SAN FRANCISCO — The OUT Museum, described as the first Chinese queer art museum, opened at the end of May 2026 in San Francisco's Chinatown. The museum was founded by artist and activist Xiangqi Chen.

The museum currently operates only on Saturdays and is located across from the Chinese Historical Society of America Museum. It consists of one room displaying fewer than 12 artworks from artists in China and the Chinese diaspora for its inaugural exhibition, which features photography, zines, and an interactive installation.

Chen launched a Kickstarter campaign for the museum six years prior to its opening, with more than 2,000 people contributing. Chen arrived in the U.S. in 2022 on a J-1 visa as a visiting scholar at Georgetown University. She participated in an exhibition at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco in 2024 and completed a residency with the Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco.

Jenny Leung, executive director of the Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco, said in an email, "The organization was proud to be the incubating space for the OUT Museum prototype." Chen said via interpreter, "Here in San Francisco Chinatown, I still continued my journey and met so many like-minded community members and friends."

Dixon Ngai, a Hong Kong-born artist, contributed a hand-painted Chinese porcelain wine pot to the exhibition, inspired by the Cantonese opera "Di Nü Hua," or "The Flower Princess." "More people to see our voice," Ngai said. "So, we are very proud to be ourselves."

Helen Zia, an author, activist, and museum advisory board member, referenced past resistance to LGBTQ+ visibility. "There were Asian churches who would have demonstrations week after week with thousands of people just condemning same-sex couples," Zia said. She added, "We got people yelling at us, spitting."

The museum operates as a bilingual institution. San Francisco's Chinatown is the oldest Chinatown in the United States. In 2008, the California Supreme Court rejected a ban on same-sex marriage. Chen previously operated a grassroots center for lesbians in Shanghai. Regarding that period, Chen said, "From 2013 to 2015, that kind of art exhibition by queer artists (could) exist, but only if you don't explicitly show or tell the audience that your work or yourself identify as queer or LGBTQ." She added, "But not nowadays. I think completing this opening will be a start for me. It's not the end. We still have a long way to go."