Philly Pride shines at new visitor center and bold William Way exhibition

Updated 3 hours ago
CENTER CITY (WPVI) -- The Gayborhood has a new Philly Pride Visitor Center that is equal parts queer-centric gift shop, tourism hub and center for LGBTQ+ history.

The center is a partnership between the Philadelphia Gay News, Visit Philly, The Philadelphia Independence Visitor Center and Visit Pa.

The gift shop carries pride-themed hats, t-shirts, buttons, and socks, along with magnets and key chains that mark progress in the movement, modeled on the historical markers around the city.

All of the items in the gift shop are made by local queer artists.

The pop-up space fills a void left by the closure of the nearby William Way LGBT Community Center.



William Way is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year and, while the building is shut down, the center is taking its programming to the community with a new art exhibition at Huddle 215 in Northern Liberties.

For "This Is (Not) a Celebration: Queer Resistance 1976/2026" 3 artists drew inspiration from the center's archives, centered on its founding in the year of the bicentennial.

The exhibition is part of the larger Radical Americana project, which asks artists what the Declaration of Independence means to them today, and then challenges them to think about ways to make the world a better, more inclusive place.

Philly Pride Visitor Center
1139 Locust Street, Philadelphia, Pa. 19106
Thursday-Monday, noon-6pm
267-514-4759

William Way LGBT Community Center | Facebook | Instagram
"This Is (Not) a Celebration: Queer Resistance 1976/2026"
Through July 3, 2026
Huddle 215, 338 Brown Street, Philadelphia, Pa. 19123
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