For gay men, the park was used as a place to find other men. Gays and lesbians were found commonly living around Rittenhouse Square and saw Rittenhouse Square Park as a safety zone for camaraderie. In the mid-1900s, conflicts between homosexual and heterosexual communities were common within Center City neighborhoods. īy the 1950s, a jazz, espresso, and beatnik culture was stirring things up around Rittenhouse Square and in coffee houses on Sansom Street, creating a niche for the city's gay community. The post-WWII Center City area provided plentiful housing and urban anonymity that allowed the LGBT culture to meet hidden from public view.

Early gay networks would meet privately at underground house parties and other private venues within Center City, West Philadelphia, and Germantown. The Philadelphia LGBT community has roots as far back as the 1930s and '40s.