Gay and lesbian culture is as much a part of New York's basic identity as yellow cabs, high-rises, and Broadway theater. Indeed, in a city with one of the world's largest, loudest, and most powerful gay and lesbian populations, homosexuality is squarely in the urban mainstream. So city hotels tend to be neutral on the issue, and gay couples shouldn't have a problem; for particularly gay-friendly accommodations.

The International Gay and Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA; tel. 800/448-8550 or 954/776-2626; www.iglta.org) is the trade association for the gay and lesbian travel industry, and offers an online directory of gay- and lesbian-friendly travel businesses; go to their website and click on "Members."

Many agencies offer tours and travel itineraries specifically for gay and lesbian travelers. Above and Beyond Tours (tel. 800/397-2681; www.abovebeyondtours.com) is the exclusive gay and lesbian tour operator for United Airlines. Now, Voyager (tel. 800/255-6951; www.nowvoyager.com) is a well-known San Francisco-based gay-owned and operated travel service. Olivia Cruises & Resorts (tel. 800/631-6277 or 510/655-0364; www.olivia.com) charters entire resorts and ships for exclusive lesbian vacations and offers smaller group experiences for both gay and lesbian travelers.

All over Manhattan, but especially in neighborhoods like the West Village (particularly Christopher St., famous the world over as the main drag of New York gay male life) and Chelsea (especially Eighth Ave., from 16th to 23rd sts., and W. 17th to 19th sts., from Fifth to Eighth aves.), shops, services, and restaurants have a lesbian and gay flavor. The Oscar Wilde Bookshop, 15 Christopher St. (tel. 212/255-8097; www.oscarwildebooks.com), is the city's best gay and lesbian bookstore, and a good source for information on the city's gay community. The Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center is at 208 W. 13th St., between Seventh and Eighth avenues (tel. 212/620-7310; www.gaycenter.org). The center is the meeting place for more than 400 lesbian, gay, and bisexual organizations. You can check the online events calendar, which lists hundreds of happenings -- lectures, dances, concerts, readings, films -- or call for the latest. Their site offers links to additional gay-friendly hotels and guesthouses in and around New York, plus tons of other information; the staff is also exceedingly friendly and helpful in person or over the phone.

Other good sources for lesbian and gay events are HX (www.hx.com), the New York Blade (www.nyblade.com), Next (www.nextnyc.com), and the Village Voice (www.villagevoice.com) -- all free weeklies that you can pick up in appropriate bars, clubs, stores, and sidewalk boxes throughout town. You'll also find lots of information on their corresponding websites. The glossy weekly Time Out New York (www.timeoutny.com) boasts a terrific gay and lesbian section. The Lesbian and Gay Community Services Center publishes a monthly guide listing dozens of events (also listed on its website).

In addition, there are lesbian and gay musical events, such as performances by the New York City Gay Men's Chorus (tel. 212/242-1777; www.nycgmc.org); health programs sponsored by the Gay Men's Health Crisis (GMHC; tel. 800/AIDS-NYC or 212/807-6655; www.gmhc.org); the Gay & Lesbian National Hot Line (tel. 212/989-0999; www.glnh.org), offering peer counseling and information on upcoming events; and many other organizations.

The following travel guides are available at most travel bookstores and gay and lesbian bookstores, or you can order them from Giovanni's Room bookstore, 1145 Pine St., Philadelphia, PA 19107 (tel. 215/923-2960; www.giovannisroom.com): Frommer's Gay & Lesbian Europe, an excellent travel resource; Out and About (tel. 800/929-2268 or 415/644-8044; www.outandabout.com), which offers guidebooks and a newsletter ($20/year; 10 issues) packed with solid information on the global gay and lesbian scene; Spartacus International Gay Guide (Bruno Gmünder Verlag; www.spartacusworld.com/gayguide/) and Odysseus: The International Gay Travel Planner (Odysseus Enterprises Ltd.), both good, annual English-language guidebooks focused on gay men; the Damron guides (www.damron.com), with separate, annual books for gay men and lesbians; and Gay Travel A to Z: The World of Gay & Lesbian Travel Options at Your Fingertips by Marianne Ferrari (Ferrari International; P.O. Box 35575, Phoenix, AZ 85069), a very good gay and lesbian guidebook series.