Welcome to the Proud Heritage online museum. It is the first public step in a three year journey to create a national museum reflecting British lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans history and cultural ancestry in all its rich diversity.

On 14 and 15 April 2008 the Natural History Museum teamed up with Proud Heritage to celebrate its launch in the prestigious Earth Gallery and Flett Theatre. The public event on Monday 14 April featured the most in-depth and personal interview Peter Tatchell has ever given. The press briefing on Tuesday 15 April featured endorsements from leading figures including Ben Summerskill of Stonewall. See more here.

This is more than just a staging post to creating a physical presence, though that is our goal. The internet creates new ways to collect, share and exhibit our own life experiences, local history and collective memory. Together. It will help develop professional and community networks, disseminate ideas and good practices, and help build regional collections. But most of all it makes collecting and exhibiting a shared, interactive experience combining documents, objects and user-generated content, like images and video.

The museum is organised very simply into four wings, each containing sections or galleries to explore. You can reach each wing hub at any time by selecting the tab in the navigation bar above.

Here, we launch the first of our initiatives and chart the way forward. As part of our phased site management programme, we are pleased to welcome you to three of the four wings. Proud Nation, and other additional features and galleries, open shortly. Week by week, month by month, watch Proud Heritage grow with the help of LGBT people and organisations, the heritage sector and the general public.

NEWS

Our Proud Heritage exhibition in London's City Hall from 25 June - 11 July marked the start of PRIDE HERITAGE, a joint initiative with Pride London (and partners around the UK) to gather material about Pride and events in the past, from Lesbian Strength to Mardi Gras.

Here is the advert for the big screens in Trafalgar Square during London Pride.

The exhibition explored the shameful way LGBT lives have been neglected in British museums and archives, and explains how everyone can play a part in changing that.

Around 10,000 visitors also saw the hand-embroidered GAY LOVE jump suit worn by Gay Liberation Front member Alan Wakeman for the 1972 Pride March, and a stunning photographic exhibition of Pride through the lens of The Pink Paper’s Scott Nunn.

How can I help? Why are we PROUD? Questions and feedback