MUSEUMS AND LGBTQ

An analysis of how museums and other exhibitors

can highlight lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender
and queer perspectives
 QTBGL DNA SMUESUM
srotibihxe rehto dna smuesum woh fo sisylana nA
rednegsnart ,lauxesib ,yag ,naibsel thgilhgih nac
sevitcepsrep reeuq dna
Museums and LGBTQ
The Swedish Exhibition Agency (Riksutställningar) has the
task of promoting development and cooperation among
museums and other exhibitors. This includes providing the
exhibition sector with international analyses, advice and test-
ing, for the introduction of new technology and approaches,
and various subject-related courses, conferences and news-
letters. The Agency also regularly produces in-depth analyses
and development proposals on specific issues or subjects.
Within the scope of this activity, the following survey and anal-
ysis of how museums and other exhibitors highlight LGBTQ
perspectives, with proposals on improvements that could be
made in this field, was undertaken in 2014. The results are
presented in this report, published in 2015.

Please do not hesitate to contact the Swedish

Exhibition Agency!
Telephone: +46(0)498-79 90 00
E-mail: info@riksutstallningar.se
Website: www.riksutställningar.se
Visiting address: Artillerigatan 33A, Visby
Postal address: Riksutställningar – Swedish Exhibition
Agency, Box 1033, SE-621 21 Visby, Sweden
You can also find us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube,
Instagram and in Podcasts.

Illustrations: Emma Virke

Graphic design: Cathrin Emdén
Printed by iVisby Tryckeri AB, 2016
Preface
THE INITIATIVE FOR THIS STUDY of LGBTQ perspectives in
exhibitions and museums was carried out within the frame-
work of a national Strategy for equal rights and opportunities
regardless of Sexual orientation, gender identity or gender
expression. This strategy marks an important stand made by
the government: Sweden should be a good country to live in
for LGBT persons – not to say, the best country in the world,
as the then Minister of Integration, Erik Ullenhag, put it at the
kick-off conference for the Strategy. A national strategy is
crucial; research shows that health problems are more com-
mon among LGBT persons than in the overall population.
Moreover, LGBT persons are still subjected to violence,
discrimination and other abuse in Sweden.
So how can museums contribute to a better society for
LGBTQ people? As creators, managers and communicators
of knowledge and the collective image of social development,
museums have an enormous potential to make a positive
contribution. As this report demonstrates, LGBTQ people
all over the world can be regarded as an unhistoried part of
the population. Shame and taboos underpin this unneces-
sary invisibility. Rootlessness and an absence of visible role
models are one direct consequence. Museums can choose to
be the platforms building bridges between various problems
and constructive possibilities, where visibility leads to a right
to exist, greater understanding, respect and more openness
in society. Museums can thus become better at helping to
achieve something that concerns us all.
Focusing on norm criticism in general, and LGBTQ perspec-
tives in particular, is one definite step towards highlighting
human experiences even more throughout Sweden’s muse-
ums. By being relevant and welcoming to more people, the
role and significance of museums to society at large will be
enhanced. At the Swedish Exhibition Agency we intend to
continue focusing on the issues that make museums a place
by, with, and for everyone, today and in the future.
The surveys on which this report is based show that Swed-
ish museums in general are positive to working with LGBTQ
issues, and a majority have experience of incorporating
LGBTQ perspectives in their activities in one way or another.
The surveys also show that these efforts are often tempo-
rary rather than long-term, and that a great deal remains to be
done to give LGBTQ aspects a firm position in the museums’
internal programmes for value systems, and in their policies
and strategies.
Internationally, the report found that Swedish museums are
relatively far ahead in applying LGBTQ perspectives in their
exhibitions and museum activities. If Swedish museums suc-
cessfully strengthen their work in this field, we believe the
Swedish exhibitions sector could break new ground and show
the way for other countries. This is already possible thanks
to the openness of many Swedish museums to international
partnerships on LGBTQ-related themes.
Consequently, the Swedish Exhibition Agency believes that
Swedish museums can look forward to an exciting future, if
they continue to integrate the LGBTQ perspective with their
activities, thereby contributing to openness, visibility, under-
standing and increased respect – in our society and interna-
tionally.
Rebecka Nolmark
Director-General, Swedish Exhibition Agency
5
Summary
THE REPORT “Museums and LGBTQ – An analysis of how
museums and other exhibitors can highlight perspectives on
lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer persons” was
published in 2015. It was the result of a government assign-
ment to the Swedish Exhibition Agency for 2014. The objec-
tive of this assignment was to perform a study of how the
LGBT perspective was highlighted in the field of exhibitions,
and to propose opportunities and methods for the sector to
develop the LGBT perspective. The assignment was carried
out within the framework of a joint, long-term national strategy
for equal rights and opportunities regardless of sexual orien-
tation, gender identity or gender expression.
The Swedish Exhibition Agency chose to expand the assign-
ment beyond the concepts of “exhibition field” and “exhibi-
tion medium” to include museum activities in general. This
expansion particularly concerned taking a long-term, overall
perspective, since the various activities of museums are hard
to separate and interdependent. Moreover, the Agency opted
to expand the concept of LGBT to also embrace Q for queer;
i.e. into LGBTQ. This is mainly because queer is a commonly
used concept in norm criticism, also within Swedish muse-
ums.
We have looked for knowledge, experience and best prac-
tices in Sweden and globally. The report has primarily built on
in-depth interviews. Dialogue meetings were also organised
for qualified discussions on the subject. Moreover, a national
survey targeting Swedish museum through phone calls was
undertaken within the framework of the assignment, as a
complement to the in-depth interviews.
The overall picture is positive. In Sweden, LGBTQ in muse-
ums is an area with great potential. Our survey shows that
82 per cent of Swedish museums strive to include LGBTQ
issues in their activities. However, most museums consider
themselves to have no more than a basic expertise in LGBTQ
issues. 87 per cent respond that they need to enhance the
museum’s expertise, while less than half include this perspec-
tive in their in-house training. A great deal remains to be done
to give LGBTQ issues a firm position in the museums’ inter-
nal programmes for value systems, and in their policies and
strategies.
Efforts are often made within the museums’ public activities,
as in exhibition production and activities relating to visitors
and programming. The in-depth interviews and dialogue
meetings revealed that efforts are often temporary rather
than long-term. External partners are commonly used. For
instance, several Swedish museums offer queer guided tours
during the local Pride festival. Moreover, the integration of
LGBTQ perspectives in the work with the collections is a
relatively new field that needs attention and resources in order
to develop.
The assignment also found that Swedish museums and
exhibitors are fairly advanced internationally in their work on
LGBTQ perspectives. Sharing experiences with other coun-
tries is a good way of developing this area. This is already pos-
sible thanks to the openness of many Swedish museums to
international partnerships on LGBTQ-related themes. Overall,
in Sweden and globally, sexual orientations, gender identities
and gender expressions that do not comply with the local and
contemporary norm are usually excluded from historiography.
The lack of history that permeates the LGBTQ perspectives is
a major challenge to address. Here, Swedish museums and
exhibitors can lead the way.

The report is basically divided into five chapters, beginning

with an introduction. This is followed by the chapter “Why
LGBTQ?”, which discusses the relevance of integrating these
perspectives and puts them in context. The third chapter deals
with “LGBTQ in Sweden and internationally” and covers the
standing of these issues in our society and variations in other
countries. It also provides an overview of how Swedish muse-
ums highlight LGBTQ perspectives, and gives more detailed
examples from museums and exhibition initiatives around the
world. The fourth chapter summarises the results of the sur-
vey conducted as part of this assignment. The presentation
of “The development LGBTQ perspectives in museums” is
divided into sections on exhibitions, visitor and programming
activities, collections, internal organisation, and external col-
laborations. The fifth and final part of the report, “The present
and the future – concluding reflections”, sums up the current
situation and looks ahead.

7
Contents
05 Preface
06 Summary
09 Contents
11 Prologue

13 1. I N T R O D U C T I O N
13 A national strategy
13 The assignment of the Swedish Exhibition Agency
13 The Agency’s interpretation of its assignment
14 LGBT+Q
14 Method
14 The report and its disposition
15 Terminology

19 2 . W H Y LG B TQ ?
19 Whose history?
20 LGBTQ perspectives
20 Heteronormativity
20 Queer
21 Norm criticism
21 Intersectionality
21 Crowded perspectives
22 The role of museums

25 3 . LG B TQ I N S W E D E N A N D I N T E R N AT I O N A L LY
25 The standing of LGBTQ issues in Sweden and the rest of the world
26 LGBTQ in Swedish museums
28 LGBTQ in museums internationally
28 Australia
28 Brazil
29 India
29 China
30 Norway
30 Poland
30 The UK
31 South Africa
31 Germany
32 USA

35 4 . T H E D E V E LO P M E N T O F LG B TQ P E R S P E C T I V E S I N M U S E U M S
35 Exhibitions
41 Visitor activities and programmes
45 LGBTQ in collections
49 LGBTQ in the internal organisation
53 LGBTQ in collaborations

57 5. THE PRESENT AND THE FUTURE – CONC LUDING REFLECTIONS

61 S O U R C E S

9
Prologue
THE HISTORY OF A SOCIETY is a patchwork of many people and
events. Often, however, only one or a few patches feature in
what is considered to be our common historiography. High-
lighting LGBTQ perspectives in exhibitions and museums is
not about enhancing the already established picture. It is a
matter of showing more pieces of the patchwork and allowing
more colours to shine. It is about challenging the norms until
they expand and include.

This report offers a patchwork quilt of narratives, experiences

and insights from people who have worked actively to intro-
duce LGBTQ perspectives in exhibitions and museums, in
Sweden and internationally. We also hope that this report
will provide knowledge that encourages more museums and
exhibitors to make new efforts in this endeavour.

