We’re sorry, says museum that called women ‘womxn’

A MUSEUM has been forced to apologise for using the term ‘womxn’ instead of ‘women’ in an attempt to be inclusive of transgender people.

The Wellcome Collection in London used the bizarre term in marketing material for a series of events highlighting ‘the ways that womxn are included, excluded, catalogued and classified’. The term ‘womxn’ is promoted by hardline activists who believe it is less offensive.

The museum’s website linked to an online dictionary that claimed ‘womxn’ is more inclusive of trans women and even ethnic minority women. It also suggested that ‘womxn’ was more empowering because ‘women’ indicates that females are simply ‘an extension of men’.

The museum showcases medical artefacts and other curiosities collected by the pharmaceutical entrepreneur Sir Henry Solomon Wellcome.

Yesterday it faced an online backlash. Author Gregory Norminton said: ‘This is bonkers. Women aren’t even allowed to have an undisfigured word to denote them. Please be consistent and refer to men as mxn.’ Writer Claire King said: ‘This is ridiculous. The word “women” has always included women of colour.’

Yesterday the museum removed all references to ‘womxn’ from its website. A spokesman said: ‘We should not have used it. We’re sorry we made the wrong call.’