WHERE'S THE T? TRANSGENDER INCLUSION IN THE MUSEUM

Not Your Average Cistory | Amelia Smith

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Last year, the Canadian Museums Association (CMA) released a draft document that attempted to address the issue of LGBTQ2+ inclusion within Canadian museums. Among the flaws of the document, one stands out from the rest, hitting at a deeper problem that runs throughout. In the section entitled “Self Identification,” the CMA seems to believe that simply including more diverse options in collecting data about employees will lead to more diverse results. Unfortunately though, there is a concept in the trans community called “being stealth.” Being stealth is when a trans person does not announce their identity, sometimes for safety reasons. If the work environment does not appear safe for the trans employee to come out, they will not announce their identity.

This gets to the root of the problem with the CMA’s inclusive policies; they deal with the top down, the hiring policies, the health benefits, data collection, but they ignore the culture that is already in place. There is very little that would let a museum know how they can help a trans employee directly.

A Transgender Pride flag flying on Transgender Day of Remembrance. Source.

In my conversations with trans museum professionals, one of the largest issues they faced was the emotional labour required to be open and out in the workplace. This is especially true for non-binary individuals, those whose identity goes beyond the traditional ‘male’ or ‘female’. For many trans people, it falls upon them to educate those around them about their identity and what it means to be trans. Being in an industry that is often contract based, a trans individual must begin the whole educating process anew with each new job. This on its own can feel like a whole other job on top of the one they were hired for. And that gets incredibly exhausting.

Another area that the CMA drops the ball on is with pronouns and how they discuss them. Everyone has a pronoun, but for most, it is just presumed based upon how they express themselves. In the CMA document, pronouns are only mentioned to say not to presume during the hiring process, when talking to the public, or when an employee needs to change their information. There are many more ways that pronouns can find their way into the workplace beyond these, and many can very easily be introduced to help a trans individual feel more welcome. One such suggestion is to normalize the idea of giving someone your pronouns. This should be done not only for trans employees, but for everyone so that it does not single out the trans employees. It can be as little as including your pronouns in your email signature, which is a practice that is becoming more and more common. This small act shows trans employees that you are thinking critically about the nature of pronouns. It can have a really big effect.

Buttons such as these can be very good to announce one’s pronouns to those around them. Source.

These are only a couple of the (many) issues with the CMA’s recent LGBTQ2+ inclusion document and ways that museums can try to be more inclusive of their employees. To find out the areas that an institution needs to improve upon, it would be best to talk to any trans employees the institution might have and listen to what they have to say. It is not enough to just assume what they need, adding their voice to the conversation is a must.