The American LGBTQ+ Museum

While other great institutions and organizations exist to investigate, preserve, and tell their histories, we believe a national LGBTQ+ museum is overdue. 

How can LGBTQ+ communities effectively and proudly face the challenges ahead of them without knowing where we have been? How can we control the narrative about who we are, if we don’t have a space to share our stories with the wider community and enshrine our position in American society? The Museum will seek to: 

• Illuminate LGBTQ+ history as integral to human history 
• Preserve artifacts, personal stories, and intangible heritage that are being lost every day 
• Educate our communities on the evolving, complex, and sometimes internally contentious narratives of LGBTQ+ history 
• Provide a physical space for LGBTQ+ people that fosters individual dignity and unifies across generations and differences 
• Support and inspire a new generation of activists to advance social justice 

The Museum is committed to making its permanent home in New York City, a choice that has been confirmed by our research. New York was selected because of its cultural context, its historic significance in the LGBTQ+ rights movement, and its popularity as a tourist destination. 

Vision 

The Museum envisions a world in which all people work toward and experience the joy of liberation. 

Mission 

The American LGBTQ+ Museum preserves, investigates, and celebrates the dynamic histories and cultures of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people, as well as those of the emergent and adjacent identities among their communities. Using exhibitions and programs, the Museum seeks to advance LGBTQ+ equality through the lens of social justice movements, including, but not limited to, race, gender, class, immigration, age, and disability.