LGBTQIA+ heritage interpretation

Simon Banos, Storm Greenwood, E-J Scott, Norena Shopland, Steve Slack, Sabrina Wilekens and Choon Young Tan
January 2026

This guide to interpreting LGBTQIA+ heritage is aimed at interpreters working in any heritage setting, with any budget and level of experience.

It asks those planning interpretation a series of open questions, each intended to prompt positive and constructive conversations with colleagues and collaborators.

The collective who created this guide also hopes that the selection of case studies, alongside suggested further reading, will inspire fresh interpretive ideas and approaches to LGBTQIA+ heritage projects.

If you’re new to working with LGBTQIA+ people and heritage, some of the words and acronyms used may not be familiar. To support this, the guide includes a short glossary of commonly used terms. After reading this guide, we hope interpreters feel more confident that their work is grounded in solid interpretive thinking and informed by best, or even fabulous, practice.

This guide was made possible with the support of the National Lottery Heritage Fund.