Prior to gaining its own location, Queer Britain staged occasional exhibitions in temporary locations. In 2018 it staged an exhibition
Our Naked Skin in collaboration with the
Salisbury Arts Centre including a filmed
oral history project, Virtually Queer. In summer 2019 it staged an exhibition on
Chosen Family in
Mercer Street Showrooms,
Covent Garden. Queer Britain opened as a physical museum on May 5, 2022, in advance of the 50th anniversary of Britain's first
gay pride march. The introductory display, 'Welcome to Queer Britain', consisted of material from the museum's photography archive. The first full exhibition, 'We Are Queer Britain', occupying all three galleries, opened in July. The exhibition won Best Small Museum Project 2022, awarded by The Museums Association as part of their Museums Change Lives campaign. When not on display, the museum's collection is housed at the
Bishopsgate Institute. The museum closed in November 2025 for refurbishing, reopening in February 2026. A new collections gallery was added, with collections branching off into six major themes: •
Resist! •
Club Kids •
Queer Creativity •
Body and Mind •
Live, Laugh, Love •
The World Around Us These new collections display new materials, including stories on the
Black Lesbian and Gay Centre,
Club Kali, the
Women's liberation music movement, the
UK AIDS Memorial Quilt, and the relationship between
Bloomsbury group members
Lytton Strachey and
Dora Carrington. New special exhibitions unveiled in February 2026, titled "Queer Print" and "40 Years of
BFI Flair." == See also ==