Philly Pride Visitor Center and Stonewall National MonumentVisitor Center Launch ‘Pride Passport’ for America’s 250th

As the United States marks its 250th anniversary, the Philly Pride Visitor Center and the Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center today launched the inaugural Pride Passport. Developed by Visit Philadelphia as part of its Indivisible campaign, the free six-month program connects Philadelphia and New York City, two cities central to LGBTQ+ civil rights history.

The co-branded initiative invites travelers to visit both LGBTQ+ visitor centers between June 1 and Dec. 31, 2026, collecting a commemorative stamp at each location. As two of the first LGBTQ+ visitor centers in the country — New York opened in 2024, Philadelphia earlier this year — the partnership highlights their roles as foundational pillars of American LGBTQ+ activism.

Participants who complete both stops will receive a limited-edition tote bag and become Pride Passport Founding Members. Free, physical passports can be picked up at either visitor center, and either location may be visited first. The program also encourages travelers to experience both cities through the Northeast Corridor, connecting Philadelphia and New York City by train in just over an hour.

The limited-edition tote bag features an illustration of Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, the Continental Army drillmaster celebrated by historians as one of America’s earliest known Queer figures of the founding era. His inclusion during the semiquincentennial reflects the core mission of the Pride Passport: to tell a more inclusive narrative of the individuals who shaped the nation's independence.

“For decades, Philadelphia has led the way in LGBTQ+ tourism, and the Pride Passport is a natural extension of that work to welcome more visitors into our city’s story,” said Kathryn Ott Lovell, president and CEO of the Philadelphia Visitor Center and Philadelphia250. “As we celebrate the 250th anniversary of America this year, this partnership invites people to experience the places and stories across Philadelphia and New York City that helped shape American history and the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement.”

“This partnership celebrates the groundbreaking role both of our cities play in LGBTQ+ history,” said Ann Marie Gothard, co-founder of the Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center. “At a time when these narratives are being intentionally erased and attacked, the very existence of our organizations is a powerful act of resilience. Together, our visitor centers serve as welcoming gateways for travelers while ensuring these stories continue to be seen, shared and preserved.”

Pride Marketing Campaign

The Pride Passport launches alongside the newest installment of Visit Philadelphia’s year-round Indivisible platform. The campaign, titled ‘We Are The Rainbow, The Stars & The Stripes,’ reframes LGBTQ+ identity and American identity as deeply connected, celebrating the community's visibility and belonging as core to the country's progress.

Developed in partnership with creative agency The Perception, the campaign will include 60- and 30-second videos across digital and social platforms, with placements in LGBTQ+ media outlets including the Philadelphia Gay News, Washington Blade and Gay City News, along with regional markets including New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C. and Baltimore.

“Our Indivisible platform is rooted in the idea that diverse stories are not separate from the American narrative, but they are the fabric of it,” said Neil Frauenglass, chief marketing officer at Visit Philadelphia. “As the country reflects on its 250th anniversary, 'We Are The Rainbow, The Stars & The Stripes' acknowledges communities excluded from our nation's founding promises, while honoring the generations who fought to expand them.”

Philadelphia’s connection to LGBTQ+ civil rights history dates back decades. The city hosted the Annual Reminders at Independence Hall beginning in 1965, four years before Stonewall, as well as the nation’s first organized LGBTQ+ civil rights sit-in at Dewey’s Restaurant that same year. Visit Philadelphia also launched the nation’s first LGBTQ+-specific tourism television commercial in 2004 and opened the Philly Pride Visitor Center in the heart of the Gayborhood in February 2026.

Additional Information

● Philly Pride Visitor Center: 1139 Locust St., Philadelphia, PA – Thursday-Monday, noon-6 p.m. (closed Tuesday and Wednesday)

● Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center: 51 Christopher St., New York, NY – Tuesday-Sunday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. (closed Monday). Check the website for extended hours in June.

Learn more about the Pride Passport and how to participate here.