11

1. Introduction
A national strategy
Even if the rights for LGBTQ people and their opportunities for
a good life have improved considerably in Sweden in recent
decades, LGBTQ people in Sweden are still exposed to vio-
lence, discrimination and other abuse. LGBT people were
found to have poorer physical and mental health than the
population in general. Transgender people are a particularly
vulnerable group.
The government has therefore identified the need for a cohe-
sive long-term national strategy. Based on the United Nation’s
conventions on human rights, a strategy on equal rights and
opportunities regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity
or gender expression was adopted in January 2014.
At the kick-off conference for the strategy in Stockholm on
24 April, 2014, the then Minister of Integration at the Ministry
of Employment, Erik Ullenhag, stated that the intention was
to make Sweden’ the world’s best country for LGBT people
to live in. Five strategic government agencies were selected
for the strategy: the Equality Ombudsman, the Public Health
Agency, the Swedish Arts Council, the Swedish Agency for
Youth and Civil Society, and the National Board of Health and
Welfare.
The strategy focuses on a set of problems, but aims towards
“equal rights and opportunities”. The assignment given to the
Agency is to identify opportunities.
The assignment of the Swedish Exhibition Agency
In the appropriation directions from the Ministry of Culture for
the financial year 2014, the Swedish Exhibition Agency was
given the assignment to “survey the LGBT perspective in the
exhibitions sector”. The assignment was formulated as follows:
“The Swedish Exhibition Agency shall perform a separate
study of how the LGBT perspective is highlighted in the exhi-
bitions sector. This study shall be based on an international
analysis. The scope of the assignment includes presenting
opportunities and methods for the sector to develop the LGBT
CHAPTER 1
perspective within the exhibition medium. The results of the
assignment shall be presented to the Government Offices no
later than 15 February, 2015 (to the Ministry of Culture, with a
copy to the Ministry of Employment).
The Agency’s interpretation of its assignment
Based on the description of the assignment, the Swedish Exhibi-
tion Agency has studied how the LGBT perspective is featured,
and searched for opportunities and methods for the sector to
develop the LGBT perspective. We have looked for knowledge,
experience and best practices in Sweden and globally.
The Agency chose to expand the assignment beyond the
concepts of “exhibitions sector” and “exhibition medium”
to include museum activities in general. Partly because the
Agency’s task is to support museums and other exhibitors,
and also in view of the ambitions of the national LGBT strat-
egy to achieve change in the long term. This would be hard
to accomplish without a comprehensive approach, also within
the museum sector.
In particular, the assignment was interpreted to take into con-
sideration that many exhibitions are produced by museums,
and that the various activities of a museum are difficult to sep-
arate from each other, since they are interdependent. What is
shown, or not shown, in an exhibition relates to the museum’s
approach to objects and collections, interacts with how the
museum works with visitor activities and programmes, and is
preceded by and developed in harmony with the museum’s
in-house approach to norm awareness. Moreover, attempts
to highlight LGBT perspectives in exhibitions are often based
on collaborations, since museums today rarely have the full
expertise internally to address these perspectives (and
inversely: LGBT activists in civil society rarely have the exper-
tise or resources to produce an exhibition themselves).
One common way of working with LGBT perspectives at
Swedish museums today serves as an excellent illustration
of the case: in connection with local Pride Festivals, some
13
museums adapt their activities and offer museum visitors
queer guided tours. These queer tours often involve applying
a queer theoretical perspective to the existing exhibition or
collection. If the required expertise is not at hand internally,
someone with an alternative viewpoint is recruited externally.
In some cases, this impels the museum internally to develop
its norm-critical approach, to build expertise and strategies
on how to reach and include new potential visitor groups, and
to develop systems for cataloguing their objects also accord-
ing to an LGBT perspective. Consequently, it became obvi-
ous that the assignment’s report should describe how LGBT
perspectives are highlighted not only in exhibitions but in the
museum collections, in visitor activities and events, in external
collaborations and internally.
LGBT+Q
The description of the assignment refers to developing the
“LGBT perspective”. As stated in Chapter 2, this actually
involves highlighting several perspectives. LGBT is an abbre-
viation for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender persons.
Other letters are often added to LGBT. In this report, we
have chosen to add the letter Q for queer. Queer represents
something that does not adhere to norms. This often relates
to norms for sexuality, gender identity or gender expression.
Some suggest that a Q should be added to LGBT, for a more
inclusive approach, while others maintain that Q is too difficult
to define, making it unreasonable to include it in discussions
and strategies.
We have chosen in the report hereafter to write LGBTQ
(except occasionally when referring to sources focusing spe-
cifically on LGBT) and will often use the term queer. The rea-
son, as mentioned previously, is that Swedish museums today
frequently organise queer tours as one way of working with
LGBTQ perspectives. Moreover, queer is a collective term
that cropped up continuously in our discussions and inter-
views in the course of the assignment. Also, the word queer
in its broader meaning is relevant to this assignment, since
Swedish museums interested in integrating LGBTQ perspec-
tives usually do this within the framework of their norm-critical
work. Read more about the term queer in Chapter 2.
The Swedish Arts Council, as the strategic government
agency for LGBT issues, has also chosen to include the term
queer, partly because it is a basic concept in norm-critical the-
ory, partly because cultural expressions focusing on LGBTQ
issues are often referred to as queer, and also so as not to
exclude persons who define themselves as queer.1
Method
The principal method for this assignment has been to conduct
interviews. Most of these have been performed face to face
with the respondent. For geographical reasons, some inter-
1 Swedish Arts Council. (2014). Redovisning av Kulturrådets arbete 2014 som strategisk myndighet för ökad öppenhet och mångfald avseende hbt-frågor.
views were conducted via video link (Skype) or telephone.
A small number of interviews took place via e-mail, mainly to
avoid misunderstandings caused by language barriers.
The respondents were people with experience of working with
LGBTQ perspectives in exhibitions or other museum activi-
ties, or of collaborating with museums or otherwise actively
encouraging others to engage in efforts relating to LGBTQ
perspectives. The respondents are active in Sweden and/or
internationally. Most of the data has been collected in Swe-
den, with some additions from all continents, with a special
emphasis on countries where we found a great deal to learn.
We found the respondents mainly through the networks that
we developed gradually by requesting the people we met or
interviewed to suggest other relevant interviewees. To some
extent, we also found people, organisations and projects
through the internet. We also issued an international call via
an extensive e-mail list, which garnered a few useful sugges-
tions. Many people have also contributed to the assignment
by contacting us and sharing their experiences.
To get a broad idea of Swedish museums’ attitudes to, and
experiences of, working with LGBTQ perspectives, a tele-
phone survey was performed within the framework of the
assignment. The Swedish Exhibition Agency developed a
questionnaire that was used for telephone interviews. It was
done together with the company Exquiro, which performed
the survey in May and June 2014.
In addition, extremely valuable input was contributed to the
assignment through the discussions we organised in Swe-
den, and at an international Queer Lab. Moreover, the data
obtained at a few conferences have also been valuable.
The assignment has also been greatly assisted by research
and other literature in the field, and by documentation of pre-
vious projects by museums and other organisations. A com-
plete list of resources is found at the end of this report.
The report and its disposition
This introductory chapter is followed by the chapter “Why
LGBTQ?”, which discusses the relevance of integrating these
perspectives and puts them in context.
The third chapter deals with “LGBTQ in Sweden and interna-
tionally” and covers the status of these issues in our society
and variations in other countries. It also gives an overview of
how Swedish museums highlight LGBTQ perspectives, and
gives more detailed examples from museums and exhibition
initiatives around the world.
The fourth chapter summarises the results of the study con-
ducted in this assignment. The presentation of “The devel-
opment of LGBTQ perspectives in museums” is divided into
sections on exhibitions, visitor activities and programmes,
collections, internal organisation, and external collaborations.
The fifth and final part of this report, “The present and the
future – concluding reflections”, sums up the current situation
and looks ahead.
The report was written by the research officer Evelina Wahl-
qvist, global perspective analyst at the Swedish Exhibition
Agency, in consultation with specialist Dennis Josefson, mar-
keting officer at the Agency.
Terminology
Below is a glossary that may come in handy when reading this
report or studying these perspectives in general. It is based
mainly on the definitions in the glossaries of RFSL (the Swed-
ish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and
Queer Rights). 2, 3
Biphobia
A value, opinion or ideology, sometimes linked to fear, that
expresses a negative attitude to bisexuality and/or bisexuals.
Biphobia sometimes overlaps with homophobia.
Bisexual
A person who has the ability to fall in love with, be aroused by,
or attracted to, people of any gender. In Swedish law, bisexu-
ality is defined as one of three sexual orientations.
Cisgender
Cis is derived from the Latin prefix cis-, meaning “on this side
of”. It is used to describe a person whose legal gender, bio-
logical gender, gender identity and gender expression are lin-
ear, i.e. match and have always matched and complied with
the norm. Cis can be, for instance, a person born with a penis,
who sees himself as a male and is registered as a male in pub-
lic records. The word relates to gender identity and gender
expression and has nothing to do with sexual orientation.
LGBTQ
An umbrella term for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transsexual per-
sons and other persons with queer expressions and identities.
Heterosexual
A person who has the ability to fall in love with, be attracted
to, or aroused by persons of a different and/or opposite gen-
der. In Swedish law, heterosexuality is defined as one of three
sexual orientations.
Heteronormativity
The hetero norm is based on the assumption that a human
being is either female or male only. These two are referred
2 Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Rights. Glossary. Accessed on 19 January, 2015. http://www.rfsl.se/?p=410
3 RFSL Ungdom & Living History Forum. (2011). BRYT! ett metodmaterial om normer i allmänhet och heteronormen i synnerhet, 3rd edition.
to as opposite sexes. Women and men are expected to be
different; feminine and masculine respectively. Moreover, the
hetero norm assumes that everyone is heterosexual and wants
monogamous couple relationships. To comply with, and not
visibly deviate from, the norm is associated with economic,
political and social advantages.
Homosexual
A person who has the ability to fall in love with, be attracted
to, or aroused by persons of the same gender. In Swedish law,
homosexuality is defined as one of three sexual orientations.
Homophobia
A value, opinion or ideology, sometimes linked to fear, that
expresses a negative attitude to homosexuality and/or homo-
and bisexuals. Homophobia sometimes overlaps with biphobia.
Intersectionality
This is a perspective that is applied to study how different
forms of oppression are interlinked, and how identities are
constructed on the basis of categories such as religion, eth-
nicity, gender, sexuality, class and age. How these various
aspects are linked varies depending on the person, group and
context.
Genderqueer (GQ)
Persons who identify themselves as being in between or out-
side the gender binary, i.e. who do not adhere to the traditional
identities of being exclusively female or male. This does not
relate to what thebody looks like, but to the gender they feel
and define themselves to be (gender identity).
Intersexual/intersexualism
‘Inter’ means ‘between’ in Latin, and ‘sexus’ means ‘sex’. Inter-
sexual thus means ‘between sexes’. The term covers a variety
of conditions and diagnoses. In short, it describes a person
born with atypical sex chromosomes, gonads (testicles or ova-
ries) or genital development. Opinions differ as to whether or
not intersexual individuals should be regarded as trans­gender.
Gender
Gender is a social construct used to categorise people as
either women or men. Gender can be subdivided into four
functions:
Biological gender – defined according to external and inter-
nal genitals, sex chromosomes and hormone levels. Biological
gender or sex is determined by the characteristics of the phys-
ical body.
Legal gender – the gender registered in public records, pass-
ports or ID documents. The legal gender is also indicated by
the penultimate digit in Swedish ID numbers. Sweden has
only two legal genders: male and female. All children are given
a legal gender based on their biological gender.
15
Gender identity/experienced gender – a person’s experi-
enced gender is the gender a person feels like. No one can
determine this other than the person themselves, and each
individual has the right to determine their own gender identity.
Gender expression – how a person expresses their gender,
for instance, with clothing, body language, hair, make-up,
social behaviour and voice.
Norms
Tacit rules, expectations and ideals relating to what is consid-
ered positive, desirable and advantageous, and what is not.
Norms change over time, depending on the situation, and are
shaped by power structures.
Queer
A broad term with a broad range of meanings. Basically,
queer challenges heteronormativity. Many people regard their
gender identity and/or sexuality to be queer. Queer can com-
prise a will to include all genders and sexualities, or not being
required to identify/define oneself in those terms.
Sexuality
A term that is often used to categorise people based on who
they have the ability to fall in love with, be attracted to and/
or aroused by. In Swedish law, this is referred to as “sexual
orientation”. In Swedish law, people are defined as hetero-,
homo- and bisexual, but individuals may define their own sex-
ual orientation in other terms, including asexual.
Transgender
Transgender is an umbrella term that usually denotes people
whose gender expression and/or gender identities devi-
ate from the gender norm. There are many sub-categories,
and it is possible to be transgender in a variety of ways, for
instance as a transvestite, drag king/drag queen, transsex-
ual, gender­queer and intersexual. Transgender persons may
identify themselves as being men, women, both, or neutral,
regardless of biological gender and legal gender. Transgen-
der persons may also prefer not to define their gender at all.
The word relates to gender identity and gender expression
and has nothing to do with sexual orientation.
Transsexual
Persons who experience that they are not of the legal gender
that was attributed to them at birth, and who want to change
their body fully or partially with surgery or hormone treatment
or other methods. Transsexualism is a medical diagnosis that
involves a transition phase for some individuals, prior to reas-
signment. Others continue to define themselves as trans­
sexual, or previously transsexual, even after reassignment.
Transvestite
A person who occasionally or always, totally or partially,
wears or uses clothes and/or other attributes associated with
another gender.
Transphobia
A value, opinion or ideology that expresses a negative attitude
to transgender persons or persons whose gender expression
does not comply with the norm. Transphobia sometimes over-
laps with homophobia.
17

2. WHY LGBTQ?
Two-Spirit
For centuries, or even millennia, the indigenous North Amer-
ican tribes have recognised people who went by the name
of ‘two-spirit’.1 This became the common term for those who
were not only woman or man but somewhere on the scale
between what was defined as feminine and masculine. In the
North American tribes, these individuals were generally not
merely accepted but also respected. Since everything that
existed was regarded as emanating from the spiritual world,
two-spirit people were doubly blessed, since they had both a
female and a male spirit. Therefore, they often had the role of
spiritual leaders or teachers. Similar religious traditions have
been practised by indigenous people on the southern Amer-
ican continent, and in Siberia and many parts of central and
south-east Asia.
This does not imply that gender roles were considered to
be inconsequential in North American indigenous societies.
But there was a flexibility in who could assume these roles.
In some cases, two-spirit people were married. A ‘feminine
man’ who preferred the household chores that were consid-
ered to be women’s work could even be expected to wed a
‘masculine man’ who devoted his time to hunting and fighting.
Likewise, a ‘masculine woman’ was often expected to marry
a ‘feminine woman’. A story that is still told today is about a
strong female chief and hunter2 who was so capable that she
provided for as many as four women and their offspring. In
some groups, for instance, the Navajo, it was considered to
be economically beneficial to have a ‘nadleeh’ (“one who is
transformed”) in the family. Two-spirit persons could assist
with caring for their siblings’ children and their older relatives.
They also often stepped in and adopted homeless children.
Early French explorers in North America called two-spirit peo-
ple ‘berdache’. The word relates partly to homosexuality, but
it also implies someone who is a slave. The British colonis-
ers in North America, and the Spanish settlers in Latin Amer-
ica, deplored two-spirit people and called them sodomites.
Christian missionaries and government officials forced them
1 Roscoe, W. (1991). The Zuni man-woman. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press.
2 Hieatt, T. E. Two-Spirits in American Indian Culture. Youtube. Accessed on 9 January, 2015. http://youtu.be/39EWTnS05Ww
3 Williams, W. L. The ’two-spirit’ people of indigenous North Americans. The Guardian. 2010-10-11.
CHAPTER 2
to conform to traditional gender roles. Being discriminated on
dual grounds is hardly easy. In the 20th century, homophobia
became rife within America’s indigenous populations, thanks
to the growing European-Christian influences. Those who did
not fit in chose to go underground and live inconspicuously.
Some even committed suicide. It was not until the 1960s that
they slowly began to regain respect through the growing civil
rights movement. The story continues.3
Whose history?
Whose history is it we convey, and why? The European per-
spective on American history usually starts with Christopher
Columbus accidentally discovering America and the subse-
quent European colonisation. The version that is repeated
is the history of men, the conquerors, the victors. We rarely
mention what was lost. Nor do we hear much about that which
does not enhance the image of the myth or legend that is
retold. We also prefer to suppress subjects that are linked
with shame or taboos.
So what happens when we reveal these taboos? Most proba-
bly, we will find things that we need to talk about. It is likely that
we will find things that need not be shameful. Hopefully, our
discussions will be more candid and open-minded. We know
that today’s taboos did not always exist and need not continue
to exist in the future. We have the right to change our views. To
make new choices. To include more people.
Attitudes to LGBTQ people vary in different cultures and
regions. They also vary over generations. What LGBTQ peo-
ple all over the world share today is that they have been prac-
tically excluded from our collective historiography. The history
of LGBTQ is rarely mentioned as part of a collective social
history. In the cases where LGBTQ people are highlighted his-
torically, we can assume that facts about their gender identity
or sexual orientation are omitted. Where the norm is strongly
emphasised in historiography, obvious facts risk invisibility.
Contexts and people are made invisible. Unnecessarily.
19
The experience of being historyless leads to rootlessness,
loneliness and questions about identity. The blind spots in
historiography affect individuals, groups and entire societies.
Today’s museums have a big potential here to make a valuable
contribution, as narrators of history, conveyors of knowledge,
and portals of understanding. Yesterday’s version of history
may need to be shared in a different light; blind spots need fill-
ing in. Tomorrow’s new historiography is being compiled now;
it may require a wider and deeper awareness of norms. This
is an important task for the museums of today. And the task
is not uncomplicated. Basically, it involves conveying a larger
part of the truth. This report will suggest ways of achieving
this.
LGBTQ perspectives
In the course of this assignment, we have repeatedly encoun-
tered the need for respectfully making visible the existence
and life conditions of LGBTQ people in society. We have
come across many constructive proposals for how exhibitions
and museums can contribute to this effort. And yet, we have
also often been confronted with the question of whether it is
“right” to focus on one group and one perspective. “Won’t that
take place at the expense of other groups and perspectives?”
is a common question. First of all, it should be emphasised
that LGBTQ does not represent only one perspective or one
group. LGBTQ is a collective abbreviation that includes a
wide diversity, heterogeneity, many perspectives and groups
– groups that by themselves could hardly represent the entire
LGBTQ spectrum. Therefore, it is up to each museum, prior
to every new project or venture, to pay attention to these per-
spectives, to define what and whom to focus on in a particular
context.
LGBTQ stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and
queer. Queer is a broad collective term that will be discussed
more closely below. With regard to the first four letters, LGBT,
we should start by differentiating between sexuality and
expression – that is, between actions and identities. Homo-
sexuality and bisexuality denote sexual orientations, and are
contrasted to the heterosexual norm in society. Transgen-
der is an umbrella term relating to gender identity and gen-
der expression. It contrasts to the norms for how bodies and
expressions are associated with one of two genders. It is also
contrasted to society’s prevailing binary gender norm. His-
torically and geographically, however, the binary gender sys-
tem is not a preordained paradigm, as the story of Two-Spir-
its indicates. Some countries, including Argentina, Germany,
India and Pakistan, have a third legal gender today.
Heteronormativity
The norm is what we talk least about. Norms are often taken
for granted, even though they change, and therefore there is
always a risk of norm-blindness. Usually, we are only reminded
4 Bromseth, J. in Bromseth, J. & Darj, F. (eds) (2010). Normkritisk pedagogik: Makt, lärande och strategier för förändring. Centre for Gender Research. Uppsala.
5 The participants in the dialogues are listed in the sources above.
6 Dziurlikowska, M. “A Queer Teaches Here” – Interview with Anders Karnell and Patrik Steorn. Paletten No 4, 2006.
7 Dziurlikowska, M. “A Queer Teaches Here” – Interview with Anders Karnell and Patrik Steorn. Paletten No 4, 2006.
of norms when someone or something goes against them.
Thus, by revealing norms we uncover things we take for
granted. Awareness of prevailing norms, and how they affect
us, should be in everybody’s interest. The norm in this con-
text, the hetero norm, is practically universal in today’s society,
even if there are quite a few people who deviate from some or
many of its aspects.
Heteronormativity is based on the principle of hierarchic
difference, where some bodies and lifestyles are privileged
while others are presented as deviating or less acceptable.4
In short, heteronormativity assumes that heterosexuality is
the normal state; that men are sexually attracted to women
and vice versa. Other sexual orientations require explanation
and discussion, whereas heterosexual persons do not need
to “come out” or explain their orientation. Heteronormativity,
in turn, generates many notions of how we should behave as
men and women respectively. These notions lead to expecta-
tions that can, of course, restrict us all.
In the course of our dialogue meetings,5 participants asserted
that it was just as important to discuss the hetero norm as the
LGBTQ perspectives in relation to museum priorities.“Heter-
onormativity is not an objective truth.” “Enforcing the status
quo is also a choice,” as the participants pointed out. Several
of them also mentioned that more exhibitions on queer themes
was not all that was needed: “It’s about time that we get to see
an exhibition about the hetero norm.”
Queer
“Queer is a trendy word. I read online that we’ll all be queer in
ten years,” said Magdalena Dziurlikowska in 2006 in an article6
where she interviewed the pioneers of queer tours at Swedish
museums, Anders Karnell and Patrik Steorn. Perhaps most of
us are queer in the sense of not adhering to the characteristics
attributed to society’s current underlying norm of educated,
middle-aged, white cis male – perhaps hardly even the men
who fit that description. The word queer is an essential part
of the vocabulary, but it is a complex term due to its enormous
content. Queer does not only mean a person who deviates
from the hetero norm. It can denote everything or everyone
who deviates from social norms. This is, of course, fluid, geo-
graphically, temporally and contextually.
Dziurlikowska’s interview discusses whether the concept of
queer ten years ago had already culminated and was being
watered down. Patrik Steorn, then a researcher and now the
director of the Thiel Gallery, answered that it would be a long
time before the queer perspective had become an organic
part of the general mindset. “People are killed in broad day-
light for their sexual orientation, so the queer discussion is
not over.” 7
This is a vital point of departure for the active integration of
LGBTQ perspectives and other norm critical perspectives; as
long as there are groups in society who do not always feel
welcome, and who are not always able to be open about who
they are, we need to continue highlighting the perspectives
and conditions of particular groups. Knowledge about others
breeds understanding – not only of others but of ourselves.
We exist in relation to each other.
Norm criticism
Norm is a term denoting the generally shared expectations
on behaviour that are embedded in a community or society.
Being queer is to challenge the norm. Many Swedish muse-
ums engage actively in relating to norms. The term museums
often use to describe this practice and this approach is ‘norm
criticism’. Another expression that has come into use is ‘norm
awareness’.8 It could be claimed that museums are political,9
in the sense that they produce norms, values and images of
society.
A museum that consciously and actively works with norm-crit-
ical perspectives challenges not only the world, but itself
first and foremost. Norm criticism can be naturally integrated
in the organisation and all its work processes, if it makes a
conscious choice and works on it. Constant awareness and
questioning requires courage. This can be awkward at first.
But a museum where it becomes natural will often integrate
LGBTQ perspectives as a matter of course, along with other
perspectives.
Intersectionality
Different perspectives do not exist independently of each
other. The LGBTQ perspectives coexist with other issues
relating to identity, power and discrimination. These combi-
nations vary depending on the individual, group, context and
situation. “Intersectionality” denotes a broad approach that
takes into account how different power structures are related
to each other, and how identity is constructed. The word was
coined in the late 1980s. It grew out of the second wave of
feminism, which introduced race and class as important ana-
lytical dimensions in relation to gender.10 Today, further cate-
gories are often added to the concept, such as faith, age and
sexuality.
“LGBTQ issues need to be analysed from an intersectional
perspective,” said several of the participants in the dialogues
we organised, pointing to the importance of looking at all
seven factors defined in the Discrimination Act. One vital
argument for why museums should have an intersectional
approach with multiple perspectives is that intolerance often
focuses on more than one phenomenon.11
8 Bromseth, J. & Darj, F. (eds) (2010). Normkritisk pedagogik: Makt, lärande och strategier för förändring. Centre for Gender Research. Uppsala.
9 Furumark, A. (ed.) (2013). Att störa homogenitet. Nordic Academic Press. Lund.
10 Puar, J. (2011). ‘I would rather be a cyborg than a goddess’ Intersectionality, Assemblage, and Affective Politics. European Institute for Progressive Cultural Policies.
Internet source: http://eipcp.net/transversal/0811/puar/en
11 Furumark, A. (ed.) (2013). Att störa homogenitet. Nordic Academic Press. Lund.
12 Swedish Secretariat for Gender Research. Intersektionalitet söker hem. 27 January, 2015. Accessed on 28 January, 2015.
http://genus.se/Aktuellt/nyheter/genusflodet/genusflodet-detalj//intersektionalitet-soker-hem.cid1262944
The Swedish researchers Tina Mattsson and Sara Edenheim12
also emphasise that it is vital not to forget the power perspec-
tive when working with intersectionality as a broad concept.
They have found that intersectionality is often used to examine
the discriminating category, while making the normative cate-
gory invisible.
The more understanding museums have for humanity in all its
complexity, the better the interchange. The more museums
strive for understanding, openness and a welcoming attitude,
the more important they will be as meeting places, and the
more people they will reach with their exhibitions and activi-
ties – and, conversely, be influenced by. However, if a museum
wants to be for everybody, should everybody be invited at
once? Or is it better to welcome different sections of the pub-
lic on different occasions? Should the public be segregated
or integrated? Is it possible to make room for everyone and
everything at the same time?
Crowded perspectives
There are obviously many different perspectives we need to
consider when working with equal rights, equal treatment
and equal opportunities. We want to offer arts and culture
to everyone. We want everyone to be able to experience the
museums. And ‘everyone’ consists of differences. Our society
is a formidable patchwork quilt of many colours, patterns and
structures.
To return to the question of focusing on the prerequisites of
one group or perspective at the expense of others, the answer
may be that the groups need not be mutually exclusive. Soci-
ety is already diversified, regardless of how we choose to
work and approach the issue, and the understanding of a
group’s prerequisites can help to build bridges for under-
standing other groups. We will probably need to take specific
measures for particular groups, at least until the day when
the group in question has become the natural, thriving part of
society it deserves to be. Nevertheless, we must never disre-
gard the broader intersectional context, for that would be to
ignore the complexity of both society and the individual.
At our dialogue meetings within the framework of this assign-
ment, it came to light that many of the people engaged in
introducing LGBTQ perspectives in exhibitions and museums
often encounter concerns and hesitation among colleagues
and partners with regard to how to prioritise the many pos-
sible perspectives and groups. One participant stressed,
however, that the plethora of perspectives must never be an
excuse for not living up to human rights. “The alternative is
invisibility and a return to the 1940s.” Perhaps we all sim-
ply have to accept that we need a multitude of perspectives
21
to make progress. Perhaps we should also stop seeing our
well-intentioned efforts as a part of a zero-sum game. Maybe
progress for one group and one perspective can pave the way
for others. For us all.
Sometimes, a new square is added to the patchwork quilt.
Sometimes, we step back and look at the how the pieces inte-
grate with the bigger picture.
The role of museums
In the course of writing the report, we have listened to ideas
regarding the obstacles to implementing LGBTQ perspec-
tives at museums. Museum staff, and LGBTQ people who
have collaborated with museums, told us how they encoun-
tered various arguments from their staff against working with
LGBTQ issues at the museum. We have also heard at least as
many thoughts and arguments in favour of featuring LGBTQ
perspectives in the museums.
An obvious starting point would be the museums’ democratic
assignment of serving all citizens. Another point of departure
is that LGBTQ people in Sweden, despite their legal rights
and the widespread social acceptance compared to many
other countries, nevertheless have poorer health than non-LG-
BTQ people, according to surveys. Mental health problems
and attempted or fatal suicide are over-represented among
homo- and bisexuals. One in five transgender persons reports
13 Swedish National Institute of Public Health (FHI). Hälsa på lika villkor? – hälsa och livsvillkor bland hbtpersoner (FHI 2006:08).
to have attempted suicide at some point.13 These differences
in health may be caused by exclusion and marginalisation,
which, in turn, can derive from norms and attitudes in society.
Museums could make a difference by showing the diversity
of sexual orientations, gender identities, gender expressions
and ways of life – now and in the past. This should be done in
ways that give people the opportunity to challenge prevailing
norms dictating that certain sexualities and gender identities
and expressions are more desirable and more entitled to exist
than others. Being able to identify with the narratives about
the lives of others is also essential. Heterosexuals and cis per-
sons (especially those who fit into the norms for functionality
and skin colour) expect to be able to reflect themselves in the
narratives presented in our museums. By also highlighting
LGBTQ experiences and narratives, the museums can give
more people the same opportunity to be reflected, build iden-
tities and feel a sense of community with others.
As several respondents pointed out in our meetings, LGBTQ
perspectives at museums do not only concern LGBTQ peo-
ple. Making gender and sexuality norms visible in museums
is just as much a matter of giving all people – regardless of
sexual orientation, gender identity and living conditions – the
opportunity to think about how these norms have changed,
and can change, and how they affect society and each and
every one of us as individuals.
23

