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.