TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
British Museum marks Pride month with objects that tell LGBT+ stories
The British Museum has marked Pride season by putting five objects on permanent display that tell the stories of LGBT+ culture through history.
Change Size
The British Museum in London, United Kingdom. (Shutterstock/Claudio Divizia)
T
he British Museum has marked Pride season by putting five objects on permanent display that tell the stories of LGBT+ culture through history, from an ancient Greek coin featuring Sappho to a Roman lamp that depicts two women having oral sex.
The museum, which is currently closed due the coronavirus but usually attracts about 6 million visitors a year, already runs popular LGBT-themed tours.
Stuart Frost, head of interpretation and volunteers, said the addition of the artifacts was part of an ongoing effort to improve the British Museum's representation of LGBT+ history.
"They join a number of other objects on permanent display that collectively demonstrate that same-sex love, desire and gender diversity have always been an integral part of the human experience," he said in a statement.
Read also: Portrayal of LGTBQ characters slowly evolves in K-dramas
The objects also include a 1777 medal depicting an 18th century soldier, diplomat and spy who lived alternately as a man and a woman in France and England.
The most recent is a fake banknote made for a 2008 club event called Gay Shame Goes Macho featuring the image of British gangster Ronnie Kray instead of Queen Elizabeth.
The original 10-shilling note, in circulation in Britain until 1970, was linked to the popular expression "as queer as a nine bob note".
Pressure is growing on cultural and historic institutions to reflect LGBT+ heritage in countries including Britain, whose parliament now runs tours dedicated to the hidden history of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender lives.
