Katie Cassels, Families and Young People Manager at Royal Museums Greenwich

Over the last five years at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, we have embedded programming by and for the LGBTQ+ community. The inclusion of a family focused programme has formed a significant part of this approach.

To begin our work, we developed partnerships with organisations such as METRO and Mermaids UK to ensure that our projects are created with the communities they seek to engage. This route has produced a successful programme of events, as well as co-curated objects.

In our Sea Things gallery, the Sea People bust was created with young people from Mermaids UK to demonstrate and platform LGBTQ+ communities whose presence is not demonstrated within the bust collection.

LGBT+ History Month is an important month for platforming these histories and, amongst a whole host of talks, takeovers and other events, is the Out at Sea Family Festival. Held in February half term and the culmination of seven days of Rainbow Week activities, the festival is the centre of our LGBTQ+ family-focused programming. From workshops that draw on the LGBTQ+ histories in the collection, to productions by drag performers and members of the LGBTQ+ community, the festival creates an open space for all families to engage with LGBTQ+ histories and to have the LGBTQ+ community placed front and centre at the museum.

Whilst LGBT+ History Month provides a wonderful opportunity to platform LGBTQ+ histories and communities, we want to ensure that programming takes place across the year as part of an integrated programme. Our programming takes an intersectional and intergenerational approach to ensure that the museum is accessible, inclusive and relevant to all communities.

The LGBTQ+ Family Network is one element of programming that runs across the year to create a consistently accessible and inclusive environment for LGBTQ+ families. The sessions invite local LGBTQ+ families to drop in, participate in a creative activity with an artist, and, most importantly, to meet and socialise with other LGBTQ+ families. The sessions provide a safe space where connections can be made, advice sought, and same-sex families usualised.

The LGBTQ+ Family Network and the regularity of the sessions has also aided in developing a sense of trust, providing the group with a greater sense of ownership over not only the network, but also the museum. This has led the group to input ideas into programming for events such as the Out at Sea Family Festival and Pride, as well as into what the next Network meet up should involve.

One family said: “It’s so important for kids to see a reflection of their family life elsewhere, and so the family network sessions are very appreciated.”

Museums are public spaces and as such they should be spaces where communities see themselves reflected and spaces where they feel comfortable and welcome spending time. The programme of LGBTQ+ workshops, events and talks across the year, are helping to do just this.