HISTORY buffs have rubbished claims that the National Trust is biased towards heterosexuals.

Rachel Lennon, its national public programmes curator, claimed stately homes have too much info about marriages, inheritance and kids.

She said “same-sex desire and gender diversity have generally been given little space”.

But Ben Cowell, director general of the Historic Houses Association, said the Trust risks “ignoring the realities of history” if it changes the details on display.

He said: “Succession may strike many today as an outmoded idea, but without it many of the Trust’s country house properties would simply not exist. The past, we should remember, is a foreign country — they do things differently there.”

Ms Lennon was in charge of the Trust’s Prejudice And Pride series of exhibitions on LGBT history in 2017.

It marked 50 years since the decriminalisation of homosexuality but caused controversy when a deceased country house owner was “outed” in a short film.

She said this week: “In the historic house, there remains an emphasis on the experiences of ‘the family’, often resulting in a narrative that privileges heterosexual lives.”

The National Trust, which owns sites such as Bodium Castle, said: “We don’t favour any viewpoint when telling the stories of places.”