That's a wrap on the Queer Heritage and Collections Symposium 2025! #QHCN2025 Thank you so much to those of you who managed to attend the event in person today! Just a reminder that the recordings of all presentations across the two days will be available on queerhcn.org within the next few weeks.

Thank you so much for attending today's Symposium! Whether you were attending in person or online, we are so grateful for your enthusiastic support and input! 🌈 #QHCN2025

Been really enjoying the @queerhcn.org symposium online today - what a range of things people have been up to looking at LGBTQ+ history across museums and heritage #QHCN2025

We are just getting started at the Queer Heritage and Collections Symposium 2025! Looking forward to an exciting day of presentations, networking and badge making #QHCN2025

We are exactly one week away from the QHCN Symposium 2025! 🌈 Registrations are still open for online attendance on 25 November 2025: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/queer-heri... View the full digital programme here: docs.google.com/document/d/1...

🐏 New Absolute Units 🐏 Same-sex relationships have always been part of rural England, but they've been underrepresented in our collections. In the first of 2 episodes, @timjerrome.bsky.social shares his work tracing queer rural lives in The MERL archives. merl.reading.ac.uk/explore/abso...

New online: The Gay Liberation Front (GLF) collection is now available on LSE Digital Library! We’ve digitised and published the GLF Diaries and the GLF newspaper Come Together. Further series from the archives will be added as digitisation continues. 1/2 digital.library.lse.ac.uk/collections/...

📢 REGISTRATIONS OPEN! 📢 Registrations are open for the upcoming QHCN Symposium, exploring the innovative queer heritage work being developed by cultural organisations across the UK and beyond 📆 Date: 25-26 November 2025 📍 Location: National Trust - Heelis Registration links below ⬇

We've got active two calls for papers out now! Trans Museology: www.museumedu.org/journal/call... Translating Museum Education: www.museumedu.org/journal/call...

📢 Upcoming event from The National Archives 📅 Tuesday 23 Sept, 13:00 (UK time) Queer places: Feelings, emotions & ways of rebuilding intangible heritage 🌈 With Luke Fawcett (Queer Places), Vicky Iglikowski-Broad & Giorgia Tolfo (TNA). 🔗 Sign up via The National Archives website 👇🏻

TOP - NOW OPEN ✨ Our newest exhibition Top by Claye Bowler is now open! This exhibition, disguised as a museum store, uses Bowler’s experience as a museum registrar to create an archive of his seven-year journey through the UK’s healthcare system to access top surgery. – Images from Queer Britain

Queer Britain has just launched a crowdfunding campaign to support their upcoming exhibition 🌈 Consider donating using the link below! ⬇

COMING SOON We’re so excited to announce our upcoming exhibition and our first-ever artist installation: Top by Claye Bowler. Top explores Claye’s seven-year journey through the UK’s healthcare system to access gender-affirming top surgery. 🗓 10 Sept – 23 Nov @clayebowler.bsky.social

🌈 New webinar recording: Engaging children and families with LGBTQ+ content in museums Learn how museums can enable kids and their grown ups to engage with new topics in a safe space - and perhaps, to also see their experiences reflected back. ➡️

⌛ The deadline for applications is this Friday, 15 August! Proposals welcome for LGBTQ+ heritage projects and papers – from all career levels, in the UK and internationally.

📣 New Job Opportunity! 📣 Home Live Art is looking for a coordinator to support a queer and community-led project at Hastings Museum & Art Gallery in 2026. 🗂 Job type: Freelance, fixed-term, part-time 🕒 Start date: 1 Nov 2025 📍 Location: Hastings 📅 Deadline: 1 Sep 2025 📲 More info below!

PRIDE RECAP Pride Month is Queer Christmas for us and this year we have been as busy as ever! We started pride month with the launch of our 20 Years of UK Black Pride exhibition and honoured Terry Higgins 80th birthday with the Terry Higgins Trust AIDS Memorial Quilt. – Images From Queer Britain

📣 Call for Papers: QHCN Symposium 2025 🗓️ 25-26 Nov 2025 We're inviting proposals from heritage professionals, researchers, artists & community organisers working with queer collections, stories & spaces. 📥 Deadline: 15 Aug 2025 📌 Full details & how to apply: queerhcn.org/symposiums/symposium-2025

On this day in 1978, the rainbow flag first flew as a symbol of pride. It was raised at San Francisco Gay Freedom Day.

