Gay playwright Tennessee Williams lived in many French Quarter residences over the year, but this Dumaine Street townhouse is the only place he ever owned—and the last place he called home in New Orleans, according to reporting by The Times-Picayune.

Open since 1933, Café Lafitte in Exile claims to be the longest continually operating gay bar in America. Have a drink at any time (it’s open 24 hours a day) and then meander through the rest of the “Fruit Loop,” also known as the circuit of gay bars concentrated on and near the intersection of Bourbon and St. Ann streets.

Curated by Wayne Phillips and housed in the historic Presbytère, Grand Illusions: The History and Artistry of Gay Carnival in New Orleans is the first-ever exhibition of artifacts collected from gay krewes. Costumes, ball programs, posters, photographs, films, and more comprise the collection, which is on display through December 2020.

This dive bar was in operation back in 1973, when a fire claimed the lives of 32 men and women who had congregated right above it, at the UpStairs Lounge, a gay bar. Started by an arsonist (who was never caught), the fire was the largest mass killing of LGBTQ people until 2016’s mass shooting in the Pulse nightclub. Today, a commemorative plaque marks the somber site.

The Louisiana Research Collection at Tulane University acquired papers, photos, letters, newspapers, diaries, and other documents from prominent figures in the local LGBTQ civil rights movement. Peruse these, as well as gay Carnival ephemera from the 1950s and 1960s. Then, gay Mardi Gras krewes including Yuga and Armeinius met in defiance of laws that prohibited men from dancing together. Gay Mardi Gras balls became sites of civil resistance when krewe members continued to celebrate in the wake of police raids. The archives are open to the public, but it’s best if you arrive with a specific research question.