3. LGBTQ in Sweden and internationally
The status of LGBTQ issues in Sweden and
internationally
The situation for LGBTQ people varies considerably around
the world – politically and legally, and also socially and cul-
turally. In the countries that are the most advanced in promot-
ing LGBTQ rights, same-sex marriages or partnerships are
generally accepted, and LGBTQ people are protected by
anti-discrimination laws. Moreover, transgender persons are
also entitled in many countries to change their legal gender,
and the law also ensures access to health care for transsex-
uals. However, homosexuality is still classified as a disease
and a criminal offence in many countries. The punishment for
the criminalised behaviour can vary depending on the coun-
try, ranging from prison and corporal punishment to capital
punishment, and some countries have laws against so-called
“homosexual propaganda”. There are also considerable differ-
ences between countries with regard to how openly matters
of sexuality and gender identity can be discussed, and the
taboos surrounding the subject. Information on the situation
in specific countries is available, for instance, in the Swed-
ish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and
Queer Rights (RFSL) national reports.1
As mentioned, the Swedish Government’s strategy for equal
rights and opportunities regardless of sexuality, gender identity
or gender expression is based on the United Nations’ human
rights conventions. Human rights are sometimes referred to as
a Western phenomenon. Likewise, in some countries homo-
sexuality is considered to be a Western phenomenon, and the
LGBT movement is viewed as a part of Western cultural col-
onisation.2 However, although the concept of LGBT is funda-
mentally Western, same-sex sexual activities, and transgender
identities and expressions are, of course, found throughout
history and throughout the world.
In addition to human rights, it is essential to highlight causes
of discrimination, and the legislation surrounding them. The
purpose of Sweden’s Discrimination Act 2008:567 is to
1 Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Rights. RFSL:s landrapporter. Accessed on 28 January, 2015. http://www.rfsl.se/?p=2517
2 Swedish Federation for Lesbian, gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Rights (2008). Hbt i utveckling: en handbok om hbt-perspektiv i utvecklingssamarbete.
3 Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Rights. Lagar: Milstolpar för hbt-personer i Sverige. Accessed on 28 January, 2015.
http://www.rfsl.se/?p=2840
CHAPTER 3
combat discrimination on seven accounts: gender (including
persons who have changed or are intending to change their
biological gender), gender identity or gender expression, eth-
nicity, religion or other belief, disability, sexual orientation, or
age. Although the Act exists to prohibit discrimination, we can
also choose to take active preventive measures against these
forms of discrimination.
If we look more closely at the development of LGBTQ rights,
they have been promoted by a strong activist movement and
political pressuring, which have contributed to creating aware-
ness of issues and aspects that became recognised in legis-
lation. Here are a few milestones in Swedish modern history:
1944 Homosexual relations between adults was decriminal-
ised.
1972 Sweden became the first country in the world to offer
sexual reassignment treatment and a new legal gender.
1979 The classification of homosexuality as a disease was
abolished.
1987 A law prohibiting discrimination against homosexuals
was introduced.
1995 Registered Partnership was granted.
1999 A Discrimination Act was introduced to prevent dis-
crimination in working life on account of sexual orientation; an
ombudsman for issues of discrimination on grounds of sexual
orientation, HomO, was introduced.
2003 A law was introduced giving couples in registered
partnerships the right to apply for adoption; also, a law was
passed granting equal rights to unmarried same-sex and het-
erosexual couples living together.
2005 A law was introduced giving women living together the
right to assisted insemination.
2009 A gender-neutral law on marriage was introduced.
2011 A prohibition against discrimination based on sexual ori-
entation was added to the Swedish Constitution.3
Transgender rights are the most neglected area in need of
more attention in the future. In 2009, transgender identity or
25
expression was added to the areas covered by the Discrimi-
nation Act. The same year, the National Board of Health and
Welfare abolished its definition of transvestism as a disease.4
Although sex reassignment has been legal since 1972, the
requirement to undergo sterilisation was not abolished until
2013. In January 2015, the government published its report
on a minimum age for sex reassignment, proposing that the
minimum age for changing legal gender should be lowered
from 18 to 12, if the guardians consent, and that applications
for change of legal gender can be made from the age of 15
without parental consent. It also proposes that the previous
law be replaced with two new ones: a law on legal gender
change, and a law on sex reassignment surgery.5
Local, regional and national conditions will, of course influ-
ence if and how museums and exhibitions include and pres-
ent LGBTQ perspectives. In this chapter, we will study the
Swedish approach to LGBTQ perspectives, before moving on
to the status of LGBTQ perspectives in museums and exhibi-
tions internationally.
LGBTQ in Swedish museums
In order to obtain a broad idea of Swedish museums’ attitudes
to, and experiences of, working with LGBTQ perspectives,
a telephone survey was performed within the framework of
the assignment. The Swedish Exhibition Agency developed a
questionnaire that was used for telephone interviews. It was
done together with the company Exquiro, which performed
the survey in May and June 2014. For more information on
selection procedures and methods for this survey, we refer to
the report ‘Resultat av enkätsvar – Museerna och hbtq’, which
can be downloaded from the Swedish Exhibition Agency’s
website.6 In short, 109 museums and organisations in Swe-
den were selected for the survey, including 27 national muse-
ums, 24 county and regional museums, and 58 municipal
or other museums/organisations of special interest. At each
respective institution, the person responsible for LGBTQ
issues (or the person who would be, if the museum was not
currently actively working on these issues) was contacted.
The response rate was 70 per cent, or 76 interviews. The
response rate was possibly higher among those organisations
that were actively involved in LGBTQ work.
Asked whether their museum actively included LGBTQ issues
in their operations, 82 per cent replied yes. 2 per cent said
no, but added that they had actively addressed LGBTQ per-
spectives in the past. 16 per cent replied that they had never
worked actively with LGBTQ perspectives. 13 per cent were
planning to do so in the future, while 5 per cent had not worked
actively with LGBTQ issues in the past and had no plans to
do so in the future.
4 Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Rights. Lagar: Milstolpar för hbt-personer i Sverige. Accessed on 28 January, 2015.
http://www.rfsl.se/?p=2840
5 Lundberg, A. Håll isär transbegreppen. SVT Opinion, 26 January, 2014. Accessed on 26 January, 2015.
6 Survey on behalf of Riksutställningar (2014). Results of survey on museums and LGBTQ.
We also asked in what areas the museum had introduced
LGBTQ issues in the past or present. The diagram below
shows the result. The museums focus on LGBTQ issues
mainly in “exhibition activities/production and content” (72 per
cent), “events and programming activities” (68 per cent), and
“guided tours and visitor activities” (66 per cent).
Asked to assess the level of their museum’s knowledge and
skills in LGBTQ issues, 20 per cent replied excellent, 68 per
cent replied basic, while 9 per cent considered their muse-
um’s knowledge to be poor. 87 per cent stated that their
museum needed to improve its knowledge in LGBTQ issues.
We also asked about guidelines and policy documents. 26
per cent of the museums responded that they have guidelines
or policy documents on LGBTQ issues that they would be
willing to share with the Swedish Exhibition Agency. 59 per
cent had none, and 15 per cent did not know.
Our travels around Sweden, doing in-depth interviews with
people working with LGBTQ perspectives in museums, or with
exhibition and museum activities, has also given us a greater
understanding of the obstacles and opportunities in this field.
Moreover, we learned more about the structure and content
of such efforts. The results will be presented in more detail in
the next chapter, divided into various fields of museum activi-
ties. In conclusion, the results of the telephone survey, shown
in the diagram above, corroborates our previous assumptions
and the conclusions we drew from our in-depth interviews and
dialogue meetings. Below is a summary of our findings:
There are some examples in Sweden of exhibitions on the
theme of LGBTQ perspectives. There are also examples
where LGBTQ perspectives have been integrated with other
perspectives in an exhibition. We found that LGBTQ perspec-
tives are highlighted in visitor activities and events, often as
temporary initiatives, and in joint projects with external part-
ners. The most common partnership seems to be with local
Pride organisations, when museums in different cities in
Sweden offer Pride tours, workshops and discussions during
a Pride festival. Pride tours are occasionally offered in con-
nection with temporary exhibitions. More commonly, however,
a queer theory perspective is applied to existing permanent
exhibitions, or used to highlight parts of the collection that can
be seen from a queer perspective.
So far, however, the work with queer perspectives at Swed-
ish museums is temporary. The reason for this appears to be
that they are dependent on enthusiastic individuals who pro-
mote these perspectives outside their regular duties at the
museum. The museums that have taken steps for a more long-
term and comprehensive integration of LGBTQ perspectives
stress that this needs to be given high priority by manage-
What aspects of LGBTQ is your museum working on / has your museum worked on previously?
– Base: all respondents

In exhibition activities/
production and contents 72 9 18

In events/programmes 68 10 22

In guided tours and

visitor activities 66 8 26

In external communications, on our

website, and in marketing 45 11 37 8

To target LGBTQ people as 43 14 38 4

visitors

In international collaborations and 41

intercultural exchanges 6 50 2

In-house staff training 40 13 42 6

With existing objects

and collections 33 8 44 15

In collecting, documenting
and preservation 30 5 42 23

Recruitment
22 7 51 20

0 10 20 30 40
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 50 60 70 80 90 100
Currently Previously Never Don’t know
involved

The diagram shows a detailed presentation of various

LGBTQ-related activities on which the museums are
working or have been working previously.

