NEMO’s guideline, authored by Arent Boon, addresses the critical issue of ensuring that all communities feel welcome in the museum, both as visitors and staff, by implementing LGBTQIA+ inclusive policies. Museums can play a unique role in fostering social cohesion, challenging stereotypes, and celebrating diversity. By advancing inclusion and ensuring welcoming spaces for one community, museums take a step towards enhancing inclusivity for all communities.
- Access and read ‘LGBTQIA+ inclusion in European museums: An incomplete guideline'
- Short on time? NEMO has also published a handy standalone 4-page Ethical guideline summarising key insights, focusing on areas such as collections, exhibitions, professional environments, and community partnerships.
The guideline addresses the pressing need for museums to ensure all visitors and staff members feel welcome. By implementing LGBTQIA+-inclusive policies, museums can act as agents of social cohesion, challenge harmful stereotypes, and celebrate diversity. Importantly, advancing inclusivity for one community contributes to broader inclusivity across all groups. This resource builds on insights from museum professionals across Europe, offering tools to support institutions in their journey toward greater inclusiveness.
A collaborative and evolving resource
Since the guidance is ‘incomplete’ and a work in progress, NEMO invites museums and professionals to contribute by sharing policies from their countries and scenarios from their own contexts and experiences. These contributions will be added to a dedicated webpage, ensuring the guideline evolves as a shared resource for the sector.
Key scenarios and Ethical guidance
The guideline features scenarios (pages 14–22) that explore potential challenges, including revising exhibition content, navigating sensitive language, and ensuring infrastructure to ensure that all visitors feel safe and welcome. Each scenario, as well as the overall guideline, underscore the importance of adopting a thoughtful, comprehensive approach that goes beyond surface-level changes.
Additionally, the Ethical Guideline (pages 23–26) help museums develop their inclusive practises and is outlined according to five pillars:
- Working with collections
- Developing exhibitions and displays
- Professional environments
- Interacting with audiences
- Engaging in partnerships with communities
NEMO encourages professionals to pair this resource with ethical guidelines from Trans-Inclusive Culture, which advocate for practices that maximise public benefit, build trust, and positively impact society. Trans-Inclusive Culture inspired the creation of NEMO’s ‘LGBTQIA+ inclusion in European museums: An incomplete guideline’.
