New York’s oldest museum will soon expand to incorporate a museum dedicated to LGBTQ history. Representatives for the New-York Historical Society, established in 1804, announced earlier this month that the museum will expand by 70,000 square feet to include space for The American LGBTQ+ Museum. The new museum is slated to open its doors in 2024 — though it has already begun hosting digital programs — and will be New York City’s first museum dedicated to global, national and local LGBTQ history and culture. Museum leaders hope to begin staging physical exhibitions next year, in partnership with the Historical Society and other cultural institutions throughout the city, according to Richard Burns, The American LGBTQ+ Museum’s board chair. Through exhibitions, contributions from scholars, public programming and collaborations with other LGBTQ institutions, the museum will aim to act as a “school for activists” by highlighting “the lives of queer people who are not ordinarily reflected in our cultural institutions today,” Burns said. That means spotlighting the stories of those who have lived through decades of LGBTQ struggles, activists currently pushing to change laws for LGBTQ people, and transgender youths being targeted by bills in statehouses across the country, he added.