Thackray Museum statement on SC ruling

[ThatDaringMintCritic]

Saw this statement on LinkedIn. Wonder how many other institutions are going to pipe up saying that their world view trumps the SC. They also reference the not consulted line. Didn't Amnesty Int present the 'trans argument?'

STATEMENT FROM THE THACKRAY MUSEUM OF MEDICINE FOLLOWING THE SUPREME COURT GENDER RULING

April 24, 2025
The Thackray Museum of Medicine is a safe space where the trans community has always been, and will always be, a welcomed part of our family – through our staff, volunteers, co-producers, the communities we share our building with, our visitors, our professional networks and beyond.
We are disappointed with the Supreme Court’s ruling regarding the legal definition of a ‘woman’ as we believe it has further discriminated against and alienated minority communities, and further eroded equality for all people and everyone’s basic human right to be treated equitably.
We stand with our friends at the Vagina Museum who rightly comment on the judgment that: “sex, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation and other characteristics related to sexual identity exist in various different combinations and their relationship to one another is never clear cut. What is clear to us is that everyone, regardless of their body parts, are deserving of human rights, dignity and the power to identity as they wish to.”
As a museum family, we believe that sex and gender are a spectrum; this a position supported by science. Where people choose to sit on that is their choice and it should be respected. The Thackray is not here to provide authoritative definitions but we are here to provide an open, respectful, safe and inclusive platform for conversation, where trans people are represented in our collection and through our activities.
The trans community have been excluded from consultation around the Supreme Court’s decision which in our eyes has increased ambiguity and not offered clarity. We will not exclude the trans community and our building and our facilities remain open to all. We stand with them in allyship and will continue to embrace and represent minority communities through the lens of medicine, wellbeing and healthcare, so that people can see themselves represented and feel included, to enable a better understanding of each other, and to help shape a better tomorrow for everyone.

No, that would be very much against the law. I think you would have difficulty coming up with a reason to exclude any group from a museum.

"The trans community have been excluded from consultation"

Do they think the Supreme Court use focus groups?

It is very touching how these organisations think that the law is somehow optional. Reality is going to be so painful.

a) I don't think anyone has ever suggested or expected a museum should be single sex, have they? Literally 99% of their service will be completely unaffected by the ruling, why bother with all that waffle, just tell people what you're doing about your toilets and carry on as normal....

b)How do you write a sentence starting, "We stand with our friends at the Vagina Museum...." and expect anything else you say to be taken seriously?

Neither could the vagina museum, last I heard of them they were advertising to borrow someone’s nans garage to house their exhibits. I’m very much not surprised these clowns are friends of the vagina museum.

Oh boy, wait until you see what the Crab Museum in Margate came up with.

There are no binaries in nature and biology

Biological sex itself is a spectrum

Somebody let the intern loose on the Insta account.

The crab museum! I’m weeping! “If you don’t like trans people just be honest”.

Ha, I saw that and my first thought was “alive and dead is pretty fucking binary”.

SO SAY THE THE CRABS

These people are away with the faeries

I’m pretty sure that, whilst crustaceans are generally binary sex but with variations where they can be hermaphrodites or change sex in response to environmental factors, human beings are very much a binary sex species.

I’m slightly surprised that crustaceans can be (so badly) conflated with humans, but maybe needs must when you’re flailing around to convince the gullible that humans can change sex.

and now all I can think of is "friends! friends! vagina friends!" in the voice of the inbetweeners...

🦀

I find this quite scary that a scientific, medical museum thinks it’s ok to to disagree with the law!

Thackray museum had a massive overhaul a few years ago, took out lots of exhibits, skeletons etc and shoved a huge trans section in. Last time we went it was mainly trans items on the upper floor. We'd come to look round a medical museum, not a trans promotion centre.

It was just pointless, really they need to rebrand themselves as what they offer now is nothing like what it offered a few years ago.

There are no binaries in nature and biology

Dead - Alive
Pregnant - not pregnant

Oh that is hilarious 🤣. How embarrassing for them?

Loads of schools go on trips to this museum. They should rethink that.

What an unprofessional and petulant statement.

I suspected this when they had a whole exhibit on the history of periods and didn’t use thr word “woman” once. It made me so mad! A shame as it’s a really good museum on the history of medicine.

we’ll only know if it’s tested in litigation, but all these organisations declaring themselves disappointed that women and same sex attracted people exist in law and have legal protections, is that not discrimination? If I said I didn’t think that people should be protected against racism, wouldn’t that be a toxic environment?

I really enjoyed the Crab Museum in Margate, so their confident scientific illiteracy is depressing.

😂

Those pesky ‘body parts’ getting in the way!

Lunatics, the lot of them

Can’t help but think the vagina museum should be renamed

Though perhaps vaginas have been consigned to history so is apt 🫣

Well you know, they won't feel safe unless places explicitly say so. Apparently.

Similarly it is apparently now very dangerous for a trans person to buy a cup of coffee in Bristol. Unless if course they go into one of these very few selected special places that has vowed to - er, uphold equalties legislation and not discriminate against them? 🤔

https://www.bristol247.com/lgbtq/news-lgbtq/multiple-venues-declare-themselves-safe-spaces-trans-people/

I mean I get it, if you can get someone to amplify the name of your venue for pretty much free, why wouldn't you..After all, who loses ? (--apart that is from trans people who are now faced with a barrage of messages telling them they are now in danger and face threats to their very existence* . Which must be quite stressful I'd have thought?)
*despite the fact that nothing has actually changed except illegal things are more obviously illegal