27
ment. Time and resources are required, and the integration of
LGBTQ perspectives has to be an explicit priority.
Often, these perspectives are included in the overall norm
critical efforts. In order for this to be successful, the entire
staff should be involved, for instance through in-house train-
ing, wide-ranging work on value systems, and policies. Both
the museum directors and enthusiastic individuals we talked
to seemed to agree on this. Some directors doubt that it would
be possible to get their entire staff to wholeheartedly engage
in this. But common ground can nevertheless be created, and
the process kept alive.
Altogether, Swedish museums today appear to be working
more actively on LGBTQ perspectives aimed at the public
than internally. The question is, where should they start? The
reply we usually got in the course of this assignment, was
that work needs to be conducted simultaneously in minor and
major areas, and step by step.
With regard to applying LGBTQ perspectives to objects
and collections, we found preliminary efforts at a few muse-
ums in Sweden and internationally. These included collect-
ing LGBTQ-related objects as a basis for future collections
– both physically and digitally. Others concerned reviews of
catalogues and signs for existing collections, to establish to
what extent, and how, these can be categorised to represent
the LGBTQ perspectives. This includes adding facts or nar-
ratives that were previously ignored or suppressed. On the
whole, this has to be considered pioneering work that is both
interesting and relevant to monitor.
Swedish society and Swedish museums have a considerable
potential for developing their approach to LGBTQ perspec-
tives. From an international perspective, Sweden has made
more progress in this field than many other countries. Swedish
museums are also contributing by participating in international
collaborations that highlight LGBTQ perspectives. These
projects demonstrate that we can share our attitude and our
knowledge with other countries, but also that we can learn
best practices from the many examples and methods in other
parts of the world; we can especially learn from the courage
required by institutions and individuals who promote LGBTQ
issues and human rights in places where these matters are
more controversial than in Sweden.
LGBTQ in museums internationally
As part of the assignment, we have studied cases from all con-
tinents, with the purpose of finding examples of how museums
and other exhibitors approach LGBTQ perspectives – alter-
natively, to understand why they refrain from doing so in cer-
tain countries – and to get a picture of the circumstances.
7 Koskovich, G. (2014). “Displaying the Queer Past: Purposes, Publics, and Possibilities at the GLBT History Museum”. QED: A Journal in GLBTQ Worldmaking 1.2 (2014): 61–78.
Michigan State University Press. p. 71.
8 With “mainstream” museums we refer to museums whose main objective is not to present LGBTQ perspectives – i.e. most museums.
9 Wikipedia. LGBT rights in Australia. Accessed on 1 February, 2015. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Australia
10 PewResearchCenter (2013). The Global Divide on Homosexuality: Greater Acceptance in More Secular and Affluent Countries.
In places where we could not find any museums engaging in
LGBTQ perspectives, we have instead sought out contempo-
rary artists who could contribute towards changing attitudes
by featuring queer perspectives in their art.
Note that this report is by no means comprehensive. There are
further examples all over the world. In Europe, we selected a
few countries with a high degree of activities in this field. Out-
side Europe, we have focused primarily on larger countries
(including Brazil, India and China), or countries where there
was relevant information at hand (such as South Africa). As
the approach to LGBTQ perspectives in the exhibitions area
needs to be seen in relation to the specific national context,
we will start by giving a short description of the situation for
LGBTQ people in each respective country.
Today, there are three established museums dedicated to
LGBTQ history in the world: Schwules Museum* in Berlin;
the GLBT History Museum in San Francisco; and Museu da
Diversidade Sexual in São Paulo. In addition, there is the Les-
lie Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art in New York City.
Writing about the potential that is created by a museum such
as the GLBT History Museum, Koskovich (2014) concludes
that: “By critically representing the stories of LGBT history in
the setting of a museum, we not only create a foundation for
greater social acceptance today; we also help open the way
for LGBT and non-LGBT people alike to imagine a future of
greater dignity and equality.”7
Join us in our meetings and discussions with these institutions,
and also with “mainstream museums”8 and artists around the
world!
Australia
In Australia, the legal rights differ from one state to the next.
In general, same-sex partnerships have the same legal status
as heterosexual marriages. Gender identity and sexual orien-
tation are covered by the laws against discrimination since
2013. A court ruling gives legal support for a third gender,
and legislation regulating sex reassignment for transgender
people is progressive.9 79 per cent of Australians believe that
homosexuality should be accepted in society.10
Several museums in Australia, especially in Sydney, have
hosted a variety of temporary exhibitions and events on
LGBTQ themes. Like many examples from Sweden and other
countries, a number of these coincided with Pride festivals.
There is also a handful of cases where LGBTQ perspectives
had been applied to the collections. The national museum
organisation has had an active LGBTQ network, which is now
dormant.
As in many other parts of the world, a large part of the LGBTQ
efforts in Australia were operated by LGBTQ organisations
themselves. There is no museum dedicated to the theme, but
the Australian Lesbian & Gay Archive organises exhibitions
and events. Efforts are also under way to start an LGBTQ
museum in Sydney. It began as a pop up museum by LGBTQ
activists at the Sydney Pride Festival in 2013, and funding is
now being sought in order to make this a more permanent
feature.11
Brazil
In several Latin American countries, a majority of the popula-
tion believes that society should accept homosexuality; in Bra-
zil, for instance, 60 per cent think so.12 Same-sex couples can
marry and sex reassignment for transsexuals is a legal right.13
São Paulo has one of the world’s largest Pride parades.14
São Paulo also has one of the world’s three existing muse-
ums devoted to LGBTQ history, Museu da Diversidade Sexual
(Museum of Sexual Diversity). Its target group is the LGBT
community and the general public. It opened fairly recently
and is currently formulating its future mission. This will include
a plan for the expansion and management of the museum’s
collection. The museum is now producing exhibitions and
related activities. It is also highly visible in social media, in its
attempts to build relations with the public.
Notable exhibitions include Diversidade Futebol Clube (Diver-
sity Football Club) in connection with the World Cup in 2014.
The current exhibition in 2014-15 is Todos Podem Ser Frida
(Everyone Can Be Frida), a photographic exhibition of Camila
Fontenele de Miranda, inspired by Frida Kahlo. An exhibition
in memory of the celebrated author Caio Fernando Abreu, 20
years after he died of AIDS, is planned for 2016.
We asked what the advantages are of having a museum
focused entirely on LGBTQ history. The answer was that its
key role is to highlight LGBT people who are made invisible
despite their contributions to the history of the community, or
obscured with regard to their sexual orientation and gender
identity. The museum’s mission is to shed light on the history
of these individuals, to provide a powerful instrument against
prejudice and discrimination, and to help create a better soci-
ety based on respect for diversity and human rights.
We also asked what advice they could offer other museums
that want to be better at integrating LGBTQ perspectives in
their activities. Their advice is to dare to let go of the norm as
a starting point (white, heterosexual, male, and so on) and to
embrace other audience sectors whenever possible. Another
recommendation is to think in terms of accessibility when pro-
moting diversity. One concrete example is to provide gender-­
neutral toilets.15
India
In India homosexual acts were criminalised during British colo-
nial rule. The law was abolished in 2009, only to be reintro-
duced in 2013, after extensive discussions.16 The nation has
a growing LGBTQ movement, with Pride festivals in the major
cities.17 Traditionally, in India and many other countries in south
Asia, transgender people, hijras, who have been excluded and
stigmatised, live and organise themselves in separate commu-
nities.18 In 2014, India acknowledged a third legal gender for
transgender people.19
Our search for Indian museums with an implemented LGBTQ
perspective was fruitless. Eventually, we came across QAMI,
the Queer Arts Movement India, and interviewed the founder.
QAMI is a young network which was started in February 2014
and is based in Bangalore. Its purpose is to highlight queer
artists publicly. To achieve this, QAMI arranges events where
artists gain access to a forum where they can meet their audi-
ence. The activities so far have included poetry, dance and
music. They are also seeking to organise exhibitions of pho-
tography and visual arts. We asked if they knew of any exhibi-
tions of queer art at museums in India. Their answer was no.
QAMI’s founder believes that this is partly due to intolerance
against subcultures, and partly because not enough queer art
has been produced in India.20
China
Life has become somewhat easier for LGBTQ people in
China in recent years. Gay clubs have opened in major cities.
Homosexuality is no longer classified as a disease.21 Today,
transgender people can obtain legal and medical sex reas-
signment.22 LGBTQ perspectives, however, are far from a
given part of activities in China, where the regime chooses to
censor films, books and websites that mention homosexuality.
The way to changed attitudes could well go through activ-
ists and artists in China, according to Si Han, curator at the
Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities in Stockholm. When plan-

11 Vu Tuan Nguyen, doctoral student, Museum Studies. University of Sydney. 10 December, 2014. Skype interview.
12 PewResearchCenter. (2013). The Global Divide on Homosexuality: Greater Acceptance in More Secular and Affluent Countries.
13 Wikipedia. LGBT rights in Brazil. Accessed on 1 February, 2015. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Brazil
14 Gay Pride Brazil: São Paulo. Accessed on 1 February, 2015. http://www.gaypridebrazil.org/sao-paulo/
15 Franco Reinaudo, Executive Director. Museu da Diversidad Sexual, São Paulo. 5 January, 2015. Interview via e-mail.
16 Wikipedia. LGBT rights in India. Accessed on 1 February, 2015. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_India
17 Ghosal, S. Celebration of liberty: Rainbow groups gear up for pride parade. The Times of India. 11 July, 2012.
18 Khaleeli, H. Hijra: India’s third gender claims its place in law. The Guardian. 16 April, 2014.
19 BBC News India. India court recognises transgender people as third gender. 15 April, 2014. Accessed on 1 February, 2015. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-27031180
20 Masoom Mohammed Hanif Parmar, Co-Founder. Queer Arts Movement India. 28 January, 2015. Interview via e-mail/Facebook.
21 Levine, J. In China, LGBT citizens seek acceptance. CNN. 28 June, 2013. Accessed on 1 February, 2015.
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/27/world/asia/china-gay-lesbian-marriage/
22 Sun, N. Shanxi Permits Transgender Persons to Change Gender Information. All-China Women’s Federation. 9 January, 2014. Accessed on 1 February, 2015.
http://www.womenofchina.cn/womenofchina/html1/news/china/16/8827-1.htm

29
ning the exhibition Secret Love, which opened in 2012, he
spent two years studying the uncharted terrain of contempo-
rary Chinese art incorporating queer perspectives. The exhi-
bition was created through building relationships and trust.
Since NGOs are permitted in the health sector, he found a
channel through the activists engaged with AIDS-related
issues. In this way, he made contact with Chinese artists, who,
in turn, shared their networks generously. He met with some
40 artists and was eventually able to select 150 works with
queer perspectives. Most of the featured artists experienced
it to be an important recognition to be exhibited by a Swed-
ish national museum. Only two artists declined because they
were hesitant about taking part in an exhibition with a distinct
LGBTQ theme. In China, people do not yet feel comfortable
discussing art from a queer theory perspective. A crucial
effect of this project was that the participating artists from
all over China got to know each other. It also opened the way
for Swedish students and activists seeking collaborations in
China. Secret Love is shown in Amsterdam in 2015.23
Norway
Norway was the first country in the world to adopt an anti-dis-
crimination law that protects homosexuals. Marriage and
adoption has been legal for committed same-sex couples
since 2009, and artificial insemination is available for lesbi-
ans. Norway in general is characterised by liberal attitudes to
LGBTQ people.24
In recent years, a few interesting LGBTQ-themed exhibi-
tions have been held in Norway. We visited Oslo to find out
more. The Natural History Museum in Oslo offered the public
something new in 2006, when the exhibition Against Nature?
opened. This exhibition showed that homosexuality is natural
and occurs frequently in the animal kingdom.25
The Intercultural Museum, which is part of the Museum of
Oslo, engages actively in highlighting the situation for minority
groups. The project Si meg hvem du elsker... (Tell me who you
love...) from 2009 attempted to discuss what it involves to live
as a homosexual – or a heterosexual, for that matter. Photos
and personal stories were collected in an anthology and a film.
The purpose of the book and film was partly to encourage
discussions, and partly to create material with high mobility.26
In 2014, the Museum of Cultural History27 in Oslo celebrated
the 200th anniversary of the Norwegian constitution with the
exhibition Ja, vi elsker frihet (Yes, we love freedom), which
consisted of several parts. One of these was called Pride
and featured powerful photographic art by Lill-Ann Chep-
stow-Lusty28 accompanied by descriptions of homosexual
rights from 1972 to the present day.
Poland
Poland stands out in our study as the only EU country where
more people answered no than yes to the question of whether
society should accept homosexuality – 46 per cent compared
to 42 per cent.29 Although homosexuality was never against
the law in Poland, same-sex couples do not have the same
legal rights as heterosexual couples. There are legal and med-
ical opportunities for sex reassignment.30
One of the few major exhibitions in the world on an LGBTQ
theme at a national museum was shown in Poland: Ars Homo
Erotica 31 in Warsaw in 2010. Ars Homo Erotica is the only
large exhibition on such a theme ever in Eastern Europe. Prior
to its opening, a handful of art galleries in Poland had hosted
explicitly LGBTQ-themed exhibitions. Ars Homo Erotica was
curated by Dr Pawel Leszkowicz and filled nearly half of the
museum’s exhibition space with 200 works spanning from
ancient to contemporary art. It was made possible partly
thanks to the then museum director Piotr Piotrowski’s vision of
a museum to reflect important social issues, and by a curator
who was experienced in and committed to these questions.
The exhibition got wide media attention, in Poland and interna-
tionally. It sparked disputes in Poland and was a contributing
factor to the museum director’s subsequent resignation. Nev-
ertheless, Leszkowicz claims that the exhibition contributed
to making queer culture mainstream and less controversial in
Poland.
The UK
76 per cent of the population in the UK are of the opinion that
society should accept homosexuality.32 Same-sex marriage is
permitted (except in Northern Ireland, which has partnership
laws). Legal and medical sex reassignment is available for
transgender people.33
Many interesting LGBTQ-related activities are pursued at
museums in the UK. We asked ourselves why this was so.
Richard Sandell,34 professor of Museum Studies at the Uni-
versity of Leicester, explains that efforts to increase diversity
are deeply ingrained in the profession at British museums. The
background for this lies in the museums’ active involvement
in ‘audience development’ – engendered by the 1990s arts

23 Si Han, curator. Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities. 20 January, 2015. Telephone interview.
24 Wikipedia. LGBT rights in Norway. Accessed on 12 February, 2015. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Norway
25 Petter Bøckman, assistant professor, Geir Søli, senior assistant teacher, Arild Johnsen, professor, Cecilie Webb head of department. Naturhistorisk museum. Oslo. 15 October,
2014. Interview in Oslo.
26 Ingrid Szük-Hanson, project coordinator, Daniella Wennberg, head of department. Interkulturelt Museum, Oslo Museum. 14 October, 2014. Interview in Oslo.
27 Tone Cecilie Simensen Karlgård, museum lecturer. Exhibitions and visitors section. Kulturhistorisk museum, Oslo University (KHM). 13 October, 2014. Interview in Oslo.
28 Lill-Ann Chepstow-Lusty, Senior Engineer. Exhibitions and visitors section. Kulturhistorisk museum, Oslo University (KHM). 16 October, 2014. Interview in Oslo.
29 PewResearchCenter (2013). The Global Divide on Homosexuality: Greater Acceptance in More Secular and Affluent Countries.
30 Wikipedia. LGBT rights in Poland. Accessed on 1 February, 2015. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Poland
31 Pawel Leszkowicz, PhD, curator Ars Homo Erotica. Poland. 14 June, 2015. Interview via e-mail.
32 PewResearchCenter (2013). The Global Divide on Homosexuality: Greater Acceptance in More Secular and Affluent Countries.
33 Wikipedia. LGBT rights in the United Kingdom. Accessed on 1 February, 2015. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_the_United_Kingdom
34 Richard Sandell, Professor of Museum Studies. University of Leicester. 10 December, 2014. Skype interview.
policy and aimed at making the arts accessible to everyone.
It involves reaching out, welcoming and establishing rela-
tionships with new audiences. It also includes maintaining
long-term relationships with existing audiences. The diversity
efforts gained even more momentum with the introduction of
the new anti-discrimination law, the Equality Act, in 2010.
ern38, Queer Britannia was a huge popular success – a pres-
entation of works from the museum collection from an LGBTQ
perspective. The Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A)39 has also
been successful with its events and exhibitions on LGBTQ
themes. A project has also begun at the V&A, looking at the
collections from an LGBTQ perspective.

