10 May Not your average museum
London is waving the rainbow flag with plans to open a new and inclusive LGBTQ+ museum, reports Remeka Washington-Wint
It was announced late February that “Queer Britain: The National LGBTQ+ Museum” has plans to be opened as soon as 2021. Aiming to highlight and reflect the lives of the LGBTQ+ community, it promises to also be a space that educates whilst engaging you. The museum is the first in the UK and will hopefully spark a trend throughout the country.
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in their Experimental Official Statistics on sexual identity in the UK in 2016 “over 1 million (2.0%) of the UK population aged 16 and over identified themselves as lesbian, gay or bisexual” Although more people are feeling comfortable enough to come out of the closet there is still a long way to go. With the addition of the new LGBT museum it is more likely people will feel comfortable enough to come out and live a freer life and give the community more visibility throughout society.
Joseph Galliano, former gay times editor and museum co-founder has promised to make the museum inclusive to all sectors of the community. Putting together a board full of advisers from a mixed background that reflects all races, genders, and orientation under the LGBT banner in a bid to preserve and represent the diverse community history. Galliano told BuzzFeed “If you think about BAME [black, Asian, and other ethnic minority] people, women, and trans people’s stories, which were prioritised even less than the men’s stories, than that’s a wealth of untold material.”
After heading down to South Bank to talk to the public and find out their thoughts on the plans for the museum I had a conversation with a student and member of the LGBT community Clare Burgess to see what the museum will mean to her. “Growing up LGBT you often feel out of place and like you don’t belong, but when you grow up and meet new people and experience new things it’s life changing. This museum will mean there is a place in London where I can learn more about my community but also it will allow children and young adults to feel more comfortable in their own skin. If I had something like this, a safe place where people have been through similar circumstances, I know it would have made things easier. It’s taken a while but I’m glad it is finally happening.”
The guardian published a story saying ” Fifty years after homosexuality was decriminalised in England and Wales, 72 other countries and territories worldwide continue to criminalise same-sex relationships” and whilst many governments do not allow transgender people to transition, “Queer Britain” is a step in the right direction for equality and acceptance in the world. Although not all countries are ready to move forward and acknowledge the differences of others, it is safe to say the UK is jumping on the support bandwagon.
Chart showing statistics on LGBT in the UK
