The Science Museum has sparked controversy by suggesting Lego can be anti-LGBT due to the way people describe the toy's connecting bricks.
A self-guided museum tour claims the popular building blocks reinforce heterosexuality as "the norm" through gendered descriptions of how the pieces fit together.
The claims appear in the "Seeing Things Queerly" guide, which explores stories of queer communities and identities throughout the London museum's collection. The tour was devised by the museum's Gender and Sexuality Network, a group of staff and volunteers.
The guide states that Lego bricks are "often described in a gendered way" with specific parts being labelled as male or female.
The Science Museum featured the guide
Getty/PA
"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," the guide explains. No source is provided for the alleged view that people consider Lego to be gendered, or that sticking bricks together is called “mating”.
The museum claims this is "an example of applying heteronormative language to topics unrelated to gender, sex and reproduction."
It suggests this illustrates how the idea that "heterosexuality and the male/female gender binary are the norm" shapes how we discuss technology.
The claims have drawn sharp criticism from women's rights campaign group Sex Matters. Fiona McAnena, director, said: "The Science Museum's self-guided trail on all things 'queer' is completely bonkers, and includes some absurd claims."
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A Science Museum spokesman told MailOnline: "This blog post was published online in 2022 to highlight a small number of objects on display at the museum that relate to LGBTQ+ individuals, experiences and communities."
The museum has previously faced controversy over its handling of gender issues. In 2023, it dismantled a trans-inclusive display following complaints it was pushing "propaganda" rather than biology.
The display, titled "Boy Or Girl?", had featured quotes describing transition as a "hero's journey" and included items such as a fake penis and chest-binding equipment. The tour also highlights other LGBT connections within the museum's collection.
The Lego campus in BillundGettyA display of the Billy Doll, launched in 1992, is featured as it was designed to represent a gay man in a positive way.
A Spitfire aircraft is included because one of its pilots, Roberta Cowell, was the first British trans woman to undergo gender-affirming surgery and change her birth certificate.
The guide also directs visitors to preserved Seabright Bantam Chickens, used by Nobel Prize winner Thomas Hunt Morgan to study chromosomes and genetic inheritance.
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