The Gay Harlem Renaissance
On display October 10, 2025 – March 8, 2026
|The New York Historical
The Gay Harlem Renaissance examines the Black LGBTQ+ artists, writers, and performers central to the Harlem Renaissance and everyday Black gay life in the early 20th century.
Time & Location
On display October 10, 2025 – March 8, 2026
The New York Historical, 170 Central Prk W, New York, NY 10024, USA
About the event
(via the NY Historical's website)
Marking the centennial of The New Negro—the landmark 1925 anthology edited by Alain Locke—the exhibition traces the queer creativity, friendship circles, and mentorships that flourished in Harlem’s salons, social clubs, and thriving nightlife and that helped power the Harlem Renaissance.
As Harlem grew into the nation’s largest Black metropolis after the First World War, Black Southern and Caribbean migrants, activists, and creatives transformed the neighborhood into a nexus of political activism, creative expression, and community life. Many of Harlem’s most celebrated poets, novelists, and artists were gay or bisexual (some discreetly and others openly); and many of the preeminent blues singers performing in nightclubs and basement speakeasies were lesbian, bisexual, or transmasculine.
Whether on Harlem’s biggest stages or in its nightclubs or hidden speakeasies, LGBTQ+ performers took center stage. Together they helped shape the cultural innovation that defined the era. Amid this cultural convergence, queer…