As in Sweden, we found that LGBTQ issues at museums South Africa

were promoted primarily by enthusiasts. Audience develop-
ment and anti-discrimination laws serve as tools and motiva-
tional factors in their work. Some museums, however, focus
regularly on LGBTQ issues, and in some cases even incor-
porate them continuously in their programmes. Some major
museums have an LGBTQ network in-house. Moreover, there
is an active nationwide LGBTQ network for museum staff.
As in other countries, special projects are launched in con-
nection with Pride festivals, but the UK also has a Gay and
Lesbian History Month35, which is celebrated in February and
acknowledged by many museums.
Homosexuality is illegal in many parts of the African continent,
and LGBTQ rights are hard to promote. South Africa is the
most progressive African country, and 32 per cent of South
Africans replied that homosexuality should be accepted in
society. In countries such as Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya, the
corresponding percentage was between 1 and 8.40 LGBTQ
people obtained legal rights in South Africa in connection
with the new constitution that was adopted after the apart-
heid regime was ousted. However, activists describe South
African culture as conservative, patriarchal and religious, and
practices such as ‘corrective rapes’41 of lesbian women occur.

In addition to programme activities at some museums, there
are examples in the UK of temporary exhibitions on LGBTQ
themes. Moreover, there are a few cases of database catego-
risation and “queering the collections”. There also some work
on finding and exhibiting queer objects and stories in the col-
lections. However, Professor Sandell says that it is still possi-
ble to visit most museums in the UK without seeing any traces
of anything LGBTQ-related. Sweden and the UK differ with
regard to the type of content that can be shown. In the UK,
museums are considerably more cautious about displaying
material that can be perceived as not being “family-friendly”,
and exhibitions with LGBTQ perspectives are occasionally
considered controversial.
In June 2014, a conference on The Un-Straight Museum was
held at the Museum of Liverpool, in connection with the muse-
um’s work on an exhibition about April Ashley and the his-
tory of transgender people in the UK. The conference also
attracted international participants.
GALA42 is a seemingly unique South African organisation.
GALA stands for ‘Gay and Lesbian Memory in Action’ and
was started in 1997 to raise awareness of LGBTQ rights. One
way is to promote LGBTQ perspectives through the country’s
museums.
So far, GALA has produced three touring exhibitions. The first
was Balancing Act: South African Gay and Lesbian Youth
Speak Out; the second was Home Affairs: About Love, Family
and Relationships; and the third was Jo’burg Tracks: Sexuality
in the City, which was shown for three years at Museum Africa
in Johannesburg, while the former two were originally exhib-
ited at the Apartheid Museum, before going on tour. In 2015,
an exhibition is being produced together with the Apartheid
Museum on the theme of religion and homosexuality. GALA’s
greatest success so far was to be invited to develop part of
the basic exhibition on human rights at the Apartheid Museum.
This is the first time anything of the kind has taken place in an
African national museum.

Alongside Liverpool, London stands out for its museums with
in LGBTQ-related activities. The exhibition Gay Icons at the
National Portrait Gallery in 2009 is regarded as a starting
signal for the incorporation of LGBTQ perspectives – at this
and other museums in the city. The National Portrait Gallery36
today has a continuous LGBTQ programme. When organis-
ing events, they often cooperate with artists such as Sadie
Lee and Tim Redfern, who have wide networks in the LGBTQ
community that the museum wants to attract. At Tate Mod-
We asked Anthony Manion, director of GALA, about what
they had learned about touring LGBTQ exhibitions, and what
the key to success is. He replied that there is a need for staff
training at the host museum prior to the exhibition opening,
particularly the museum guides. They often organise prepara-
tory workshops. It is important that the museum staff are on
board and that they feel that they own the exhibition. Aware-
ness-raising and improved vocabulary are also vital to being
able to answer questions and deal with any disturbances.

35 A national history month dedicated to LGBT history.

36 Thomas Knowles, Learning Services Assistant. Fiona Smith, Adult Programmes Officer. National Portrait Gallery. London. 21 October, 2014. Interview in London.
37 Tim Redfern, performer and museum consultant. 20 October, 2014. Interview in London.
38 Marcus Dickey Horley, Curator of Access Projects. Tate Modern. 22 October, 2014. Interview in London.
39 Zorian Clayton, Assistant Curator of Prints. Victoria & Albert Museum. 23 October, 2014. Interview in London.
40 PewResearchCenter (2013). The Global Divide on Homosexuality: Greater Acceptance in More Secular and Affluent Countries.
41 Human Rights Watch (2011). “We’ll Show You You’re a Woman”, Violence and Discrimination against Black Lesbians and Transgender Men in South Africa.
42 Anthony Manion, Director, Gay and Lesbian Memory in Action (GALA), South Africa. 15 December, 2014. Skype/telephone interview.

31
Germany
LGBTQ people in Germany have roughly the same legal rights
as in Sweden, with same-sex marriage, anti-discrimination
laws and the right to sex reassignment.43 87 per cent of the
population replied that society should accept homosexuality.44
In 2013, Germany was the first European country to introduce
a third legal sex.45 The capital, Berlin, has a history as a refuge
for LGBTQ people, not least in the 1920s, and has long had a
highly active LGBTQ movement.
The Schwules Museum* in Berlin is the world’s first museum
of LGBTQ history. Michael Fürst at the Schwules Museum*
describes it as something in between a political institution and
a museum. In the early 1980s when the museum opened, it
required courage to turn ideas into reality. It all began with the
production of the Eldorado exhibition in 1984. Activists con-
tacted Märkisches Museum with a proposal to create an exhi-
bition on homosexuality. The museum was favourable to the
idea. When the museum received hate mail and lost its spon-
sors, the director responded by providing even more exhibi-
tion space for the project. The exhibition was a success and
the actual starting point for Schwules Museum, which was
founded in 1985. Since 2004, it features an exhibition show-
ing 200 years of homosexual history. The museum also hosts
temporary exhibitions and is an important centre for documen-
tation, research and communication relating to LGBTQ his-
tory. A large share of the work is done by volunteers. In spring
2015, the major exhibition Homosexuality _ies, produced
jointly by Schwules Museum* and Deutsches Historisches
Museum, will be shown at both museums simultaneously.46
The US
In USA, there are both large cities with immense freedom and
tolerance, and other areas with more conservative attitudes to
gender and sexuality. This is manifested, for instance, in opin-
ion polls and surveys: 60 per cent of Americans believe that
homosexuality should be accepted in society, while 33 per
cent say that it should not. This can be compared to Canada,
where 80 per cent were in favour of acceptance.47 The legal
rights for LGBTQ people also vary from state to state; same-
sex marriage is permitted in a majority of states, but less than
half have anti-discrimination laws that cover LGBTQ people.48
In the course of our study, we visited museums and met
museum professionals and other exhibitors in San Francisco,
New York City and Seattle. We also attended in the 2014
annual conference of the American Alliance of Museums
(AAM), where several items on the agenda brought partici-
pants together to discuss LGBTQ perspectives. The AAM’s
network for LGBTQ issues, the LGBTQ Alliance, worked hard
in 2014 to formulate a proposal on how LGBTQ perspectives
and LGBTQ practices could be incorporated in the AAM’s
standardised guidelines.49 The proposals range from more
welcoming approaches to LGBTQ staff, to how the museum
can reach out to the LGBTQ community.
San Francisco has long had a large contingent of LGBTQ
people, which has influenced the city’s cultural scene. We
chose to visit this city, since we assumed that this impacted
on how museums in the region worked. San Francisco also
has one of the world’s three museums of LGBTQ history:
The GLBT History Museum. The museum was founded by
the GLBT Historical Society and officially opened in January
2011. It offers permanent and temporary exhibitions and has a
busy calendar of events.
Our visits to the GLBT History Museum,50 the Yuerba Buena
Center for the Arts51 and the Cartoon Art Museum52 showed
that they had one distinct feature in common: They have all
developed a highly advanced capacity to reach out to, coop-
erate with, and organise visitor activities for specific target
groups in the local community. The Yuerba Buena Center for
the Arts, for instance, engages with the local Latina transgen-
der community, among other groups, rather than addressing
the LGBTQ community in general.
The Leslie Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art is located
in New York. It is run by the Leslie Lohman Gay Art Founda-
tion, a non-profit foundation which was started in 1987, and
has been at its current premises in Soho since 2006. In 2011,
it was officially declared a museum, and thus became the
world’s first museum dedicated to LGBTQ art. Its mission is
to preserve and exhibit LGBTQ art, and to assist artists who
create LGBTQ art. Today, its collection comprises more than
22,000 objects. The museum features six to eight exhibitions
per year, screens movies, organises lectures, panel discus-
sions, poetry readings and public talks with guest curators
and artists.
The director of the Leslie Lohman Museum, Hunter O’Ha-
nian53, describes the purpose of the museum as threefold: To
show art that appeals to the LGBT community, that has a high
aesthetic value, and that is normally rejected by “mainstream”
museums. O’Hanian claims that mainstream museums all too
often hide the truth instead of talking about a person’s sexu-

43 Wikipedia. LGBT rights in Germany. Accessed on 1 February, 2015. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Germany

44 PewResearchCenter (2013). The Global Divide on Homosexuality: Greater Acceptance in More Secular and Affluent Countries.
45 SVT Nyheter. I dag erkände Tyskland tredje kön. 4 November, 2013. Accessed on 1 February, 2015. http://www.svt.se/nyheter/varlden/i-dag-erkanner-tyskland-tredje-kon
46 Michael Fürst. Schwules Museum*. 14 June, 2014. Interview in Liverpool.
47 PewResearchCenter (2013). The Global Divide on Homosexuality: Greater Acceptance in More Secular and Affluent Countries.
48 Wikipedia. LGBT rights in the United States. Accessed on 1 February, 2015. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_the_United_States
49 Annette M. Gavigan and Renae Youngs. The LGBTQ Alliance, The American Alliance of Museums (AAM). 21 May, 2014. Interview in Seattle.
50 Jeremy Prince, operations manager, Elisabeth Cornu, board member and museum advisor. GLBT History Museum. 6 August, 2014. Interview in San Francisco.
51 Kathy Budas, Marketing & Communications Director, Joël Tan, Director of Community Engagement, Betti-Sue Hertz, Director of Visual Arts. Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.
5 August, 2014. Interview in San Francisco.
52 Summerlea Kashar, Executive Director. Cartoon Art Museum. 5 August, 2014. Interview in San Francisco.
ality when it does not comply with the norm. As an example,
he mentions the Whitney Museum of American Art’s exhibi-
tion Paul Thek: Diver, a Retrospective from 2010, where they
refrained from mentioning that the legendary artist Thek was
bisexual, and that he died of AIDS-related complications in
1988, aged 54. Since the purpose of museums is to educate,
this should be done earnestly and honestly, says O’Hanian.
Asked how he would act if he were the director of a main-
stream museum, he replies that he would instruct the curators
that sexual orientation is a relevant fact to present in the exhi-
bitions, and he would also occasionally have LGBTQ-themed
exhibitions, and works on the programme of events to intro-
duce LGBTQ perspectives, through film screenings, lectures
and panel discussions.
The Pop-Up Museum of Queer History
It’s an overcast, rainy day in May 2014. I am making my way
along the crowded pavements of Harlem, New York City. I
have an appointment with Hugh Ryan, founder of the Pop-Up
Museum of Queer History. Our meeting is inspiring and con-
tinues to generate ideas. My talk with Ryan doesn’t end there.
It is still ongoing.54
The Pop-Up Museum of Queer History is exactly that – a
pop-up museum. Born out of frustration, it was catapulted into
public success from the start and continues to create exhibi-
tions and events that are audience-magnets, without its own
premises or any real resources. This pop-up museum is run
by volunteers.
It all began with the anger over events in connection with the
Hide/Seek exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery in Wash-
ington in late 2010. This was an exhibition about homosex-
ual love and was considered to be courageous, important,
and the first of its kind. But Catholics and other conservative
groups were incensed and demanded that David Wojnarow-
icz’s video work “A Fire in My Belly” – which he had made in
53 Hunter O’Hanian, Museum Director. Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay and Lesbian Art. 15 May, 2015. Interview in New York.
54 Hugh Ryan, Founding Director. The Pop-Up Museum of Queer History. 16 May, 2014. Interview in New York.
55 Gopnik, B. National Portrait Gallery bows to censors, withdraws Wojnarowicz video on gay love. 30 November, 2010. Column, The Washington Post.
56 Ryan, H. (2014). Notes on the Pop-Up Museum of Queer History. QED: A Journal in GLBTQ Worldmaking 1.2 (2014). Michigan State University Press.
memory of his artist colleague and lover Peter Hujar, who had
died of AIDS-related illnesses in 1987 – be removed from
the show. The museum management gave in to pressure and
removed the work.55
In reaction to the museum’s act of censorship, and the silence
of other museums, Ryan decided to issue an invitation to a
show in the Brooklyn loft where he was living. The opening
was on 14 January, 2014, and friends and acquaintances
exhibited works on LGBTQ themes. More than 300 visitors
had welled into the apartment to see the show, before the
police turned up and closed down the event.
But Ryan was thirsting for more. He was tired of waiting for
the mainstream museums to break through their homopho-
bia. He wanted to create a place where queers could share
queer history, as told by other queers. Going from word to
action, he launched the Pop-Up Museum of Queer History.
The exhibitions and other events rely on collaborations with
local LGBTQ communities, and partnerships with whoever
can provide a venue. The latest show took place at the New
York Public Library. The popularity of these events continues.
The main disadvantage of a pop-up museum without a build-
ing, according to Ryan, is that they can’t build a collection.
The works and other objects return to the respective artists
when the show ends.
The Pop-Up Museum of Queer History is now working on for-
mulating its concept. The idea is to spread the model to people
in other parts of the world who want to host a pop-up museum
of queer history. The principles and guidelines include ideas
on how to relate to history, stressing that history is a question,
not an answer. If you are unaware that you have a history, it
is hard to believe that you have a future. Queer people are
not the only ones whose history is full of misunderstandings.
The first step towards understanding history is to really see it.
When we discover our own history and share it with others,
we will realise that history is a constructed reality.56
33

