Opening of UK’s first-ever LGBTQ+ museum is the ‘start of something beautiful’
London.The UK’s first Pride March, in 1972, took place just a few miles away between Hyde Park and Trafalgar Square.The march is depicted among the photographs within the Queer Britain museum, along with other key moments spanning the UK’s LGBTQ+ history.The museum’s contents are tightly interwoven with its staff.Front of House manager Stephanie Stevens initially joined Queer Britain as a volunteer, desperate to get ‘involved in any way’.She told Metro.co.uk: ‘As a trans woman, queer identifying, this was so important to me, I wanted to get involved in any way.‘Having an entire space dedicated to LGBTQ+ history is just amazing.‘It’s so normal to have to be grateful to be in the background of some other space, hidden away in a back room.‘To have our own museum is long overdue, it’s something we’ve needed for a long time.‘We’re slap-bang in the middle of London, standing shoulder to shoulder with huge institutions.’The aptly named ‘Welcome to Queer Britain’ display is the inagural exhibition for the museum.Lasting until July and spread over several rooms, it features key images from throughout the history of UK’s battle for LGBTQ+ rights.Rickshaw rider charged £180 for three minutes - and now he's got a £1,000 fineWhat I Rent: Oriana, £2,000 a month for a one-bedroom flat in Canning Town, LondonChef sacked for not washing hands after being caught 'kissing and fondling' waiterSection 28, the law which prohibited the ‘promotion of homosexuality’ by councils, introduced by the Thatcher Government in 1988, is featured.However images of more joyful occasions, such as the legalisation of equal marriage in England, Wales and Scotland – and later Northern Ireland – are also depicted.The exhibit also features key figures such as.