Interested in developing programmes and exhibits with LGBTQ+ content for children and families? This online training session run by @kidsinmuseums.bsky.social will address the challenges museums face when creating LGBTQ+ content for children and families. 📅 3 Jul, 10:00-12.30 👇🏻 Link to sign up

Pride season is in full swing! 🌈 Are you planning to visit any LGBTQ+ exhibitions or cultural events? Drop your recommendations below 👇 We’ll kick things off! 20 YEARS OF UK BLACK PRIDE, Queer Britain (4 Jun-31 Aug) The exhibition chronicles the evolution of UK Black Pride: queerbritain.org.uk

News | New toolkit provides advice on integrating queer narratives in heritage spaces – free resource advises heritage workers on how to explore LGBTQ+ themes in historic sites @queerhcn.org

ICYMI 🎦 How to Queer You Historic House: Toolkit Launch! The recording of this event is now available on the QHCN website: queerhcn.org/resources/ho...

Explore the National Museum of Ireland, Collins Barracks through an LGBTQIA+ lens Join guided tours uncovering hidden histories & diverse identities from the 17th to–21st century. 📍Sat 24 May: Hourly 11 am–4 pm (incl. ISL at 1 pm) 📍Sun 25 May: 2 pm & 3:30 pm #SpeirGorm www.museum.ie/en-IE/Museum...

Thanks to everyone who came to today's session, 'How to: Queer Your Historic House', where we launched Indigo Dunphy-Smith's brilliant toolkit 🌈 The recording of the event will soon be on our website. In the meantime, you can download and share the toolkit here: a-queer-was-here.com/how-to-queer...

Congratulations to Melton Carnegie Museum and the Culture Leicestershire team for a successful launch of 'Villiers Revealed – We Have Always Been Here', in collaboration with artist Aaran Sian. We were honoured to attend such a powerful celebration of queer art and the community behind it!

Jaime Starr @jskstarr.bsky.social speaking about using queer or LGBTQ in museums: not everyone will agree. You might get pushback about ANY term. The key is to choose your terms thoughtfully, stay consistent, and train staff to explain the museum's choice.

📣 New AHRC Collaborative Doctoral Partnership PhD with Royal Museums Greenwich & Historic Royal Palaces! ‘Femininity, race-making and gender non-conformity in Queen Henrietta Maria’s court performances (1625-42)' 🗓️ Info webinar: 20 May 2025 🗓️ Apply by: 30 June 2025 🔗 Full details & how to apply ⬇

Quick reminder that we will be at the #MandHShow tomorrow! Our stand will be X12 (Sector Support Zone) We are also co-hosting a networking session at 13:00, so please pop by if you are there 👋🌈 Register for a FREE ticket here: museumsandheritage25.smartreg.co.uk/Visitors/Vis...

🏳️‍🌈 Coming up in just over a week! How to Queer Your Historic House: Toolkit Launch A resource to help heritage professionals and researchers uncover and integrate queer narratives into historic spaces. 📅 Online | 20 May 2025, 10:00-12:00 🎟️ Free | Register here: www.eventbrite.com/e/how-to-que...

An open letter to the Equality and Human Rights Commission from the Culture Sector, in solidarity with Trans, Nonbinary and Intersex communities. Sign your name here: tinyurl.com/ehrcletter Please share widely, and if you are not able to sign for your organisation, please share with someone who can

A look back at our Queer Global tour and workshop at Chiswick House — uncovering hidden queer and POC histories, exploring untold stories, and celebrating voices from the past. 🌿🏛️ #QueerGlobal #QueerHistory #HiddenHistories #POCHistory #ChiswickHouse #QueerVoices #UntoldStories #LGBTQHistory

Join us for our next online session and the launch of 'How to Queer Your Historic House', a free downloadable resource designed to help heritage professionals uncover and integrate queer narratives into historic spaces! 📆 20 May, 10:00-12:00 (UK time) 📍 Online Sign up for free here ⬇️

We're delighted to say that our starter pack has now reached full capacity (150 accounts!), so we're expanding our collection of UK museums, galleries, heritage sites, archives and beyond into a fully-fledged list 📃 See below and, as ever, let us know if we should add your organisation 👇

Case Study - Running a LGBTQIA+ heritage project The Queer in Wiltshire: Queering Wiltshire project documented local queer history and reinterpreted @wiltshiremuseum.bsky.social collections through an LGBTQIA+ lens.

