Museum reinstates trans display despite ‘propaganda’ complaints

THE Science Museum has reinstated a transgender exhibit removed following complaints it was ignoring biology.

A cabinet featuring a fake penis and chest-binding equipment was taken down after accusations it was pushing gender-ideological “propaganda”, but it has now been updated. Gender-critical campaigners said the reworked version was “more insidious” and pushes a “sexist view of the world”.

With its original title of “Boy or Girl?” removed, the display cabinet explains why some people transition to their preferred gender, and how puberty blockers are sometimes used to achieve this.

A sign on the display in the Who Am I? gallery, which covers various aspects of biology from DNA to ageing, states “some people’s gender doesn’t match the sex they were born into”.

It adds that “they may make changes to live their life in a way that better aligns to that identity. This is sometimes called transition.”

The cabinet includes personal testimony from a transgender man and woman, who state respectively that they have “experience living as both male and female” and that transition was “liberating”. The updated display includes the testimony of a non-binary person, who describes the “relief ” at “learning living outside the gender binary was possible”.

Displays state that puberty blockers are sometimes used to arrest the onset of adult development for children unsure of their gender identity, adding that such intervention is “complex and has raised debate”.

Helen Joyce, director of advocacy at the campaign group Sex Matters, said: “They have made it less in your face but in some ways that’s more insidious. The fake penises and chest-binding equipment may be out of sight, but so are the obvious warning signs for parents.”

She added: “The display continues to push a sexist view of the world, which suggests that some behaviours are inherently feminine, and that anyone who does them is a woman. This is trading on stereotypes. Likewise with the non-binary testimony: this identity is just not fitting into stereotypes, but it relies on a stereotypical view based on ‘men’s things’ and ‘women’s things’.”