Queer Britain

Launching the first LGBTQ+ museum in the UK

2022 saw Queer Britain move into its first bricks and mortar home. When they opened in May that year, they officially became the first LGBTQ+ museum in the UK.

In July they launched their first exhibition, ‘We Are Queer Britain!’, marking 50 years of Pride in the UK. It features incredible artefacts that bring together important voices, objects and images from the UK’s queer activism, art, politics and culture.

Highlights of the exhibition include a recently discovered drawing from the artist Duncan Grant (first publicly displayed in 2020 at Charleston), a rainbow hijab from the UK’s leading Muslim LGBTQ+ charity Imaan, as well as a photograph of international disability rights activist Liz Carr wearing a pink dress her wife Jo Church decorated with Carr’s Olivier award-winning monologue from The Normal Heart.

The collection is constantly growing and changing. New acquisitions include a statuette of the author Radclyffe Hall that was crafted by their partner of 29 years, Una the Lady Troubridge.

Queer Britain’s studio space is used for public events and by community groups such as the Gay Indian Network, Queer China UK and Say It Loud, a charity for refugees and asylum seekers.

At the time of their entry into the MA’s Museums Change Lives Awards 2022, Queer Britain had seen 24,000 people through the doors since its opening. By the end of their first year, they had welcomed over 60,000. The museum has received significant press coverage in publications such as The Guardian, New York Times, British Vogue and Rolling Stone as well as via outlets like BBC Radio 4’s Front Row.

Positive regional coverage also shows the museum’s strong links to individuals and stories of regional significance across the four nations of the UK.

The museum features an interactive wall where visitors can offer their responses to the exhibition and a prompt question: “Why is it important for LGBTQ+ to be seen?” Answers include:

• “Everyone deserves to feel and be seen.”
• “We all deserve community.”
• “We have the right to – be, love, exist – freely and without fear.”
• “Finally understanding my son. Thank you.”

Speaking to the museum’s reach, there are messages in many languages, including Arabic, Bosnian, Chinese, Gallic, Malaysian, Turkish, Vietnamese and more.

In November 2022, Queer Britain won the Best Small Museum Project award at the Museums Change Lives Awards 2022.