LGBTQIA+ Good Practice Guide
This short guide is based on the report–LGBTQ+ Good Practice Guide for UK Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums –produced in conjunction with the Museums Association and Arts Council England
Curious Arts is developing an LGBTQIA+ heritage work in the North East, and has co-ordinated the region’s first meeting of the new North East LGBTQIA+ Heritage Network. Over the next three years we have ambitious plans to work with the region’s heritage sector to put into practice the key policies and projects that are outlined in the Good Practice Guide. LGBTQIA+ people and cultures have existed throughout time. The material, social and linguistic culture of LGBTQIA+ people is embedded within the objects of our historical collections. Like the moves towards the decolonisation of our heritage, undoing many years of heteronormative collecting and curating can be rewarding as well as challenging.
Curious Arts is inviting the region’s heritage sector to partner with us in this work.
Partners can work with us to:
• Develop a public statement on equality and diversity, and make sure the statement is on display for staff, volunteers and the public. Your statement should include a clear position on zero tolerance for homophobic, transphobic or biphobic language. We can work with you if your organisation receives push back or hostility as a result of making the statement.
• Use inclusive language and listen to how people self describe their identity and the pronouns they use. Reflecting their choice of language shows support and acceptance. Take care to ensure any language used and behaviours exhibited do not assume people are heterosexual or cisgender. It is possible to do this by using gender neutral language. Our training sessions can help you with this.
• Set Up an LGBTQIA+ Working Group. Having a staff and volunteer network provides a valuable forum for issues to be discussed, opportunities for peer support and networking as well as a sounding board for proposals for the development of LGBTQIA+ focussed programming. Through this group it is possible to develop sustainable relationships with local LGBTQIA+ social and support groups.
• Identify stories from within your collection that speak to diverse LGBTQIA+ histories and themes and post them onto your website or create a small trail based around the objects. It does not have to be extensive; some museums have simple trails using only a handful of objects. Curious Arts can help you with this work, and share best practice from our work with museums around the country.
• Get Involved with LGBT+ History Month. Curious can help you set up activities from simple talks to LGBTQIA+ living archive days. Setting up talks and inviting speakers to talk on LGBTQ+ history is an easy way to start engaging with the LGBTQ+ communities. Dedicated to ‘educating out prejudice’, LGBT History Month has been celebrated annually in February since 2005. Curious Arts has helped a number of museums across the North with Museum Takeovers for families, and late night events for adult LGBTQIA+ audiences; these are just two ways we can work with you to develop new audiences.
• As a means of ensuring year round engagement, Curious Arts can provide diversity and inclusion training as part of your existing training, or as stand-alone training event for your staff and volunteers.
• Flying the Rainbow Flag during LGBT History Month or Pride Month is a simple, yet highly effective way of showing support for the LGBTQIA+ community in your area. Do not underestimate the powerful impact of this visible gesture which can signal acceptance, celebration and welcome to LGBTQIA+ communities.
• Having information about local LGBTQIA+ community social or support groups creates a welcoming atmosphere for LGBTQIA+ visitors. Similarly, if staff are able to wear rainbow pins or badges on their lanyards it is possible for them to show solidarity as allies or members of the LGBTQIA+ communities.
• Curious Arts organises Pride events across the region. You can sponsor Pride in your local area, have a community stall at your local Pride, and support your staff and volunteers to march in Pride parades. This allows you to step out of heritage venues and directly engage with the diverse LGBTQIA+ communities in your local area.
• Monitor Your Reach and Progress. Consider including questions that allow the collection of information about the sexual orientation and gender of staff and volunteers as well as visitors. This may be done in HR forms as well as feedback forms. It is important to allow optional disclosure, be clear how information will be stored and ensure information collected is kept strictly confidential. Curious Arts can help you in developing questions and seeking information in a way that is comfortable for everyone and is not too complex or alienates people. All public sector bodies have an Equality Duty under the Act which requires them to take into account the needs of people whose identity is covered by one or more of the nine characteristics protected by the Act. This means that collecting demographic data is a prerequisite to fulfilling this legal duty.
If you would like to be kept informed about Curious Arts Heritage work, please fill out our online interest form or get in touch at hello@curiousarts.org.uk Click here to complete our interest form
