Welcoming LGBTQ+ Audiences

Are you welcoming LGBTQ+ Audiences?

Within the arts, culture, and heritage sectors, it can be easy to assume your venue is welcoming to people who are lesbian, gay, bi, transgender, or queer + (LGBTQ+) . After all, you’ve most likely never done anything deliberately to exclude LGBTQ+ people. We all want to create a welcoming atmosphere and a safe space for LGBTQ+ people and do our best to meet their needs. In order to truly deliver this, if you are not LGBTQ+ yourself, you need to dig deeper and imagine what 'welcoming’ means to someone who is. But how can we anticipate their needs? And how do we begin asking our LGBTQ+ audience what those needs are?

What does the research say?

Our IMPACT survey is designed to delve into the impact of attending arts and culture on audiences across Northern Ireland. 5% of respondents to our IMPACT survey identified as LGBTQ+, which is more than double the census data for NI. LGBTQ+ community is overrepresented in the arts sector in NI, and they diverge from the average NI audience member in many ways:

• They’re 3 times more likely to be under 40 years old
• They're more likely to be disabled.
• They’re 8% more likely to attend events alone, 23% more likely to attend 6 or more times a year.
• They’re more acutely impacted by the cost-of-living crisis.
• 31% of them earn significantly less than the NI median wage.

They are a unique section of our audiences, who behave in unique ways, and in turn have unique needs.

Welcoming LGBTQ+ Audiences Toolkit

Download our toolkit to examine some of the barriers that LGBTQ+ people face, particularly in Northern Ireland, and find out what practical steps you can take to ensure people feel welcomed in your venue.

Finally, we have a checklist of things to consider when reaching out to LGBTQ+ audiences. It’s not a comprehensive list, and you don’t need to do every single one of these activities, but hopefully it will help get you thinking and walking in this audience’s shoes.

This resource was put together in collaboration with Outburst Arts, the queer arts festival and development initiative in Belfast. We’re keen to improve and expand the resource, so please get in touch with any thoughts you have.

This toolkit was created in 2019. This webpage was updated in August 2024 to include updated data from our latest IMPACT Survey.