Wiltshire Museum has received funding from Wessex Museums and the National Lottery Heritage Fund for an LGBTQIA+ project that will run until early January 2025.

This project will involve a number of fun LGBTQIA+ workshops/social events for adults, including a badge making and collaging session. Excitingly, we will also be working with the community to produce a booklet exploring the experiences of LGBTQIA+ people in the Wiltshire area through oral history recordings, stories, photography, collage and more.

There are a number of ways to get involved with the project, including:

• Joining our small LGBTQIA+ advisory group to discuss ideas for events and the booklet, through in-person and/or online meetings. You will also get the chance to explore Wiltshire Museum’s collections through a queer lens.
• Sharing your story of growing up and/or living as an LGBTQIA+ person in Wiltshire by getting your oral history recorded at the Museum.
• Sharing your story by submitting and/or donating photographs/objects to the Museum.
• Joining us at a series of events/workshops to participate in fun queer crafts, and possibly contribute (a copy of) your work to the
  project!

Please contact us at Friday.Schoemaker@wiltshiremuseum.org.uk if you would like to get involved with the LGBTQIA+ project at Wiltshire Museum, share your ideas, or if you have any further questions.

Using the word 'Queer'

Wiltshire Museum recognises that the word “queer” has a complex, painful history and can be uncomfortable and divisive. We have decided to use the word “queer” as it has been reclaimed in recent years and is now widely used within the LGBTQIA+ community and academia as an umbrella term for non-heterosexual/cisgender and gender nonconforming people. For us, “queer” is the most inclusive term we can use, and we use it as a positive word, not seeking to erase or disregard anyone’s identity and history but instead aiming to reflect the diversity of the LGBTQIA+ community.

Wiltshire Museum is committed to promoting equality, diversity and inclusion and we take seriously our responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010.