This is so head slappingly stupid that you could be forgiven for thinking it couldn’t possibly be real. But it is real, because the world is sometimes a very dumb, garbage place. But I suppose in its own way this bout of ridiculousness is a fine example of why we need a human rights museum to begin with. Maybe we should build a second one and make the people running this one go there?
Canadian Museum for Human Rights employees say they were told to censor gay content for certain guests
Current and former employees of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg say its management would sometimes ask staff not to show any gay content on tours at the request of certain guests, including religious school groups.
The employees say the practice was common for at least two years and in one case a staff member from the LGBT community was asked to physically block a same-sex marriage display from a passing group.
Late Thursday, after this story was originally published, museum CEO John Young said he would not be seeking reappointment when his term ends in August. He made the announcement to staff in an internal email that was obtained by CBC News.
The email addressed this story and said the idea the museum has been intentionally hiding LGBT content is painful.
“While this is not the museum’s policy, clearly there have been instances that are at odds with our ‘come and see approach.’ That is a failure on our part, and as the head of the museum, accountability for these shortcomings at the museum lie on my shoulders, and I acknowledge the consequences that follow from that.”
Officials with the museum confirmed that they did indeed used to allow people to request certain things be hidden, but say that this is no longer the case and hasn’t been since mid 2017.
They have also hired a lawyer with expertise in women’s studies, black studies and mediation to lead a review of racist and discriminatory practices in the organization, which is a completely normal thing that a museum of human rights should need to do.
Some days, you guys…some days. Jesus Christ.