'Queer Happened Here' is a new coffee table book that sheds light on New York City's hidden LGBTQ+ venues over the last century, capturing both famous and forgotten spaces like speakeasies and drag clubs. Author Marc Zinaman started this project by curating a digital map of over 1,000 LGBTQ+ venues discovered during the pandemic, transforming his hobby into a rich collection of archival images and essays. The book, filled with contributions from personal collections, highlights the resilient spirit of LGBTQ+ communities in the face of societal challenges.
"Queer nightlife spaces in history were not meant to be photographed or documented in historic archives or even mass media," Zinaman said. "So where do you start to look for imagery?"
The book features hundreds of photos, many sourced from the private collections of the people who took or collected them.
Zinaman notes that the pre-Stonewall era tells a very different story. In those years, many queer-friendly venues operated under mob control.
Zinaman pinned his finds onto a Google Map, and when the pandemic lockdowns hit, his hobby became an obsession.
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