'Trans inclusion' guidance for museums labelled 'high risk'

[ArabeIIaScott]

https://www.artsprofessional.co.uk/magazine/article/trans-inclusion-guidance-museums-high-risk

Article from Denise Fahmy and Audrey Ludwig - 'Trans Inclusive Culture does not provide the sound advice it purports. It could even expose museums to legal challenge. Ethical frameworks are valuable only if they are intellectually honest, and that requires discussion - even with those with whom you disagree.'


Denise Fahmy is a former Relationship Manager at Arts Council England.
Audrey Ludwig is a specialist Discrimination Law Solicitor.

[Chariothorses]

I got emailed a feedback form following a museum visit a few weeks ago- you had to get past the 'Equality Monitoring' questions to complete the rest- and if you can't 'identify with a gender' you couldn't feed back at all. So the only members of the public they get feedback from are the ones who believe they have a gender identity- which like many women I don't.

The toilet issue referred to in the article is just the start - in reality the phrase 'trans inclusion' just means excluding women and girls as far as possible. It's scary MPs of all parties have been so weak in tackling this misogynistic ideology at all levels of society, especially in organisations that are government funded.

[ArabeIIaScott]

the only members of the public they get feedback from are the ones who believe they have a gender identity

🙄

[Bosky]

Interesting.

Trans-Inclusive Culture: Guidance on advancing trans inclusion for museums, galleries, archives and heritage organisations

https://le.ac.uk/rcmg/research-archive/trans-inclusive-culture

You can download the Guidance from that page - the Guidance is dated Sept 2023.

(There is a popup that makes it look like you first have to answer questions about where you live, your role and how you will use the Guidance plus a tick-box to say that you agree to "The Privacy Policy of the University of Leicester". However, if you select "Skip" it takes you straight to the download.)

In the middle of the article there is a link to download a 26 Sept 2023 document that appears to be a response to the Denise Fahmy & Audrey Ludwig article without mentioning it by name:

There is plenty of room in museums for all of us
A statement in response to recent media coverage of Trans-Inclusive Culture 
Suzanne MacLeod, Richard Sandell, Sharon Cowan, E-J Scott
26 September 2023 

READ: There is plenty of room in museums for all of us – A statement in response to recent media coverage of Trans-Inclusive Culture (PDF, 130KB)

This statement says, "On 7th January we launched Trans-Inclusive Culture: Guidance on advancing trans inclusion for museums, galleries, archives and heritage organisations"

So why is the Guidance dated September 2023 rather than January 2023?

------

Guidance created by
Suzanne MacLeod, Richard Sandell, Sharon Cowan, E-J Scott, Cesare Cuzzola and Sarah Plumb

"Thank you to Sean Morris for advising on compliance with the applicable UK legislation.

We are grateful to Nicole Busby, Ebony Harding, Kids in Museums, Jenny Mabbott, Nicole Moolhuijsen, Angie Pears and Patrick Ward for reading the draft guidance and ethical framework and for their insightful comments and additions. We have also benefited greatly from the work of individuals and organisations working in this field over a number of years including, the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, American Alliance of Museums’ LGBTQ+ Alliance Task Force for Transgender Inclusion, Sean Curran, Margaret Middleton, The Trevor Project, Gendered Intelligence, Stonewall, and Galop."

p42
This guidance is supported by the following culture sector organisations.

Collectively they represent and advocate for thousands of museums, galleries, archives and heritage organisations and culture professionals; they recognise and award world-leading excellence; and they set standards, develop advice and guidance used by staff, volunteers, freelancers, leaders and trustees across the UK and internationally to create inclusive experiences for many millions of visitors.

Supporting organisations include: Acesso Cultura; Association of Independent Museums (AIM); Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (ALVA); Archives and Records Association (ARA); Arts Marketing Association (AMA); Engage; Fundación TyPA; Group for Education in Museums (GEM); The Heritage Alliance; Heritage Volunteering Group (HVG); ICOM ICME (International Committee for Museums and Collections of Ethnography); ICOM ICOFOM (International Committee for Museology); ICOM UK (International Council of Museums UK); ICOM ICFA (International Committee for Museums and Collections of Fine Arts); Kids in Museums; Museums + Heritage Advisor; Museums Association (MA); Office de coopération et d’information muséales (OCIM) supported by the Ministry of Higher Education and Research and the University of Burgundy; South and East Museums Federation (SEMFed); and Scottish Museums Federation (SMFed). 

--

ISBN: 978-1-898489-52-8 (couldn't find in any ISBN search engine)

This work was supported by the Economic and Social Research
Council [ES/X004732/1]
https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=ES%2FX004732%2F1#/tabOverview

[ArabeIIaScott]

You think it's been updated, Bosky? I wonder.

[Bosky]

I think, after another root around, that the "launch" on 7 Jan 2023 must have been to launch the start of the project, rather than to launch publication of the Guidance.

"Current News" for the Univ of Leicester RCMG has info about how to get involved in developing the Guidance. The article is not dated but the deadline for involvement is 19 June 2023.

Guidance on trans inclusive practice

The Research Centre for Museums and Galleries is developing guidance on trans inclusive practice in museums, galleries and heritage organisations. To ensure that the guidance is as useful as possible, we are inviting anyone working with or in cultural organisations (staff, volunteers, freelancers) to let us know where they need support and what specific issues they would like us to include.

Full article archived:

https://archive.ph/wirb7

There are two photos at the bottom of this page captioned, "Trans Inclusive Culture Launch at Bishopsgate Institute, photos by Liz Isles":

Trans-Inclusive Culture: Guidance on advancing trans inclusion for museums, galleries, archives and heritage organisations

https://le.ac.uk/rcmg/research-archive/trans-inclusive-culture

I could not find anything on the Bishopsgate Institute website, where the archive of the "Museum of Transology" is located. The Bishopsgate Institute Calendar does not seem to show past events so no clues there either.

The Bishopsgate Institute has some interesting archives:

https://www.bishopsgate.org.uk/archives

Sarah Stuart (The Lies They Tell) has "curated" some doozies from their archives!

THE ARCHIVES OF BISHOPSGATE INSTITUTE

Lies attended Franko B’s Archive launch …

Content warning: Discussion of fetish and upsetting imagery

https://the-lies-they-tell.org/2022/12/31/archive-launch-franko-b/

[ArabeIIaScott]

Fab, thanks for all that info. I appreciate some of it more than other bits!