A man won a discrimination decision after being refused to a ladies lounge in a Tasmanian art gallery; it has raised questions about the law — and how men-only clubs can exist.
The Tasmania n Civil and Administrative Tribunal has found Mona discriminated when it refused a man entry to its women-only Ladies Lounge in Hobart.
The Ladies Lounge features artwork in a small private room enclosed by green curtains, with only those who identify as women allowed to enter, apart from the male butlers "who live to serve women, attending to their every wish and showering them with praise and affection". After the complaint was lodged, the lounge's creator Kirsha Kaechele, said men were getting to "experience" the lounge as art.Mona, and its founder David Walsh — Kaechele's husband — are no strangers to controversy, with a number of calculated — andstates that you are not allowed to treat someone differently based on an attribute or characteristic like, gender, sexual orientation, race, religion, or disability.
Men-only and women-only social clubs are allowed under a specific exemption about 'clubs' which can discriminate based on gender for the benefit of club and that it is provided to both men and women separately.Jason Lau argued that the artwork's goal of addressing gender imbalance was vague and lacking context, and did not promote equal opportunity.
She said the artwork's intention is to promote equality for women, a group which is disadvantaged and that may be established by past discrimination."Power still absolutely lies with men regardless of what the law says," Kaechele said during the hearing.Tasmanian anti-discrimination commissioner Sarah Bolt said the act needs to be "modernised".
"Art of this nature wakes us up. It asks us to question our very humanity, it asks us to reach across to see what life is like for another person to examine our history in a different way to question the very stories that we tell ourselves as a nation and the very lies we tell ourselves as a nation," she said.
Mona Museum Of Old And New Art Ladies Lounge Women Only Tasmania Hobart Art Gallery David Walsh TASCAT
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