4. The development of LGBTQ perspectives in
museums
Revealing Queer
On 14 February, 2014, the exhibition Revealing Queer opened
at the Museum of History and Industry, MOHAI, in Seattle.
In May 2014, we took the opportunity to see the results of
the museum’s efforts to create this presentation of Seattle’s
LGBTQ history. Erin Bailey1, who had been hired to curate
and manage the project, gave the process the working title
‘Queering the Museum’. She opted to consult closely with the
community, to capture and give life to their stories. As a result,
people are now donating objects to the museum, whose col-
lection of LGBTQ artefacts is growing. Objects include cloth-
ing, such as biker jackets, posters from gay clubs, newspapers
and magazines, etc. Baily tells us that the museum in general
is changing in the process of creating this show; today, they
give more consideration to what groups and perspectives are
absent in their exhibitions and collections. Their collaboration
with civil society has developed.
In late December 2014, the project and its impact on the
museum, and on Seattle at large, is summarised. It is noted
that the exhibition built capacity for the museum, and con-
tributed to the LGBTQ community. Among other things, King
County made 14 February – the opening day of the exhibi-
tion, its official LGBTQ history day. The museum noted a 17
percent increase in activity on its digital channels and 2,405
new followers in social media, in addition to lively traffic on
Twitter and Instagram. While the exhibition was on, an initi-
ative was taken to actively expand the museum’s collection
of LGBTQ-related objects. LGBTQ-related events attracted
1,000 participants over the year. The museum continues to
reach out to the LGBTQ community with public events on
queer themes.2
In this chapter, we give a detailed account of what we found
through our discussions and interviews with museums on how
they integrate LGBTQ perspectives into various parts of their
1 Erin Bailey, Curator of “Revealing Queer”, Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI), Seattle. 21 May, 2014. Interview in Seattle.
2 Queering the Museum. 2014 has come and gone, now what? 29 December, 2014. Accessed on 9 January, 2015. http://queeringthemuseum.org/
CHAPTER 4
activities. In particular, the study focuses on exhibitions, visitor
activities and programmes, collections, internally in the organ-
isation and in external collaborations. Examples have been
selected from projects at museums in Sweden and interna-
tionally. The purpose is not to provide a comprehensive report.
This chapter also discusses aspects that appear to be more or
less successful in the interviewees’ experiences of integrating
LGBTQ perspectives with museum activities. It should also
be noted that these different parts of the activities can some-
times be hard to distinguish from each other, since they are
mutually dependent in the same working process. The exhibi-
tion at MOHAI in Seattle, described above is one example of
this; the exhibition project impacted on the museum’s internal
knowledge and priorities, and their approach to collecting,
collaborating and activities for visitors and programmes.
Exhibitions
There are many ways to make LGBTQ perspectives visible
in exhibitions. It is essential to include previously invisible
groups, and this is often welcomed by groups who have felt
unrepresented by an institution. Occasionally, however, we
have come across individuals and institutions with a longer
experience of working with LGBTQ perspectives, who are in
a position to look critically at their own previous exhibitions.
In hindsight, they find that they have sometimes spoken for
people, rather than allowing them to speak for themselves.
In some cases, they realise that they have contributed to
reproducing stereotypical images of certain groups. This is
a learning process that requires being open to criticism and
prepared to start over. Sharing one’s experiences is a way of
helping one another to move forward.
With regard to LGBTQ perspectives in exhibitions, we found
that LGBTQ perspectives are featured and integrated in differ-
ent ways. A show can target an audience that already has an
35
awareness, or the general public. Often, however, it needs to
have an address that includes both those with previous knowl-
edge and those who are encountering these perspectives for
the first time. One example of the latter was the above-men-
tioned exhibition at MOHAI in Seattle. Since it presents the
city’s queer history, it is relevant to everyone.
Creating an LGBTQ-themed temporary exhibition is a good
way for a museum to improve its expertise in this field. Virtually
any kind of museum can produce an exhibition on an LGBTQ
theme. In October 2006, the Natural History Museum in Oslo3
opened its exhibition Against Nature?, on the theme of homo-
sexuality in the animal kingdom. Based on scientific observa-
tions, they demonstrated how homosexuality is found naturally
among many species. In this way, the museum was contrib-
uting towards dedramatising homosexuality. The exhibition
was on for just under a year. The museum had not anticipated
the huge public success it was, attracting attention from both
Norwegian and international media.
Occasionally, LGBTQ perspectives are included as part of an
exhibition on a broader theme. One example is the exhibition
JAG identitet – makt – sexualitet (SELF identity – power –
sexuality) at Sundsvalls museum in June-September 2014.
This was an interdisciplinary, norm-critical exhibition featuring
eight artists, along with selected works from the museum’s
art collection, on the theme of ‘Who am I?’. Among the explo-
rations of the borderland between identity, power structures
and sexuality, the queer perspective was naturally represented
in some of the works. One transgender person who was por-
trayed in a photograph in the show held a spontaneous, mov-
ing speech at the opening; one effect of creating visibility.4
If a museum has already made considerable progress in inte-
grating LGBTQ perspectives, these may already be present in
one way or another in all exhibitions, regardless of the over-
all theme or purpose. It is still rare, however, that a museum
has come this far in incorporating these perspectives, but the
issue is being raised by an increasing number of institutions.
The Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco5 has
come a long way in the inclusion of LGBTQ perspectives as a
natural part of all their exhibitions, be they about local artists or
Indian contemporary art. The museum does not produce sep-
arate LGBTQ exhibitions, claiming that they have transcended
“exhibiting identity”.
In Sweden, the Maritime Museum & Aquarium6 in Gothenburg
and the Museum of Work7 in Norrköping stand out as insti-
tutions where norm criticism is implemented in many parts
of the organisation’s activities and processes. The Maritime
Museum & Aquarium now includes queer narratives in its
basic exhibition. It is a feature in the overall historiography of
Gothenburg as a seafaring city.8
Other Swedish examples of how LGBTQ perspectives were
integrated naturally in exhibitions on other themes are Swed-
ish Sin at the Museum of Spirits9, and an exhibition about
breast-feeding at the Museum of Work in Norrköping. The
men raising their glasses in the pictures at the Museum of
Spirits are not all heterosexual, and not only heterosexual
women are shown breast-feeding at the Museum of Work. By
integrating the voices of diverse LGBTQ people, and diverse
LGBTQ perspectives, a broader and more nuanced picture is
given of what it entails to be LGBTQ. In this way, the exhibition
represents and reflects society more adequately.
The permanent Viking exhibition at the National Historical
Museum in Stockholm also integrates LGBTQ perspectives
naturally. The display has been reviewed and processed from
a norm critical perspective, focusing especially on gender.
The queer perspective is present especially in the presenta-
tion of Odin. This leader of the Asa gods is the epitomy of
male strength. But he also engaged in sorcery together with
his wife Freya and the norns. Sorcery was considered to be a
female occupation, and he was thus combining his masculine
energies with feminine.10
Sometimes, the museums simply need to look more closely at
what they already have. Art museums with collections span-
ning several historic eras will inevitably have queer perspec-
tives in many of their works, whether or not they are aware
of it. Queer theory perspectives and awareness are required
in order to utilise these assets. We will talk more about this
below, in the sections on visitor activities and collections.
An inclusive and broad LGBTQ perspective when producing
exhibitions does not necessarily mean working with all groups
and perspectives at once. Instead, the institution can strive for
diversity over time, or in relation to what aspects of society the
museums reflect. Occasionally, additional focus is required on
perspectives that have previously been neglected. The GLBT
History Museum in San Francisco11 collaborates with a vari-
ety of local groups when producing exhibitions about differ-
ent parts of the LGBTQ community. Bisexuals and LGBTQ
people with roots in the Asian Pacific region are two groups
whose perspectives have been highlighted in exhibitions in
2014. Their stories were previously missing in the museum.

3 Petter Bøckman, assistant professor, Geir Søli, senior assistant teacher, Arild Johnsen, professor, Cecilie Webb head of department. Naturhistorisk museum. Oslo. 15 October,
2015. Interview in Oslo.
4 Daniel Unnis, head of exhibitions and events. Sundsvalls museum. 5 September, 2014. Interview in Sundsvall.
5 Kathy Budas, Marketing & Communications Director, Joël Tan, Director of Community Engagement, Betti-Sue Hertz, Director of Visual Arts. Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.
5 August, 2014. Interview in San Francisco.
6 Emma Having, head of exhibitions and learning. Maritime Museum & Aquarium. 3 March, 2014. Interview in Gothenburg.
7 Johanna Övling, ethnologist, Marinette Fogde, research manager. Museum of Work. 9 April, 2014. Interview in Umeå.
8 Linda Noreen, Exhibitions & Learning. Maritime Museum & Aquarium. 5 March, 2014. Interview in Gothenburg.
9 Nadja Karlsson, head of tastings. Museum of Spirits. 3 April, 2014. Interview in Stockholm.
10 Li Kolker, events manager, Lotta Fernstål, chief antiquarian, early Iron Age. JÄMUS project, National Historical Museum. 23 April, 2014. Interview in Stockholm.
11 Jeremy Prince, operations manager, Elisabeth Cornu, board member and museum advisor. GLBT History Museum. 6 August, 2014. Interview in San Francisco.
Since LGBTQ people can have several simultaneous identi-
ties, and sometimes combine several norm-challenging iden-
tities, they run the risk of dual invisibility. This has been pointed
out by Swedish organisations such as Blattequeers12 in
Stockholm, Gays In Angered (for young LGBTQs in the Goth-
enburg suburb Angered, and Homan (for Muslim LGBTQs in
Gothenburg), and it is also highlighted in the Queering Sápmi
project, which is now a touring exhibition. The production of
Queering Sápmi had an impact far beyond the exhibition itself,
since this was the first time queer Sápmi people organised. It
also triggered the world’s first Pride festival arranged by an
indigenous people.
Bisexuals, transgender people and queers have been fight-
ing for increased visibility both within the LGBTQ movement
and in society, ever since the advancement of gay and lesbian
rights. This is also evident in the range of exhibitions, and an
influence on museums. In response to external pressure, fol-
lowed by internal discussions, for instance, queer and trans-
gender perspectives have been increasingly included at the
Schwules Museum* in Berlin and the Leslie Lohman Museum
of Gay and Lesbian Art in New York. At Schwules Museum*,
the added asterisk after the name symbolises an active stand
on including more groups and perspectives beyond gays
(“schwules”). In Montreal, Canada, the first exhibition of art
exclusively by transgender persons opened in 2014. The
curator, Ianna Book13, says that the queer and transgender
movements are beginning to have an effect on institutions
but that transgender issues are not yet represented in Cana-
dian institutions. In Sweden, the transgender perspective has
been featured in a couple of smaller specific shows, and was
included in exhibitions that highlight the norms around gender
and sexuality.
The Museum of Liverpool’s14 exhibition on the transgender
icon April Ashley, which includes the history of the transgen-
der movement in the UK and a multitude of voices from local
transgender individuals, is perhaps the largest venture to date
presenting transgender perspectives both to a broad audi-
ence and to people who identify as transgender. The exhibition
was created in partnership with local LGBTQ and transgen-
der organisations. A close collaboration between the museum
and LGBTQ organisations/groups is often mentioned as
being vital to a successful exhibition that manages to deliver a
nuanced and many-sided picture of the group or perspective
it portrays. Moreover, the exhibition is a testimony to the fact
that museums that address these issues can have a direct
impact on society. The exhibition instructs visitors to contact
the police if they have been victims of hate crimes. When the
police noted a sharp increase in the number of hate crimes
12 Emilia Mirani. Blattequeers. 24 April, 2014. Interview in Stockholm.
13 Ianna Book, artist / curator “Trans Time” exhibition, Montreal. 1 December, 2014. Interview via e-mail.
14 Kay Jones, Curator of Community History. Museum of Liverpool. 14 June, 2014. Interview in Liverpool.
15 Bianca Leidi, exhibition producer. National Museums of World Culture. 29 January, 2015. Telephone interview.
16 Malin Grundberg, director. Royal Armoury. 24 April, 2014. Interview in Stockholm.
17 Richard Sandell, Professor of Museum Studies. University of Leicester. 10 December, 2014. Skype interview.
18 Vu Tuan Nguyen, doctoral student, Museum Studies. University of Sydney. 10 December, 2014. Skype interview.
reported by transgender people, they approached the museum
with a proposal for cooperation, where the museum would
serve as a “safe place” where hate crimes could be reported.
Altogether, the exhibition drew large audiences and boosted
the museum’s PR immensely.
Other groups under the rainbow flag are also appealing to be
heard, including I for Intersexual, GQ for Genderqueer, and A
for Asexual. The list keeps growing, and it can sometimes be
practical to use the terms sexual orientation, gender identity,
and gender expression, and to look at the norms themselves
around gender and sexuality. The Swedish National Museum
of World Culture (Världskulturmuseet) used this approach,
for instance, in its forthcoming exhibition Playground, which
seeks playfully to encourage secondary and upper second-
ary school classes to reflect on norms, regardless of gender
identity, expression or sexual orientation. Similarly, the Royal
Armoury in Stockholm based its exhibition on Queen Chris-
tina16 on norms relating to gender and sexuality, rather than
on contemporary terms used to describe different identities.
People with long experience of working with LGBTQ perspec-
tives in the museum sector stress the importance of moving
on from temporary exhibitions on LGBTQ to integrated work.
Richard Sandell17, professor of Museum Studies at the Univer-
sity of Leicester says that one of the major obstacles to diver-
sity efforts at museums in general is that they are insufficiently
integrated with the everyday operation. A project is completed
and then they move on to the next issue. He emphasises the
importance of starting with simple solutions, interweaving dif-
ferent perspectives in all the museum’s activities. Small alter-
ations, from new wall texts to occasional objects in existing
exhibitions, can have a strong and effective impact with time.
One of our respondents18 told us about his strongest LGBTQ
experience from a museum visit. The permanent exhibition at
the Museum included a machine used for “electro aversion
therapy”. The wall text explicitly explained what behaviour the
electric shocks were used for. Sometimes a simple measure
can be enough to add new perspectives.
There are also a few examples of museums that have created
“trails” – describing and labelling objects and works in the
exhibition from an LGBTQ perspective, which visitors can
choose to follow if they want. The British Museum in London
has one, and the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool is develop-
ing its own. An alternative to trails may be guided city tours
beyond the museum walls. In association with the University
and local LGBTQ organisations, the Amsterdam Museum has
developed a city walk app called PinkPerspectives.
37
Finally, it is worth noting in the context of exhibitions with an
LGBTQ perspective, that it is crucial that the entire staff is
trained and prepared for representing the exhibition and its
message. The more controversial the exhibition may be per-
ceived, the more important this is. But openness, a welcom-
ing attitude and being service-minded should consistently be
high on the agenda. Exhibition production and visitor activities
go hand in hand here.

CONCRETE TIPS:
• Are you planning an exhibition on an LGBTQ theme? Bring
in an external partner with experience if your organisation
lacks the expertise; this is a good way of letting a group
speak for itself instead of speaking on its behalf. See it as
an excellent learning process. Make sure the entire staff is
involved in the process. Everyone needs knowledge and
understanding about why we are doing this, and how it
should be shared with the public.

• Make small alterations and additions. Review the perma-

nent exhibition to see how the LGBTQ perspective can be
included in it. Invite researchers or an LGBTQ organisation;
perhaps the permanent exhibition already includes queer
perspectives that have not yet been identified.

• When producing a temporary LGBTQ project – consider

whether separate elements in the project/exhibition could
be extracted from the project and made into a permanent
feature.

• Add LGBTQ perspectives to the checklist for all new

exhibition productions. How can LGBTQ perspectives be
included in the new exhibition, even when this is not the
overall theme?

• Adopt a norm-critical approach and avoid stereotypes!

How are people portrayed in the exhibition? Who does the
exhibition address, and can everyone in the target group
feel that the exhibition is made with them in mind as visi-
tors?

