Must-See LGBTQ+ Artists and Exhibitions Across the U.S.
June 9, 2025
Celebrate Pride Month 2025 through art and visual storytelling! On Bloomberg Connects, you can view powerful LGBTQ+ exhibits, discover emerging queer artists, and walk in the footsteps of Civil Rights activists. We invite you to experience diverse perspectives, queer histories, and thought-provoking art in cities across the country.
NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project
Launched in 2015, the NYC LGBT Historic Sites Project aims to broaden the understanding of LGBTQ+ history by exploring the places where that history was made. Their guide provides walking tours of queer historic places in New York City – including Placing Stonewall, 1970s Lesbian Activism & Community, and Transgender History – which uncover the often-untold stories of LGBTQ+ people and their influence on American society and culture.
The Placing Stonewall walking tour situates the 1969 Stonewall uprising within space and time, highlighting landmarks of the LGBTQ+ community and resistance in Greenwich Village from the 1930s onward. Stops include historic social hubs, such as the early LGBTQ+ enclave Stewart’s Cafeteria (1933–35), the iconic Stonewall Inn (1967–69), the popular lesbian bar The Duchess (1972–82), and the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop (1973–2009).
Badge Of Pride
Badge Of Pride was founded in 2022 by Adrian J. Cardwell, with the goal of activating his extensive collection of rare LGBTQ+ historical artifacts and creating a platform for education, engagement, and advocacy. The organization is dedicated to preserving and uplifting queer voices through exhibitions, oral histories, and community partnerships.
Currently on view at the Irving Archives & Museum in Texas, the exhibition Badge of Pride: From Silence… to Celebration! charts over a century of LGBTQ+ history, from eras of marginalization to hard-won liberties and the ongoing struggle for empowerment. The works on view include: 19th-century pottery and postcards that serve as early examples of coded queer representation in material culture; poet and activist Audre Lorde’s address at the 1979 March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights; the 1980s AIDS Memorial Quilt, which became the largest community arts project in history; and lesbian singer-songwriter Casse Culver’s anthem “Ride, Sally Ride” (1983) honoring the first American woman (and first known LGBTQ+ astronaut) in space.
Lei Pua ‘Ala Queer Histories of Hawai’i
Lei Pua ‘Ala Queer Histories of Hawai’i is an organization rooted in Hawaiian culture and dedicated to achieving acceptance, respect, and inclusion for all. Their ongoing project highlights queer art and culture, stories of gender and sexual diversity, and historic moments for LGBTQ+ people across the multicultural landscape of the islands.
The Queer History of Hawai’i Trail encompasses the islands of O’ahu, Kaua’i, and Hawai’i, where visitors can explore key milestones in the ongoing journey of their diverse LGBTQ+ communities. The oldest of these is the Healer Stones of Kapaemahu on Waikīkī Beach, which commemorate four gender-fluid Tahitian healers, or māhū, who embodied dual male and female characteristics. The tour moves from ancient sites such as the Ke Ahu a Lono stone cairn and the queer petroglyphs Pae Kiʻi Māhū o Wailua to landmarks from modern history, including the Blaisdell Hotel, the birthplace of the same-sex marriage movement.
Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art
The Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art provides a platform for artistic exploration of the rich diversity of LGBTQ+ experiences. What began as an exhibition of gay artists in Charles Leslie and Fritz Lohman’s SoHo loft in 1969 has since grown into a collection of over 30,000 objects representing queer artists in American history.
Highlights from the Leslie-Lohman collection include LGBTQ+ photography, such as Milton Oleaga’s portrait of the pioneering modern dance choreographer Merce Cunningham from the 1950s and At Home with the Nortes (1990) by queer, Chicanx photographer Laura Aguilar. Other notable works include Baseera Khan’s screenprint I AM A BODY (Peaches) (2020), part of a series in which black and brown tones allude to the multiplicity of queer bodies of color, and Jonathan Lyndon Chase’s lower Back (2020) which taps into the history of Black, Indigenous, and Mexican cowboys in America.
The American LGBTQ+ Museum
The American LGBTQ+ Museum celebrates the dynamic histories of LGBTQ+ people and seeks to advance equality through social justice movements, working towards a world in which all people can experience the joy of liberation.
Their ongoing traveling exhibition, Queer Justice: Lambda Legal and 50 Years of LGBTQ+ Rights, showcases how Lambda Legal has paved the way for broader freedoms through litigation, policy advocacy, and public education. The show highlights landmark moments and key figures including: Marsha P. Johnson, whose activism in the 1970s initiated a movement for the legal protection of trans people; the 1988 “Seize Control of the FDA” demonstration that demanded access to life-extending treatment for people living with HIV/AIDS; and the creation of the blue-and-pink striped transgender pride flag by Monica Helms.
Curated by Lauraberth Lima, Queer Justice is currently on view in Washington, D.C., and has previously been shown at LGBTQ+ cultural institutions in Dallas, Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and New York City. The American LGBTQ+ Museum’s first permanent home, located within The New York Historical, will open in 2027.
You can mark Pride Month by visiting these and many other LGBTQ+ exhibitions and events across the country. Whether in person or online, Bloomberg Connects is a great tool to discover Pride Month artworks and exhibitions local to you.