We're not sure if this is somehow connected to Big Ben's newly acquired status in the phallus world (are we now officially a well-hung city?) but the quest for Britain's first museum of gayness seems to be gathering pace.
To us this makes sense - we'd like to see somewhere that celebrates the culture, heritage and struggle of the LGBT community, and it makes sense that this is situated in London (home to more gays than just about anywhere else you can mention).
Bringing together insightful and unique pieces of history together in one place to creative a narrative is a great idea that has worked for all sorts of communities (like the rather good Jewish Museum in Barnet, for example). While stories of the odd gay king and lesbian scandal is all well and good, it's the promise of new personal items (films, books, documents) from ordinary gay people received after a call-out across the community that'll be more interesting - for the first time we'll get to see the real nitty-gritty of what it must have been like to live, say, in Oscar Wilde's time as a gay man or woman.
The gay museum isn't going to happen straightaway. Negotiations are still at an early stage, but there's a hope for a site in King's Cross, to open in three year's time. The love that dare not speak its name may be about to find its own home - where it will be heard loud and clear. It'd better have a damned fine coffee shop too, as Londonist will be first in the queue. En route we might even have a nudge and a wink at Big Ben.
Rainbow pic from incurable_hippie's Flickrstream
