ABSTRACT
This chapter draws attention to the distorting effects that certain models drawn from contemporary identity politics generate in museums, especially in exhibitions with a historical focus, and examines the role played by concepts of 'public opinion' on representations of gender and sexuality in museum spaces. One response to the marginalization of queer perspectives in museums has been to make a bid for increased inclusivity. This might entail reaching out to a perceived lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) demographic in the museum-going public, for instance by staging exhibitions or hosting events centered specifically on LGBT identities, rights, histories, and political struggles. Rather than simply pandering to a minoritizing logic of tolerance and inclusivity, queer perspectives potentially take aim at the very climate that imagines museums and other educational spaces as guardians of "public decency" and the status quo.