• Take responsibility for the quality of co-produced exhibi-

tions. The external group provides its expertise and expe-
rience of the subject. The museum is the expert on how to
present and narrate this knowledge.
39
Visitor activities and programmes
Visitor activities and programmes range from the open,
engaging and welcoming attitude the museum often wants
to achieve and represent, to the more formalised meetings,
forums and arenas created through planned programmes and
events. Programmes can include special guided tours, work-
shops, lectures, talks or debates on particular themes. By vis-
itor activities we mean aspects such as reception, hosting,
visitor services, communication and work on target groups.
Tim Redfern19, an artist who is often consulted by museums in
London to organise workshops on LGBTQ themes, stresses
that these events should not target LGBTQ audiences exclu-
sively, but also their relatives and friends, and others who may
be interested in these issues. This means that they are actu-
ally addressing a large potential audience.
Being welcoming and inclusive, however, is not just a matter
of attitudes and content. It also requires accessibility. There
are many aspects to accessibility. One is to show in external
communication that the museum is accessible and relevant to
LGBTQ audiences and visitors. Simple things like displaying
rainbow flags have important symbolic value. However, those
with experience of flying the rainbow flag at their institutions
point out that this comes with an obligation; the flag symbol-
ises both that the museum has knowledge and that it offers
a friendly reception. Another aspect of accessibility is purely
spatial. Countless times in the course of this study, we have
met people who emphasise the importance of gender-neu-
tral toilets, to make the museum feel safer for transgender
people. Several museums engaging actively in LGBTQ per-
spectives have implemented gender-neutral toilets, including
the Museum of Spirits, and the Museum of World Culture in
Gothenburg.
A vital bridge between exhibition activities and visitor activ-
ities is to stress that the entire staff should be trained and
prepared prior to an exhibition with LGBTQ perspectives.
Many of the people we interviewed for this study agree that
this training should not only include educators and guides,
but all museum staff. Receptionists, shop staff, janitors and
others need to be well-informed and prepared to receive and
handle questions and reactions. It is important that everyone
can represent the museum’s current exhibition. Our interviews
showed that the more controversial the exhibition may be per-
ceived, the more important this is. This is always important,
however, if a welcoming reception and good service are high
on the agenda. Exhibition production and visitor activities are
interlinked with the organisation’s internal operations, as dis-
cussed below.
19 Tim Redfern, performer and museum consultant. 20 October, 2014. Interview in London.
20 Zorian Clayton, Assistant Curator of Print. Victoria & Albert Museum. 23 October, 2014. Interview in London.
21 LGBT History Month, a nationwide event held annually.
22 Kathy Budas, Marketing & Communications Director, Joël Tan, Director of Community Engagement, Betti-Sue Hertz, Director of Visual Arts. Yerba Buena Center for the Arts.
5 August, 2014. Interview in San Francisco.
23 Dziurlikowska, M. ”A Queer Teaches Here” – Interview with Anders Karnell and Patrik Steorn. Paletten No 4, 2006.
24 Patrik Steorn, curator and director. Thiel Gallery. 19 August, 2014. Interview in Stockholm.
Visitor activities need to address the issue of how to be a
museum that is relevant to everyone. By diversifying the
groups for programmed activities and creating activities tar-
geting special fields, the museum can reach different visitor
categories at different times and thereby be relevant to more
people. At the museums we visited in the UK, working with
audience development was a matter of course. The princi-
ple is to segment the audience and create targeted events
to attract new groups. The next step is to maintain relations
with these audience groups. Some Swedish museums apply
a similar approach. At first glance, they may appear to be seg-
regating their audiences. However, the more audience groups
the museum welcomes, the greater the potential, hopefully,
to achieve a heterogeneous meeting place in the long term,
where exciting new encounters can take place.
The V&A in London20 engages actively in reaching out to peo-
ple of different ages and backgrounds in the LGBTQ com-
munity, through targeted activities during the LGBT History
Month21 and Black History Month. The Yerba Buena Center
for the Arts22 also emphasises the importance of differenti-
ating LGBTQ in their work, and to understand how privilege
impacts on the LGBTQ community as well. In their programme
activities, for instance, they collaborate with a group of Trans-
latinas, transgender women with Latin American roots, and
with homeless queer youths.
Programme activities also provide potential for dialogue
between groups and on issues that may be considered sen-
sitive. Örebro County Museum and Örebro Pride held joint
seminars on religion and LGBTQ, with support from the
Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender
and Queer Rights (RFSL) and the Muslim adult education
centre Ibn Rushd. Another example is Tensta Konsthall, which
invited the artist Sofia Hultin to hold lesbian city walks in Ten-
sta. The content of the city walk was developed together with
residents in Tensta and local organisations.
One fairly common approach today at Swedish museums is
to modify activities during the local Pride festival, for instance,
by offering workshops, lectures, etc. One phenomenon that
has become widely spread in recent years is guided queer
tours of exhibitions; this concept was introduced in Sweden
in 2005. One of the first to offer queer tours was Anders Kar-
nell23 at Moderna Museet, closely followed by Patrik Steorn at
the Nationalmuseum. A queer tour involves applying a queer
theory perspective to the exhibition that is being shown24. It is
hardly a coincidence that the country’s first queer tours were
41
applied to art collections. Art history offers a wide array of
people and human interaction portrayed through a myriad of
lenses.

One of the most memorable experiences in the course of this

study, was when Marcus Dickey Horley at Tate Britain25 gave
a queer tour of centuries of art. Queer perspectives can be
applied to many famous works through the ages and offer
entirely new angles on Europe’s, not to say world, history.
On a few specific occasions, Tate Modern has offered queer
tours, which were widely appreciated by the public and drew
hundreds of people to the shows. This, of course, encour-
aged the museum to pursue its LGBTQ-oriented work.

Following up on their queer tours of exhibitions in connection

with Pride festivals, some Swedish museums have started
offering queer tours all year round. At the Royal Armoury26, for
instance, tours with a queer perspective are always available.
Some museums also offer queer tours without mentioning this
explicitly in their programme. In some cases, this is because
norm-critical perspectives are an integral part of the work at
the museum. More often, however, this is because it is up to
the individual educator to decide how s/he chooses to per-
form the guided tour.

CONCRETE TIPS:
• Make the museum accessible to LGBTQ people. It is
important to signal accessibility in every way, from commu-
nicating LGBTQ-related events to offering gender-neutral
toilets on the premises.

• Partner with external LGBTQ experts, both individuals and

organisations. This can raise the quality of events aimed at
the public and expand your target group network, so that
more people find their way to the museum.

• Remember that LGBTQ-themed programme events do not

target LGBTQ people only. Visitors may also be the kin of
LGBTQ people, or interested in norm criticism in general.

• Take a stand and get involved in the programme for your

local Pride festival. If the museum offers queer tours during
the Pride week, why not all year?

• Work on your communication, symbolic value and accessi-

bility. Communicate the museum’s LGBTQ events proudly
and naturally. Fly the rainbow flag for its symbolic value.

• Remember that there are obligations attached to what you

communicate. It is good if the entire staff has the expertise
and capacity to stand up for the importance of working with
LGBTQ perspectives.

25 Marcus Dickey Horley, Curator of Access Projects. Tate Modern. 22 October, 2014. Interview in London.
26 Malin Grundberg, director. Royal Armoury. 24 April, 2014. Interview in Stockholm.
43
LGBTQ in collections
When it comes to reviewing existing collections from an
LGBTQ perspective, and initiatives for new collections of
LGBTQ artefacts, the initiatives in Sweden and globally are
few and most are only in the early stages. LGBTQ in col-
lections is thus an enormous untapped potential. The fact
that this aspect is still largely neglected is, by all accounts,
intimately related to the limited historiography, and to those
whose privilege it has been to interpret history. This field is in
dire need of innovation and more sharing of knowledge, both
in coding and cataloguing existing collections, and in creating
new collections of LGBTQ artefacts.
But what is an LGBTQ artefact? In her Master’s dissertation
at Uppsala University, Charlotte Lendi studied how cultural
history museums have implemented LGBTQ perspectives
in their collections.27 Lendi describes how museums risk
enhancing stereotypes when collecting objects representing
a particular group. However, this should not deter them from
trying to find ways. In her study, Lendi concludes that despite
the progress of LGBTQ perspectives in Swedish museums,
the collection departments are lagging behind. Her inter-
viewees seem to agree that the museum collections probably
contain an unknown quantity of LGBTQ material, but that this
information was not recorded at the time of acquisition and
has therefore been lost.
The problem of including LGBTQ perspectives in the col-
lections was discussed at the annual museum congress in
the Netherlands. Here, as in many other contexts, searches
for LGBTQ-related concepts in museum collections were
fruitless. One vital question that was raised was when it is
relevant to categorise objects linked to LGBTQ individuals
as being LGBTQ. How, for instance, should the Groninger
Museum handle its collection of works by Andy Warhol?
There is a need, in other words, to find new ways of catego-
rising objects.28
There is also a need for re-classifying the collections, and for
saving more information from various sources relating to the
objects. This aspect was explored, for instance, in the Swed-
ish History Museum’s research project Polysemantiska berät-
telser (Polysemantic Narratives). The LGBTQ network at the
V&A in London29 has initiated a proposal for reviewing existing
concepts relating to gender and sexuality in the museum’s
database, and suggested a list of new terms.
objects. Steorn, who is currently the director of the Thiel Gal-
lery, is a scholar who has practical experience of distinguish-
ing queer perspectives in works of art in connection with the
queer tours he created for the Nationalmuseum. In an article
from 2010, he offers critical reflections on how museums can
apply an LGBTQ perspective to their collections, emphasising
partly that applying terms such as homo, hetero, bi and trans-
gender to collections would be to categorise history accord-
ing to temporary views, which is not entirely unproblematic,
since categories can be limiting instead of offering flexibility.
He also notes that museums, when endeavouring to introduce
queer perspectives, must bear in mind that they are part of the
power structure and creators of norms and meanings. There-
fore, Steorn advises museums to invite the LGBTQ commu-
nity to participate in their process, to be innovative in how they
present their collections, and to spearhead research.30
Further innovative solutions that involve the LGBTQ com-
munity could thus be needed, with inspiration from the
above-mentioned MOHAI museum in Seattle, which invites
the local LGBTQ community to contribute objects to its grow-
ing LGBTQ collection. Another inspiring project is the Örebro
County Museum’s project in partnership with the local RFSL
organisation (the Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisex-
ual, Transgender and Queer Rights), of gathering stories from
the local LGBTQ community.31
Efforts to collect oral accounts with the aim of preserving
LGBTQ history have been made and are pursued very actively
by LGBTQ archives and other such NGOs in Sweden and
internationally, for example, the LivingStories Project in Wash-
ington, which seeks to set up a national collection of oral sto-
ries in the form of an online exhibition. It is carried out as part
of the campaign for a national LGBTQ museum in the USA.
In 2005, the Victoria Museum in Sydney appointed a queer
historian to research the collection for a short period. The pro-
ject resulted in an increase from less than ten to more than
one hundred hits when searching the database for LGBTQ-
related terms. This type of alterations in the collections is vital
in preparation for including LGBTQ perspectives in exhibi-
tions. Australia also has Community Heritage Grants enabling
communities, including LGBTQ organisations, to apply for
funding or practical assistance in their own work to catalogue
and preserve their artefacts.32

Patrik Steorn claims that knowledge and an experienced eye Yet another innovative effort to collect LGBTQ objects is
are needed to distinguish queer perspectives in art and other underway digitally via The Unstraight Museum33, an NGO

27 Lendi, C. (2014). Varför är det så svårt? – En studie av kulturhistoriska museers arbete med hbtq-perspektiv i samlingar. Master’s dissertation. Dept. of Archive, Libraries and
Museum Studies. Uppsala University.
28 de Wildt, A. Queering the collection: Bestaan er homoseksuele objecten? Amsterdam Museum. 16 October, 2014.
http://hart.amsterdammuseum.nl/91256/nl/queering-the-collections
29 Zorian Clayton, Assistant Curator of Print. Victoria & Albert Museum. 23 October, 2014. Interview in London.
30 Steorn, P. (2010). Queer in the museum: Methodological reflections on doing queer in museum collections. Lambda Nordica 2010: 3-4.
31 Anna Furumark, project manager, Norm, nation och kultur. Örebro County Museum. 3 April, 2014. Interview in Stockholm.
32 Vu Tuan Nguyen, doctoral student, Museum Studies. University of Sydney. 10 December, 2014. Skype interview.
33 Nicolas Hasselqvist, project manager, Ulf Petersson, initiator. The Unstraight Museum. 14 March, 2014. Interview in Stockholm.

45
based in Stockholm. The Unstraight Museum is known in and
outside Sweden for setting up an online museum devoted
to LGBT history in various forms. Their website is designed
as a forum for stories and for museums. It was spawned by
the need for a hub for sharing stories and narratives with an
LGBTQ perspective. They wanted to stop these narratives,
such as the accounts of AIDS in the 1980s, from disappear-
ing from historiography. The development of this website is an
ongoing process. Here, museums and the public can contrib-
ute to building LGBTQ history.

CONCRETE TIPS:
• Ensure that you have access to queer theory knowledge
when the museum is working on LGBTQ in its collections.

• Review your codes and categories carefully, so that they

are both distinct and flexible.

• Make sure you don’t just collect stereotypical material.

• Invite LGBTQ organisations or communities to participate

in the process.

• Be innovative. Learn by trial and error. Share your experi-

ences!
47
LGBTQ in the internal organisation
Throughout the interviews and dialogues conducted in this
study, we repeatedly found that LGBTQ at Swedish muse-
ums is primarily a concern for enthusiasts. Staff with a spe-
cial interest in these issues handle the LGBTQ perspectives
outside their regular work, making it an onerous and lonely
task. The absence of directives from management seems to
be the reason why LGBTQ perspectives become the subject
of temporary measures rather than being integrated into the
museums’ long-term goals and processes. The JÄMUS pro-
ject34 organised seminars targeting staff at various museums.
At their events, it transpired that many museum employees
want to focus on a variety of perspectives – diversity, gender,
LGBTQ and norm criticism – but that this is given low priority
unless management indicates that it is important.
We found that where the approach to norm critical work was
integrated into and permeated the entire organisation, with the
conscious inclusion of LGBTQ perspectives in all activities,
the staff listed the same key to success: these perspectives
were considered to be a management issue. Time and other
resources had been allocated. This work was regarded as a
living, long-term process involving the entire staff.
In our talks with museum directors who want to make a differ-
ence and are involved in incorporating LGBTQ perspectives,
however, we uncovered a variety of experiences. Some direc-
tors are committed to involving the entire staff. Others say that
they have to accept that some staff members take longer to
engage; it is okay to let some move on ahead of the others in
order to make progress in this respect. The museum manage-
ment also has to address other things relating to the govern-
ance and priorities of the operation. Partly, distinct political
goals need to be reached; and partly, management has to
look to the relationship with other interested parties, includ-
ing the museum’s friends associations, funders, visitor groups
and local organisations. Sometimes, there are fears that these
groups will object to new initiatives at the museum, especially
if it is considered controversial or in some way different from
the museum’s traditional approach. In our dialogue meetings,
several people have noted that it is vital that museums do not
censor themselves because they think an external party may
object. It is better to ask and to engage in dialogue.
Work in the organisation on norm criticism in general, and
LGBTQ issues in particular can be done through various
means, from in-house training programmes to clear guide-
lines and involving the entire staff in the formulation of poli-
cies. The Maritime Museum & Aquarium in Gothenburg35, for
example, has been focusing for years on including norm crit-
icism as a natural part of the museum’s everyday activities,
34 Li Kolker, events manager, Lotta Fernstål, chief antiquarian, early Iron Age. JÄMUS project, National Historical Museum. 23 April, 2014. Interview in Stockholm.
35 Emma Having, head of exhibitions and learning. Maritime Museum & Aquarium. 3 March, 2014. Interview in Gothenburg.
36 Bohusläns Museum.‘CHECKLISTA – ett stöd i rättighetsbaserat arbete’. Compiled by Bohusläns museum’s MR team in spring 2014. Bohusläns museum.
37 City of Gothenburg“Plan för lika rättigheter och möjligheter 2015”.
38 Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Rights. LGBT certification. Accessed on 2 January, 2015. http://www.rfsl.se/?p=4960
39 The Swedish Library Association’s network of experts on LGBTQ issues. 15 December, 2014. Meeting in Sollentuna.
following a resolute initiative by its then director. An external
educator was called in, and all staff participated in training
programmes and the ensuing process of change. The norm
critical approach was incorporated in the policy documents
that were formulated jointly. Maintaining a constant awareness
and challenging themselves and each other with regard to the
norms they represent, or forget to represent, has become a
matter of course in the museum’s everyday operations. It is a
collective effort.
A very concrete aid is to set up a checklist for every activity
and project within the organisation, to support the process
of making visible and welcoming diverse perspectives and
groups. Bohusläns museum, for instance, has a clear check-
list, with the subheading ‘to promote rights-based work36. It
is used as a tool in their activities and planning, in order to
include the rights perspective in the day-to-day work. The
rights perspective consists of equality, inclusion, transpar-
ency, legal rights/clear responsibilities, and non-discrimina-
tion. The seven forms of discrimination covered by the Dis-
crimination Act (see Chapter 3) are noted. Moreover, the
museum must consider the social and economic resources
of their visitor groups, along with aspects such as language
and education. When planning each project, and in the ongo-
ing work, they review which perspectives are given priority or
disregarded, and why. They also ask themselves specifically
who is the narrator, whose story is being told, who the target
groups are, who is represented, and what partners to consult,
along with other questions.
Diplomas and certifications are two other tools, in addition
to the previously-mentioned ones, for promoting in-house
LGBTQ expertise. With regard to diplomas, an LGBT diploma
programme will be launched in autumn 2015 for all museums
in the City of Gothenburg and the City’s Arts Administration,
as part of the City of Gothenburg’s “Plan for Equal Rights and
Opportunities 2015”37.
RFSL– the Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual,
Transgender and Queer Rights – has offered LGBT certifi-
cation since 2008. The certification process is estimated to
take six to eight months for any organisation wishing to certify
its operation. The purpose is to provide a sound working envi-
ronment for employees and a respectful attitude to patients/
clients/users with regard to LGBT issues. Certification also
involves announcing that the organisation is making strategic
efforts in this field.38 Several Swedish libraries have recently
embarked on acquiring LGBT certification. The project man-
agers at the libraries report that the certification process has
been a positive experience.39
49
Recruitment is another means of influencing the organisation
from within. Whether LGBTQ perspectives can be introduced
in museums via recruitment, however, is a question with two
answers. To employ someone based on their sexual orienta-
tion, gender identity or gender expression would probably be
unviable in Sweden. A person’s sexual orientation or gender
identity does not determine their values or skills. However, a
museum that has decided to include these perspectives as a
natural part of its activities, could recruit someone with spe-
cial expertise in this field.

