The LGBTQ+ equality movement and the agency of museums

As non-heteronormative conceptualizations of gender and sexuality increasingly permeate public and political debate and impact diverse governmental policies, cultural institutions internationally increasingly engage with queer histories and culture (Adair and Levin 2020, Sandell 2016, Sullivan and Middleton 2019). In the context of increased understanding of the responsibility and potential for museums, heritage and galleries to not only engage with challenging or contested histories but to play an active and purposeful role in tackling social inequalities, how do the queer narratives they produce reciprocally intertwine with and potentially influence public opinion and discourses on LGBTQ+ rights in the wider ethical, political and social realm?
The proposed research will create a framework to critically evaluate the potential of cultural institutions to contribute to the advancement and enrichment of public and political debate on LGBTQ+ rights. This will be achieved through a grounded investigation of three case studies in the Netherlands where the issue of LGBTQ+ rights continues to attract political and public attention. Its varied actors (public bodies, educational institutions, museums, archives, and libraries) also increasingly address gender and sexuality from queer and post-colonial perspectives, allowing for an intersectional analysis that considers the specific challenges faced by minorities within the LGBTQ+ community.
The social embeddedness of cultural institutions is acknowledged by professional bodies (UNESCO, 2014; Museums Association, 2015; ICOM, 2003) and academic studies (Chynoweth, 2020). There is, however, a lack of empirical research concerning if and how cultural practices influence the socio-political context within which they are formed and act (Message, 2014; Sandell, 2017). My empirical research will address the cultural institution not in isolation, but rather in relation to the emergence and consolidation of LGBTQ+ human rights movements. It will occupy a gap in knowledge concerning how the assumed agency of cultural institutions works in practice.
My three case study institutions each have a sustained engagement with queer themes that impacts their public activities and informs their socio-cultural mandate. I will analyse their internal policies, their relationships with constituencies (Byrne et al. 2018) and carry out interviews with key actors in the LGBTQ+ equality movement (activists, artists, public bodies, human rights agencies). Combined analysis of these findings will allow me to evaluate how cultural institutions impact, and are impacted by, the advance of LGBTQ+ rights within self-organised activism, artistic practice and public policy.
The overarching aim of the research is to uncover and to analyse these reciprocal influences, and will be achieved by realising the following objectives.
1. Identify transformative museum practices (Garner et al. 2016) in UK/Europe on LGBTQ+ themes that reveal the socio-political agency of culture.
2. Establish a framework to analyse these practices in the broader context, drawing from queer theories (Browne and Nash 2010), museums-, human rights- (Nicol et al. 2018) and social movement studies.
3. Carry out three case studies, using interviews and archival research to study internal policies and stakeholder relationships.
4. Identify key actors in the LGBTQ+ equality movement working both in The Netherlands and internationally and conduct interviews to establish how they perceive the potential of institutions to advocate and advance LGBTQ+ rights.
5. Develop a methodological framework drawing from assemblage theories (Deleuze and Guattari 1980, DeLanda 2006) to trace the connections between these diverse actors' actions.
The proposed study focuses on the Netherlands and LGBTQ+ rights, but its concern with cultural agency in practice is relevant to other national contexts and to other social issues.