Queer Britain to Reopen Galleries

This article was written by Queer Britain.

Queer Britain, the UK’s national LGBTQ+ museum, reopens on 4th February with all new displays across its galleries.

Queer Britain announces its 2026 programme, as the UK’s only museum dedicated to LGBTQ+ history prepares to reopen on 4th February with all new displays across its four galleries. 

Relaunching during LGBTQ+ History Month, the exhibitions showcase over 200 objects, from photographs and posters to clothes and banners

The new collections gallery tells stories of queer life, love, protest and artistry through six themes: 

Resist! looks at efforts to organise against oppression and will focus on the story of The Black Lesbian and Gay Centre, which was an integral contributor to the LGBTQ+ activism of the 1980s and 1990s. Co-curated by filmmaker Veronica McKenzie and a group of community members, it includes rarely seen posters and pamphlets.

Club Kids celebrates alternative ways of coming together and will open with a co-curated showcase of Club Kali – the UK’s first ever space welcoming all LGBTQ+ people to connect and celebrate their diverse South Asian heritage.

Queer Creativity focuses on artistic pursuits and will tell the story of the Women’s Liberation music-making movement of the 1970’s and 1980’s which included major contributions from lesbian, bisexual, queer and trans women.

Body and Mind reclaims narratives around LGBTQ+ experiences of health, illness and disability and will display a panel from the UK AIDS Memorial Quilt, part of the largest community arts project in history.

Live, Laugh, Love tells stories of domesticity and relationships and will focus on Bloomsbury group members Lytton Strachey and Dora Carrington whose tight, loving bond included comfortably sharing boyfriends.

The World Around Us explores the wider place of queer life in society and will open with the story of Justin Fashanu, the first Black footballer to have a £1 million transfer fee, who announced that he was gay in 1990 after being threatened with being outed by the press.

The gallery themes have been informed by visitor feedback and the individual stories within each will change on a rolling basis, maximising the museum’s ability to represent the diversity of the LGBTQ+ community.