CONCRETE TIPS:
• Avoid delegating LGBTQ only to the enthusiasts in your
museum. Make it a management issue. Allocate time and
other resources to it.

• Give the entire staff training in norm critical approaches in

general, and LGBTQ specifically.

• Consider LGBTQ diplomas, certification or similar accred-

itation, to enhance in-house expertise.

• Incorporate norm awareness in the museum’s overall goals

and policies.

• Make sure staff are aware of the seven forms of discrimina-

tion covered by the Swedish Discrimination Act, and pres-
ent proposals on how to prevent discrimination.

• Formulate a concrete checklist before and during each pro-

ject. Define the perspectives to be included, the groups to
be represented, and the issues to be addressed by the pro-
ject.

• Maintain an ongoing dialogue within the museum, and help

each other to detect preconceptions based on prevailing
norms.
51
LGBTQ in collaborations
Welcome!
Back in 2006, the first LGBT Gothenburg (later renamed
West Pride) was about to start. A rainbow flag was hoisted
for the first time outside the Röhsska Museum of Fashion,
Design and Decorative Arts. The then director, Ted Hessel-
bom, recalls one of the more memorable encounters at the
museum:
An old lady came up to him, greeted him warmly and thanked
him for the museum’s stand and the signals sent by the rain-
bow flag. Her only regret was that her partner had died and
could not be there to experience this magnificent day. They
would often visit Röhsska together, but passed themselves
off as friends. They didn’t know if their truth and their love was
welcome at the museum. But now she knew.40
As in the above example, museums all over Sweden are now
collaborating with local Pride organisations during the annual
Pride week, offering special guided tours and other activities.
What makes West Pride41 special is that its forerunner, LGBT
Gothenburg, was started by Blå stället in Angered42 together
with the Röhsska Museum of Fashion, Design and Decorative
Arts, the Museum of World Culture, Gothenburg City Thea-
tre and Pusterviksteatern. In other words, the arts institutions
founded the local LGBT festival themselves, in response to an
identified absence of, and need for, an inclusive forum. “But
even Pride can be slightly excluding,” Ted Hesselbom points
out. “The next crucial step is to join arms with the rest of soci-
ety, to grow stronger.”43
In conjunction with the festival, the Museum of World Culture44
has been exceedingly active in partnering with local LGBTQ
groups and with artists, to organise exhibitions and events.
Over time, more museums in Gothenburg have joined in. The
Gothenburg Museum of Art45 has organised queer guided
tours in connection with West Pride, and has also found ways
of presenting queer perspectives throughout the rest of the
year. One of these is to collaborate with artists who introduce
a queer perspective in their interaction with the museum’s col-
lection and in their encounter with visitors at public events.
The Örebro County Museum lists examples of other forms of
cooperation. In one project to collect stories from the popula-
tion in Örebro County, it was decided that the material should
include accounts by LGBTQ people. To reach out to these
groups, and to broaden the museum’s knowledge, they part-
nered with the local chapter of the Swedish Federation for
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Rights. The
Örebro County Museum has also hosted a series of seminars
on “how to disturb homogeneity”, led by Anna Furumark46.
This was an opportunity for museum professionals and others
from all over Sweden to meet and discuss norms, diversity
and discrimination.
When museums enter into partnerships with LGBTQ organ-
isations, they need to be aware that one sub-category alone
cannot represent the multitude of perspectives and groups
within the LGBTQ community. Sometimes, therefore, it may
be necessary to approach several groups, or to work with ref-
erence groups representing several perspectives. One exam-
ple of how an organisation addresses this complexity is the
City of Gothenburg’s LGBTQ council, whose members are
selected to represent different LGBTQI identities, while at the
same time representing a plurality based on the seven forms
of discrimination.
If a museum initiates a relationship with a group through joint
projects, the group will expect this relationship to continue.
The same applies to visitors who experience that the museum
has suddenly started to address them as LGBTQ persons.
Perhaps, new visitor groups have been drawn to the museum
by the LGBTQ initiatives. How should these relationships and
expectations be maintained after a temporary project has
come to an end? In the UK and USA, museums have spe-
cial professionals with responsibility for the museum’s work
and relationships with different groups in the local community.
They can have job titles such as community manager, com-
munity engagement officer, or curator of community history.
In Sweden, there may be scope for professionalising the cor-
responding positions in museums. Maintaining a relationship
after the end of a joint project may otherwise sometimes rely
entirely on the available time and inclination of individual staff
members, rather than on the organisation’s plans and deci-
sions.
A few museums in Sweden have opted to collaborate with
the above-mentioned NGO The Unstraight Museum47. The
Unstraight Museum was spawned by the touring exhibition
Article 1, named after the UN Declaration of Human Rights,
which highlighted the often ignored LGBTQ perspectives.
The project was managed by the Nobel Museum, the Mari-
time Museum, the Army Museum, the Ethnographic Museum,
the National Historical Museum, the National Museum of
Science and Technology, the Police Museum, the Swed-
ish International Development Cooperation Agency and the
Swedish Exhibition Agency. The Unstraight Museum’s most

40 Ted Hesselbom, director. Sigtuna museum, formerly of Röhsska Museum of Fashion, Design and Decorative Arts. 2 April, 2014. Interview in Örebro.
41 Tasso Stafilidis, events manager, Göteborgs Kulturkalas. Göteborg & Co. Formerly events manager for West Pride. 4 April, 2014. Interview in Gothenburg.
42 Aurora Cederholm, consultant. Formerly of Blå Stället in Angered and the LGBTQ Festival in Gothenburg. 2 April, 2014. Interview in Stockholm.
43 Ted Hesselbom, director. Sigtuna museum, formerly of Röhsska Museum of Fashion, Design and Decorative Arts. 2 April, 2014. Interview in Örebro.
44 Karl Magnusson, director. National Museum of World Culture. 4 March, 2014. Interview in Gothenburg.
45 Freja Holmberg, art educator, and Philippa Nanfeldt, curator, education and learning. Gothenburg Museum of Art. 7 April, 2014. Interview in Gothenburg.
46 Anna Furumark, project manager, Norm, nation och kultur. Örebro County Museum. 3 April, 2014. Interview in Stockholm.
47 Nicolas Hasselqvist, project manager, Ulf Petersson, initiator. The Unstraight Museum. 14 March, 2014. Interview in Stockholm.

53
recent project is called Unstraight Perspectives. It twins
Swedish museums with LGBTQ activists in a local com-
munity somewhere in the world where the opportunities
for LGBTQ activism are different. The Swedish museum
and the local community produce an exhibition together.
One example is the Museum of World Culture’s collaboration
with activists in Hanoi, a project that was pursued in 2014-
2015.

Obviously, museums can also partner with each other to

promote their integration of LGBTQ perspectives. National
LGBTQ networks for the museum sector have been started
up in the USA and UK. Several UK museums also have
in-house LGBTQ networks48. An LGBTQ network initiated by
the Nationalmuseum and National Historical Museum in Swe-
den is under way, starting in 2015. It will serve as a forum to
discuss and share experiences of working with LGBTQ issues
in museums.

CONCRETE TIPS:
• Cooperate with local LGBTQ organisations. This enhances
knowledge, inspires, and probably makes the process more
enjoyable.

• If the museum’s activities are suitable, invite a queer artist to

work on LGBTQ perspectives in a more innovative way.

• Collaborate with other museums on integrating LGBTQ

perspectives. Sharing experiences with each other pro-
motes skills and progress.

• Remember that joint projects can include all types of part-

ners and that partners need to consolidate their different
approaches.

• Joint projects do not need to take place in the vicinity of the

museum; they can also involve partners in other parts of the
world. You can make a difference in other places.

48 Marcus Dickey Horley, Curator of Access Projects. Tate Modern. 22 October, 2014. Interview in London.
55

5. 5. The present and the future
– concluding reflections
THE PICTURE THAT EMERGED after working intensely on this
study for a year, is that LGBTQ perspectives in museums
are often something over and above the ordinary. We found
that although the threshold for getting to work on LGBTQ
perspectives is low, these perspectives rarely get integrated
into the museum’s daily activities. Many temporary and pro-
ject-based efforts are made. In order to move towards reflect-
ing and representing society as it is outside the museum, it
is vital to increasingly integrate LGBTQ perspectives into the
day-to-day operations of museums. This should be carried
out with an awareness of the diversity within LGBTQ, which
includes many different identities with regard to sexual ori-
entation, gender identity, and gender expression, and unique
individuals with a broad spectrum of other identities.
Nevertheless, there is an excellent potential for engaging in
LGBTQ perspectives in exhibitions and museums in Sweden.
82 per cent of museums who responded to our telephone sur-
vey answered that they are working actively to include LGBTQ
issues in their operations. Asked to assess their basic skills
in the field, 68 per cent replied that they have basic skills,
and 9 per cent that they are weak. 87 per cent stated that
their museum needed to improve its skills in LGBTQ issues.
Integration of LGBTQ issues in museums has a great devel-
opment potential. The research on which our report is based
gives us clear indications as to where this potential lies. More-
over, we can identify a number of possibilities, as well as prob-
lematic aspects on the road to becoming LGBTQ-conscious
museums and exhibitors.
We note that museums are better and more active in their
external activities than in-house, when it comes to working on
LGBTQ perspectives. This indicates that Swedish museums
are committed to reaching out to people and influencing the
public. But we also need to ask ourselves: what happened to
the idea that all change starts with yourself? Among our inter-
viewees and dialogue participants, we found many, however,
who are convinced that it is good to work on several fields
simultaneously. These need not be mutually exclusive.
CHAPTER 5
Comparing different fields within the museums, 72 per cent
replied that they include LGBTQ perspectives in the produc-
tion and content of exhibitions; this is a higher percentage
than for any other part of the operation. The corresponding
percentage for events and programmes, and guided tours
and visitor activities were 68 and 66 per cent respectively.
Here, our interviews and discussions with museum profes-
sionals around Sweden showed that programmes focusing on
LGBTQ issues were often run by enthusiasts, and that it was
frequently up to the museum educators themselves to include
queer perspectives in their guided tours.
The fact that LGBTQ issues are clearly delegated to enthu-
siasts at Swedish museums explains why LGBTQ-related
initiatives often end with temporary initiatives and separate
projects. Long-term inclusion of LGBTQ perspectives is still
uncommon in Swedish museums. There is a huge untapped
potential here.
Queer tours seem to be a successful concept at Swed-
ish museums. It is often based on a temporary initiative, but
can lead to more long-term results. The initiative for queer
tours is often taken in connection with local Pride festivals.
This appears to be a fairly common first step for museums
to approach LGBTQ perspectives. There are currently some
20 annual Pride festivals in Sweden. Since these appear to
be important partners to Swedish museums, we need to ask
ourselves how we can ensure that the development of LGBTQ
perspectives at Swedish museums is not limited to a handful
of major cities. We need to find approaches that work region-
ally and locally throughout Sweden. One way could be to
take after the UK and USA by introducing an annual official
LGBTQ history month. Another could be to cooperate with
local LGBTQ organisations to produce events and to collect
local history.
Only 33 museums in Sweden have worked with LGBTQ
perspectives in their existing collections; only 30 per cent in
their collecting activities. As the facts presented in this report
demonstrate, this area is not entirely unproblematic. There
57
are many aspects that need to be considered. The current
efforts with regard to LGBTQ in collections, in Sweden and
internationally, are still in the pioneering phase. Therefore, we
need an encouraging dialogue on the topic, rather than dis-
couragement. We need an accepting attitude, where projects
are welcomed, and where you have the right to experiment,
create and innovate. We are learning something new, whether
we are shaping tomorrow’s history or attempting to reinterpret
the history of the past.
What makes the process of applying LGBTQ perspectives to
collections and collecting relevant is, obviously, that LGBTQ
people have been made invisible for many years. We are talk-
ing about a part of the population that is largely unhistoried.
Everyone needs roots. Therefore, this is a dual process. Firstly,
we need to dispel prejudices and reveal taboos. Secondly, we
need to show people and their stories just the way they are.
The process of incorporating LGBTQ perspectives in exhibi-
tions and museums is fundamentally a matter of being honest
and earnest about the way things are and have been. We may
think we have come a long way in Sweden. And relatively, this
may be true. In our dialogues and interviews, however, the
question of self-censorship comes up time and time again. It’s
only human to be afraid, and museums often worry about what
others will think - colleagues, friend organisations, sponsors,
politicians and the public. But what if we are obscuring the
truth every time we censor ourselves?
With long-term perspectives and integrated norm awareness
in mind, we believe that Swedish museums would benefit by
raising these issues to a higher level in their organisation and
incorporating them internally to a larger extent, while maintain-
ing their LGBTQ-related work aimed at the public.
Even if there is a huge demand for skill-building in LGBTQ –
87 per cent of responding museums said that they needed
this – only 40 per cent are currently building their skills with in-
house training. Only 26 per cent of museums responded that
they have guidelines or policy documents on LGBTQ issues
that they would be willing to share with the Swedish Exhibi-
tion Agency. 59 per cent had none, and 15 per cent did not
know. Museums in Sweden have a huge potential in-house to
strengthen organisational values, to increase their knowledge
and awareness of LGBTQ issues, and to acknowledge the
seven forms of discrimination defined in the Discrimination Act
in their policies, strategies and continuous checklists. If they
start by implementing this in-house, and via their entire staff,
this would have an enormous ripple effect throughout the
museum and spread to society in general – and back again.
59
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61
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63
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