The Guardian | 30.04.22 | SATURDAY | 55GETTY IMAGES; AFP/GETTY; ALIA ROMAGNOLI; ALLIE CREWE
more skills ,” says Galliano. Uplifting
underrepresented sections of the
community is “ written into the DNA”,
with its fi rst project being an oral
history collection on LGBTQ+ people
with diff erent and often intersecting
identities. “This will not be easy if
we’re to truly transcend tokenism,”
the trustee and Black photographer
Robert Taylor tells me, “but I’m
encouraged by what I’ve seen so far.”
Britain’s struggle for LGBTQ+ rights
is refl e c t e d i n m a n y o f t h e p h o t o g r a p h s :
Maureen Colquhoun – the fi rst openly
l e s b i a n M P w h o d i e d l a s t y e a r –
defi antly holds a placard emblazoned
with “THE MPS MUST COME OUT”,
while it’s diffi cult not to feel a pang of
sadness at a photo of Justin Fashanu ,
Britain’s fi rst and still only out gay male
professional footballer who killed
himself in 1998. Such a collection
would not be complete without that
unlikeliest of allies, Diana, Princess of
Wales, who helped upend the stigma of
Aids, and is pictured lovingly touching
the hand of an HIV patient.
This is a museum with huge
potential. It includes space for events
which – given that, unlike other major
western capitals, London lacks a
permanent LGBTQ+ community space- could make it a vital hub. There are,
however, problems that the museum
needs to interrogate in advance of the
summer exhibition. One photograph
features a Met police offi cer joyfully
high-fi ving a Pride attende r. That same
police force has been criticised
as institutionally homophobic by the
families of the four men murdered by
Stephen Port over its failure to
investigate the so-called “Grindr
killer ”. Is the picture really appropriate,
I ask Galliano. There’s a pause. “I think
you make a good point, which I’d like to
have a more considered answer for,” he
tells me. “There’s a fuck of a lot to do in
getting something like this set up, and
it’s a lot of spinning plates, and the
thing is you get some of them wrong.”
There is a lack of expression, so far,
of queer love – of a non-familial sort,
anyway – and sexuality, with the
exception of a picture of the lower
torsos of two kilted men holding
h a n d s. I t s h o u l d b e h o p e d , t o o , t h a t
the upcoming summer exhibition
features more images of struggle:
there are allusions, such as a Black
woman holding a “LESBIAN AND GAY
PRIDE ’83 ” balloon, but there are so
many joyous moments to celebrate
that are in danger of being forgotten by
younger LGBTQ+ generations , such as
the lesbian activists who abseiled into
the House of Lords or stormed the
Six O’Clock News to protest against
section 28. “Wait for the summer
exhibition,” says Galliano.
Given the full-frontal off ensive
against trans people it is welcome to see
representation , including two portraits
from award-winning photographer
Allie Crewe’s You Brought Your Own
Light collection. “As a trans person
myself I am always surprised that the
rights won by LGBTQ+ communities to
date were very much won with trans
s i b l i n g s , ” s a y s t r u s t e e a n d
businessperson Antonia Belcher , “yet
that representation has not materialised
the same recognition for trans people
– hardly fair.” She fears the museum
may not succeed in challenging
entrenched attitudes among older
Britons, but it will be “welcomed by
younger generations, like my own
children and grandchildren, who
are naturally inclusive”.
So who is this museum for? “It’s for
everyone!” says Anjum Mouj, trustee
and board member of Imaan, the
Muslim LGBTQ + group. She wants
LGBTQ+ and heterosexual people alike
to visit, with parents taking theirqueer and straight children; and for
the museum to look beyond Britain’s
borders , in a world in which 69 nations
and territories still criminalise
same-sex relationships. In its fi rst
year, the museum hopes to attract
26,000 people through its doors. It is
easy to be pernickety about ambitious
and well-intentioned new projects- this one has been four years in the
making – but any critiques should
surely wish this endeavour well. It
will make mistakes, but with such
commendable representation among
its trustees and advis ers, and
a genuine commitment to listen
to LGBTQ+ communities, there are
huge grounds for optimism.
In the half -century since
criminalisation of male
homosexuality was partly repealed,
Britain’s LGBTQ+ communities have
made dramatic contributions to
British culture and society, often
while faced with tremendous adversity.
We surely deserve our own museum to
remind us how our rights were won – at
huge cost and sacrifi ce – as well as
showcasing how we have fl ourished.
Queen Britain is at 2 Granary Square,
London, N1, and will open to the public
on Thursday.
(Left) Victorian
male impersonators;
(clockwise from
right) a portrait
by Alia Romagnoli
for Queer Britain’sexhibition Chosen
Families; Maureen
Colquhoun MP in 1977;
Milo, a portrait by
Allie Crewe; protests at
the Jeremy Thorpe trial‘LGBTQ+
rights were
won with
trans
siblings
- but they
don’t get
recognised’