No, a museum hasn’t called Lego ‘anti-LGBTQ+’, it’s yet more right-wing hysteria

“Science Museum in ‘bonkers’ LGBT Lego warning”, trumpets a headline in The Telegraph today. “Lego is anti-LGBT and promotes only two genders, says Science Museum” claims The Times.

GB News has gone with “Science Museum labels Lego ‘anti-LGBT’ after ‘absurd mating’ claim. At least ten other news stories along the same lines have been released today (7 February) by other right-wing titles.

Elon Musk also weighed in, tweeting the clown emoji in response to the “news” that at a self-guided queer tour at London’s Science Museum has suggested that the way people describe Lego bricks fitting together could be seen as an example of heteronormative language.

The Lego comments form part of the museum’s Seeing Things Queerly tour, which was first introduced in 2022, and also features sections about gay war hero Alan Turing, trans war hero Roberta Cowell – a British World War II-era pilot who was the first British trans woman to undergo gender-affirming surgery – and a toy doll that was designed in response to the negativity directed towards the gay community during the AIDS epidemic.

The section on Lego reads: “Like other connectors and fasteners, Lego bricks are often described in a gendered way. The top of the brick with sticking out pins is male, the bottom of the brick with holes to receive the pins is female, and the process of the two sides being put together is called mating.

“This is an example of applying heteronormative language to topics unrelated to gender, sex and reproduction. It illustrates how heteronormativity (the idea that heterosexuality and the male/female gender binary are the norm and everything that falls outside is unusual) shapes the way we speak about science, technology, and the world in general.”

At no point are the phrases “anti-LGBTQ+” or “anti-LGBT” used – nor does it say that Lego “promotes only two genders”, as stated in The Times headline.

It’s also worth noting that a prominent gender-critical group, Sex Matters, is quoted in several of the articles mentioned above, including The Times and The Telegraph.

“Gender critical” is the preferred term of campaigners who are what other people might call “transphobic” – in that they deny trans people’s lived truth (“trans women are men”), oppose trans people’s rights (by campaigning against reforms to gender recognition laws or launching legal cases against trans-inclusive legislation. They wish, like Republicans in the US, to “protect women and children” by banning gender-affirming healthcare for young trans people and prohibiting trans women and girls from playing women’s sports.

The quote reads: “Sex Matters, a charity campaigning for sex-specific services, called the exhibition “ridiculous’ Fiona McAnena, the director of campaigns, said: ‘People expect to be informed, educated and inspired when visiting the Science Museum, not to have dubious claims rooted in gender ideology forced on them.'”

Sex Matters recently registered as a “human rights charity” in the UK. The “principles” section on its website states: “Reality: There are two sexes: female and male. People shouldn’t be afraid to say this.”

Lego’s history of supporting LGBTQ+ rights

Lego actually has a very positive track record when it comes to supporting the LGBTQ+ community, and its own queer employees. In 2021, it released its first LGBTQ-themed set named Everyone Is Awesome.

Matthew Ashton, vice president of design at the Lego Group and who created the LGBTQ+ set, told The Guardian that one figure – a purple one with a stylised wig – is a “clear nod to all the fabulous drag queens out there”. Ashton explained other members of Lego’s LGBTQ+ community would stop by his desk in to say how much they loved the set, and he thought it might be something the Danish toymaker could share with kids.

“Growing up as an LGBTQ+ kid – being told what I should play with, how I should walk, how I should talk, what I should wear – the message I always got was that somehow I was ‘wrong’,” Ashton said.

He said he wished, as a kid, that he had seen an inclusive play set or statement from a toy company that said “everyone is awesome”.

Also in 2021, Lego decided to remove gender labels saying toys are for “boys” or “girls” after a global survey found attitudes to play and future careers remains unequal and restrictive.

And following that, in 2022, Lego launched A-Z of Awesome, a community-centred social media project aiming to highlight LGBTQ+ voices.