said Mark Segal, founder and publisher of Philadelphia Gay News.

But with so much LGBTQ+ history and culture to highlight, officials soon faced a natural question: Where would visitors even start?

That's a predicament planners say they have now solved. On Friday, city tourism and marketing leaders along with LGBTQ+ advocates, like Segal, announced plans to open one of the nation's first dedicated LGBTQ+ visitor centers.

Scheduled to open in January 2026, right in the heart of the Gayborhood, and billed as a legacy project of the Semiquincentennial, as the national milestone is known, the new Philly Pride Visitor Center is envisioned as a starting point for travelers.

"Philadelphia is a city that shows up for everyone," said Kathryn Ott Lovell, president and CEO of Philadelphia Visitor Center Corporation, which will run the new center. "Our hope is that the Philly Pride becomes a place where LGBTQ+ visitors feel like they belong the moment they arrive."

Slated for a retail space near 12th and Locust Streets, owned by Knock Restaurant and Bar, the center will offer visitor services, including itinerary planning, attraction ticketing, and travel information, with a special focus on LGBTQ+-affirming destinations, businesses, and cultural institutions. Souvenirs made by LGBTQ+-owned businesses and artists will be sold.

"The Philly Pride Visitor Center reflects our commitment to inclusive tourism," said Angela Val, president and CEO of Visit Philadelphia, in a joint statement announcing the site. "It is both a resource hub and a testament to Philadelphia's role in advancing LGBTQ+ rights."

The center will offer travel information on sites beyond the Gayborhood, including destinations across the state, from New Hope to Harrisburg.

LGBTQ+ history is a proud part of Pennsylvania's story, said Anne Ryan, the state's deputy secretary of tourism.

"Pennsylvania has always been a place where people come to write the next chapter of their story, and that includes our LGBTQ+ community," she said. "This space will showcase destinations across our commonwealth where LGBTQ+ travelers will find community, pride, and a warm Pennsylvania welcome."

Segal, an activist and author, will curate the historical information presented at the center, telling of Philly's long and powerful LGBTQ+ legacy, from when Washington's ragged troops at Valley Forge were transformed into a fighting force under the guidance of Prussian military leader, Baron Von Steuben, who many historians believe was gay. It will explore the first Reminder Day Marches in 1965 and the Dewey's sit-in that same year, where LGBTQ+ youth held the first transgender and gay sit-in in the country. It will also feature Gov. Milton Shapp's signing of the nation's first statewide executive order banning discrimination against LGBTQ+ state employees in 1975.

Philly has often led in LGBTQ+ tourism, including the 2004 marketing campaign: "Get Your History Straight and Your Nightlife Gay."

"Now with the opening of the Philly Pride Visitor Center, Philadelphia proudly honors that legacy and reaffirms its commitment to those who call this community home," Segal said.

More than a year in the making, the site will represent Philly's fifth visitor center, including ones at Independence Mall, City Hall, Love Park, and the Parkway Visitor Center & Rocky Shop.

How it came to be

The effort grew out of a video on Philly's LGBTQ+ history that Segal and Neil Frauenglass, chief marketing officer of Visit Philadelphia, prepared for the opening of the Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center in New York. That space, which opened in 2024, is the nation's first LGBTQ+ visitor center. Segal, who is 74, was just out of Germantown High School when he participated in the seminal riots at the Greenwich Village bar in 1969.

In their video, Segal and Frauenglass encouragedStonewall visitors to continue their exploration of LGBTQ+ history with a trip to Philly. That's when the pair realized Philly needed a visitor center.

"We have an entire neighborhood literally called the Gayborhood and there are certain pillars of that community, including the William Way LGBTQ Community Center," said Frauenglass. "But there was not a physical place to have that sole purpose to welcome visitors and ensure that they know that they are and wanted and expected here."

Working with tourism leaders and 250 planners, they quickly landed on the space connected to Knock. Fitting their needs for a quick opening, the Locust Street storefront serves as a testing spot for a permanent location, Frauenglass said.

"It's right in the middle of the Gayborhood, exactly where we would want to welcome people," he said. "We're calling it a beta to test out what the center really should look like in the longterm. It gives us the chance to explore what visitorship looks like ... and we can really decide if the space needs to be larger."

It is a point of pride, planners said, that the Philly Pride Visitor Center comes at a time when many scholars and activists warn that the Trump administration is attempting to sanitize American history by omitting references to slavery and LGBTQ+ history from national park sites and websites. Coming ahead of the 250th commemoration, those anticipated changes include plans to alter the President's House Site at Independence Park that describes slavery under George Washington.

"Right now, the current administration is trying to erase LGBTQ+ history," said Segal. "I'm a witness to much of that history. Thanks to Neal and Visit Philadelphia and the Visitor Center, they're allowing me to give voice to our community and to say, 'No, this will not happen in Philadelphia.'"