LGBTQIA+ Cultural Barometer

OVERVIEW

The LGBTQIA+ Cultural Barometer is a research project aiming to measure, understand and articulate the current climate surrounding LGBTQIA+ cultural programming and creatives in the UK.

We have been hearing from an increasing number of artists, organisations, and venues who are experiencing anti-LGBTQIA+ backlash ranging from hateful comments on social media to in person protests, event cancellation, and even threats against the safety of artists, staff, and audiences. It is our belief that these experiences pose a genuine risk to LGBTQIA+ culture in the UK, impacting us emotionally, physically, financially, and professionally.

The project is being led by Curious Arts in partnership with Marlborough Productions and Fatt Projects. Our intention is to understand the experiences, pressures and impact of backlash, publish a report sharing the findings of this research, and to bring together the wider cultural sector together to consider ways to respond to the findings of the report in 2026.

If you work in the UK’s cultural sector and have experienced anti-LGBTQIA+ backlash in the last five years we want to hear about your experiences so that we can start to build a national picture of what’s happening and think about how we can respond.

TAKE PART IN OUR SURVEY

WHO DO WE WANT TO HEAR FROM? 

Our aim is to build a holistic picture of experiences of anti-lgbtqia+ backlash in the culture sector, and to consider the different ways this will impact different parts of the sector. To ensure this we have identified three key target groups for participation in the research:

  • INDIVIDUAL ARTISTS & CULTURAL PRACTITIONERS

  • LGBTQIA+ LED ORGANISATIONS 

  • NON-LGBTQIA+ LED ORGANISATIONS OR VENUES 

A detailed explanation of how we are defining each of these groups, as well as other key project terms can be found on our project definitions page.

We are also looking for individuals and organisations who might be interested in being interviewed about their experiences and/or becoming a case-study for the project’s final report, you can sign up to be contacted about this at the end of the survey form.

To complete the survey, click here. 

TIMEFRAME: 

The deadline to complete the survey is 5pm Friday 9th January 2026. Access support is available for anyone who may need support to complete the survey, please contact research@curiousarts.org.uk to discuss your needs further.