LGBTQ+ & POC artists—come be part of our free Queer Global Heritage Lab this April at Chiswick House! Join community photoshoots, co-create artwork, and exhibit your work. Spots are limited—sign up via Linktree in bio. Apply here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F... #QueerArt #POCArtists #LGBTQ

Q&A | ‘Having the opportunity to protect your voice and save your story is precious’ 🏳️‍⚧️ E-J Scott, founder of the Museum of Transology, on community, culture and makeshift cardboard signs. #TransDayOfVisibility #TDOV

We are looking forward to seeing you at the #MandHShow! You will find QHCN in the Sector Support Zone on 14 May. We will also be hosting a networking session at 13:00, so please pop by if you are there 👋🌈 Register for a FREE ticket here: museumsandheritage25.smartreg.co.uk/Visitors/Vis...

📅 SAVE THE DATE! We’re excited to announce that this year’s Symposium will take place on 25-26 November. ▶️ Catch up with recordings from past events: queerhcn.org/symposiums/ 🔔 Follow us or join the newsletter to be the first to receive updates about this event: mailchi.mp/46de0e53f704...

A morning out at Lethaby Gallery, @unioftheartslondon.bsky.social for Transcestry: 10 Years of the Museum of Transology 🏳️‍⚧️ Our Q&A with founder E-J Scott will be coming to Museums Journal soon. A little ambient video of our wander around the exhibition 👇

Huge thanks to the Melton Carnegie Museum for hosting our Development Programme cohort last week! 🌈 We had a great time and learned so much from the Villiers Revealed team. Really inspiring to hear about the exhibition and all the work behind it! 🙏 @alisonclague.bsky.social @jonsleigh.bsky.social

Delighted to be returning to the exhibition ‘Villiers Revealed’ next week with the team at Leicestershire Museums hosting @queerhcn.org - if you are joining us please do say hi! Warm welcome promised with some queer joy 👋 🌈

Our Project Manager Roni and Community Archivist Rowan spoke with @divamag.bsky.social about the work we've done, what's on the horizon, and how we're all archivists really. “Our history is so fragile. We have to fight for it. We have to record it.” diva-magazine.com/2025/02/13/q...

Mr Blackpool. A seaside rave at the end of the world. My new show previews at ACCA in Brighton on Sat 1st March. A theatrical installation embedding the history of ‘end of the pier’ entertainment, variety, drag and dance music. attenboroughcentre.com/events/5365/... @marlboroughprods.bsky.social

How can we trace same-sex relationships in rural archives, when love letters were heavily euphemistic or burned after reading? For LGBTQ+ History Month, Tim Jerrome shares his research into queer rural relationships: from his first find, to the challenges faced. merl.reading.ac.uk/blog/2025/02...

📢 Collaborative Doctoral Award Opportunity 🏳️‍🌈📚 LGBTQIA+ Culture in the North East: Mapping the Archives, Exploring their Potential 📍 Newcastle University w/ Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums 🗓️ Deadline: 21 Feb 25 ⬇ Full info: northernbridge.ac.uk/applyforastu... northernbridge.ac.uk/media/sites/...

Loved writing this 💓🌈

📅 Check out this upcoming event at the People’s History Museum, 'Solidarity Forever: 40 Years of LGSM', on 27 February—don’t miss it! ⬇

Looking forward to talking about LGBTQ exhibits for children and their loved ones next week. Join me for the @kidsinmuseums.bsky.social online conference #RethinkingMuseums Wednesday, 5 Feb. More here: kidsinmuseums.org.uk/what-we-do/t...

The National Archives are seeking participants with lived experience as LGBTQ+ individuals to engage in a focus group that will help shape future research guidance on sexuality and gender identity history Find out more & apply ⬇️ 🗓 31 January 2025 🕒 2:00-4:15 PM 📍 The National Archives, Kew, Surrey