LGBTQ+ Museums Around the World

It’s often said that you have to know where you came from in order to know where you’re going and as a community, LGBTQ+ people have precious few resources to study that history. New York City, unsurprisingly has more of these resources than most with The American LGBTQ+ Museum slated to open in 2024 along with the two sites listed below. And of course, there is the Queer Britain museum that opened earlier this year. Other than those, there are but a handful of institutions worldwide that are explicitly dedicated to our history. The following is a roundup of a few of the best LGBTQ+ museums in operation today.

Lesbian Herstory Archives (New York City)

The Lesbian Herstory Archives was founded in the 1970s when a group of women at the Gay Academic Union realized that lesbian history was ‘disappearing as quickly as it was being made.’ Their mission is to gather and preserve records of lesbian lives and activities so that future generations of women will have a historical record.

The Archives function as a community center and museum. Their collection consists of over 11,000 books by and/or about lesbians documenting cultural, political, and artistic history, 1,300 periodical, newsletter, and magazine titles related to the lesbian experience dating back to the 1940s, a cataloged collection of more than 2,000 buttons and pins dating back to 1973, an expansive video library, historical photos, political banners used for protest, over 1,000 slogan t-shirts and so much more.

Schwules Museum (Berlin)

The Schwules Museum (Translation: Gay Museum) started in 1984 with a single exhibit at the Berlin Museum: Eldorado – the History, Everyday Life and Culture of Homosexual Women and Men 1850-1950. It attracted 40,000 visitors and was just as popular as it was controversial. Out of its success, the Schwules Museum was created in late 1985 and has been operating since 1986, functioning as a library, archive, and museum of queer history.

The museum archive has periodicals dating from 1896 in addition to an impressive collection of photographs, videos, films, sound recordings, autographs, and artworks. The library holds approximately 20,000 books on queer culture and history. They also have their expansive ‘HIVstory’ which is a Berlin-specific oral history of the AIDS crisis as told through recorded interviews with contemporary witnesses who talk about their different experiences during the crisis, their life with HIV/AIDS, and their political and social involvement in the field.

GLBT Historical Museum & Archives (San Francisco)

Founded in 1985, the GLBT Historical Society is recognized internationally as a leader in the field of LGBTQ public history. Their operations are centered around two sites: the GLBT Historical Society Museum, located in the heart of San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood; and the Dr. John P. De Cecco Archives and Research Center, open to researchers in the Mid-Market district.

Some highlights of their permanent collection include a segment of one of the original eight-color rainbow flags from 1978 and personal belongings from Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California. Milk was an elected member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. They also have a wide assortment of photos, documents, and artifacts that cover over a century of amazing stories of everyday queer life among the diverse populace of San Francisco.

 The Australian Queer Archives (Melbourne)

Australia Lesbian & Gay Archives (AQuA) collects, preserves, and celebrates material from the lives and experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender diverse, intersex, queer, Brotherboy, and Sistergirl (LGBTQ+) Australians since 1978.

They have the world’s largest archive of historical Australian LGBTQ+ material as well as Australia’s largest international LGBTQ+ collection, comprised of the works of various artists and performers, papers of significant queer Australians, records of community organizations, and cultural memorabilia like flyers, matchbooks, and souvenirs commemorating significant queer spaces and events.

They make their collection accessible to researchers, cultural institutions, and all others who want to learn more about the LGBTQ+ communities. They also publish books, support educational conferences and seminars, loan parts of their collection to other institutions, run a Queer History Walk during the Midsumma Festival, and contribute to other non-profits similar to themselves.

The National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame (Chicago)

The National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame was established in 2013 to honor LGBT players and organizations “whose achievements and efforts have enhanced sports and athletics for the gay and lesbian community.” It was established shortly after Jason Collins became the first openly gay NBA player. It is located within the LGBT Center in the Northalsted neighborhood of Chicago. Notable inductees include tennis superstars Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova in addition to figure skater Johnny Weir, diver Greg Louganis, and the International Gay Rodeo Association.

Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art (New York City)

The Leslie-Lohman Museum of Art collects, preserves, and exhibits the artwork of LGBTQ+ artists, whose work pertains to the queer experience. It is the only art museum in the world that is exclusively dedicated to the LGBTQ+ community. Founded by Charles Leslie and Fritz Lohman, the museum traces back to 1969 when the pair held their first queer art exhibition in their SoHo loft. From there their collection grew throughout the ’70s and during the ’80s. They rescued a lot of artwork from artists dying of AIDS, whose families out of shame or ignorance wanted to destroy their work.

To date, the museum has approximately 30,000 pieces in its collection. This includes works from such revered artists as Andy Warhol, Tom of Finland, Jean Cocteau, Catherine Opie, and many others.