A women’s-only art exhibition at the Australian Museum of Old and New Art (Mona) in Hobart, Tasmania was forced to shut down after a man sued the gallery for discrimination.
The no-men-allowed Ladies Lounge, created by the artist Krisha Kaechele, was meant to highlight historic misogyny such as Australian women being banned from drinking in the main section of bars until 1965. Of course, this is only one of many examples of exclusion that women have faced over the past decades – and let’s be real, still are facing.
The exhibition was forced to shut down in May after Jason Lau was denied entry and felt discriminated against. (Welcome to our world Jason). The visitor from New South Wales decided to take the case to the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal last year, suing the gallery for gender discrimination (If I had a penny for every time I experienced gender discrimination in my life I’d be a rich woman by now). The Tribunal argued that women aren’t being excluded from public spaces like in the past anymore and therefore it was ruled in Lau’s favour.
On Friday the Tasmanian Supreme Court Justice Shane Marshall found that men in fact could be excluded from the lounge because the law allows for discrimination in order to create “equal opportunity” for marginalised groups. He said: “The Ladies Lounge provides women with a rare glimpse of what it is like to be advantaged rather than disadvantaged”.
After the judge’s ruling Kaechele said: “In 30 seconds the patriarchy was smashed and the verdict demonstrates a simple truth: women are better than men”. The artist is concerned about how the men will take it since they are “a little hysterical” and “troubled by the power of women”. She said that the Ladies Lounge is exceptional and that “men may appeal, but they’re not appealing to me”.
The Tasmanian Supreme Court sent their ruling back to the Tribunal for reconsideration.
For Krisha Kaechele and all women around the world, Friday’s ruling is a big win and a step forward for gender equality. We can only hope that the Tribunal’s final decision will recognise that women and girls still are being excluded in many ways and that by shutting down the Ladies Lounge they are contributing to this inequality.