Although known as something of a womanizer, during the Revolutionary War, while both served as aides-de-camp to George Washington, Alexander Hamilton had a highly eroticized relationship with John Laurens of South Carolina. This is evident primarily from a series of passionate letters written by Hamilton between 1779 and 1782. “I wish, my Dear Laurens, it might be in my power, by action rather than words, \[to] convince you that I love you. I shall only tell you that ‘til you bade us Adieu, I hardly knew the value you had taught my heart to set upon you.” Alexander Hamilton, April 1779 to John Laurens.

Long-time Brooklyn resident and journalist Walt Whitman lived in this house when the first edition of his epochal first collection of poems, "Leaves of Grass," was published in July 1855. Whitman’s poetry was then considered controversial by some for its sensuality, and a later edition of Leaves included his famously homoerotic “Calamus” poems expressing male-male love. These made Whitman iconic in the United States and Europe as one of the first people to openly express the concept of men loving men.

Pfaff’s (647 Broadway) was a Rathskeller-like beer and wine cellar restaurant in the Coleman House Hotel that was a favorite haunt of the Bohemians of the 1850s, including poet Walt Whitman. Operating here from 1859 to 1864, Pfaff’s also became known as a place for men looking to meet other men. At the time, Whitman was living with his young lover Fred Vaughn in Brooklyn, and they could often be seen together at the same table at Pfaff’s.

The Angel of the Waters statue atop the Bethesda Fountain is the 1860s masterpiece of lesbian sculptor Emma Stebbins and was the earliest public artwork by a woman in New York City. In Tony Kushner’s AIDS-themed play Angels in America, the statue formed the backdrop of the final scene of the Perestroika section.

The Irish poet and dandy Oscar Wilde stayed for a few days at the Grand Hotel while on his expenses-paid tour of America in 1882. This tour earned him fame, an extraordinary amount of press coverage, and a good deal of money.

Often considered one of the premiere centers of American musical life and history, Carnegie Hall has continually featured the work and performances of countless LGBT artists. Few had as close an association with the Hall as Leonard Bernstein, who appeared more than 430 times between 1943 and 1990, as conductor, pianist, composer, and educator. Dimitri Mitropolous was the conductor of the New York Philharmonic between 1950 and 1957, until he became the victim of McCarthy-era homophobia. Premieres of classical works by LGBT composers Samuel Barber, Benjamin Britten, Aaron Copland, Virgil Thomson, David Diamond, Marc Blitzstein, Gian Carlo Menotti, Ned Rorem, and John Corigliano were conducted here. Innumerable LGBT performers have ranged from pianists Vladimir Horowitz and Van Cliburn, to dancer Isadora Duncan, leading Wagnerian heldentenor Lauritz Melchior, popular singers Chris Williamson, Meg Christian, and Rufus Wainwright, opera countertenor David Daniels, and the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus.

The Henry Street Settlement was founded by progressive reformers Lillian Wald and Mary Brewster in 1893. Both were trained as public health nurses (a term coined by Wald) and moved to the Lower East Side to put their knowledge to practical use. The workers at Henry Street who lived (or settled) in the building were almost all middle-class women. Wald had relationships with women who lived at Henry Street, as well as with several wealthy patrons, notably prominent social worker Mabel Hyde Kittredge and lawyer and theater producer Helen Arthur.

This rowhouse near the Jefferson Market police court (now the Jefferson Market Library) was the last residence and office of Tammany politico Murray H. Hall (born Mary Anderson) at the turn of the 20th century. After passing away, Hall was revealed to have been a woman after living for over 30 years as a man.

Pioneering female photographer Alice Austen grew up in her family’s home where she later lived with schoolteacher Gertrude Tate, her partner of 53 years. Austen’s work includes early images of women embracing and dressed in male drag, which have since become iconic to the LGBT community.