For those of you in town for the Creating Change Conference, welcome to Philly! (Oh, and apologies in advance about the traffic and high cost of soft drinks.)
If you find yourself with some free time between events, you are in luck, as Philadelphia has a wealth of LGBT-themed and -friendly sites and attractions you can check out while visiting.
The William Way LGBT Community Center, 1315 Spruce St., has been a nerve center and meeting place for the community for more than 40 years. It is known far and wide for hosting LGBT meetings, performances and art exhibitions, as well as being home to the city’s biggest LGBT library and archive — a stroll through either can have you lost in LGBT literature and history for hours! For more information, visit www.waygay.org.
Speaking of LGBT history, Philadelphia is home to the nation’s oldest LGBT bookstore, Giovanni’s Room, 345 S. 12th St. A few years back, the shop’s future was preserved by Philly AIDS Thrift — which donates its profits to HIV/AIDS causes — resulting in Philly AIDS Thrift @ Giovanni’s Room. The boutique thrift store still offers a wide range of LGBT titles, as well as clothing, gifts, games and much more. For more information, visit phillyaidsthriftatgiovannisroom.com.
If the weather permits, take a brisk and leisurely winter stroll through the Gayborhood (the blocks between 11th and Broad streets, Pine and Chestnut streets), where you can find a lot of the city’s most-talked-about restaurants, nightclubs and shops.
Make sure you head past 12th Street Gym, 204 S. 12th St., to take in the large mural depicting and dedicated to the late LGBT-rights leader Gloria Casarez, Philadelphia’s first director of LGBT Affairs. For more information, visit www.muralarts.org. Another LGBT pioneer who called Philadelphia home is Barbara Gittings, who is considered the mother of the LGBT-rights movement. Gittings edited the nation’s first lesbian magazine, led the charge to promote positive LGBT literature in public libraries and to change the American Psychiatric Association’s classification of homosexuality as a mental illness. A Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission marker, installed last summer during the Democratic National Convention, honors the home she shared with her photojournalist partner Kay Lahusen, and a sign at 13th and Locust streets declares the thoroughfare Barbara Gittings Way.
Gayborhood nightlife can be quite diverse and varied, but unless you are looking for something really specific, the safe money leans more to longstanding Gayborhood icon Woody’s (www.woodysbar.com), diverse sports bar/lounge Tabu (www.tabuphilly.com) or, for after-hours fun, the massive dance club Voyeur (www.voyeurnightclub.com).
If you find yourself in the neighborhood late at night and you’re a bit puckish after a night on the dance floor, Pizzeria Cappelli’s, 209 S. 13th St. — given the monikers “Gay Pizza” and “Homo Hut” by locals — is the place to refuel when the area clubs start emptying out for the night. Just after 2 a.m., expect the line to stretch out of the shop and down the street — giving you ample opportunity to socialize with both tourists and locals alike as you wait for your slice. For more information, visit http://www.pizzeriacappelli.com.
Have fun and fight the power!