Tasmania’s Museum of Old and New Art (Mona) has successfully won an appeal in the state’s supreme court to continue barring men from entering the Ladies Lounge installation. The decision comes after the installation was closed in April following a complaint by a man from Sydney, who alleged discrimination based on gender. The civil and administrative tribunal had ruled in favor of the man, ordering the museum to admit men to the female-only space.
However, the supreme court found that the Ladies Lounge qualified for an exemption from the state’s anti-discrimination act, as the intention behind barring men was to promote equal opportunity for a group of people who are disadvantaged or have a special need. Justice Shane Marshall stated in his decision that the Ladies Lounge served to highlight the lack of equal opportunity that generally prevails in society, by providing women with a rare experience of being advantaged rather than disadvantaged.
The court found that the tribunal had made errors of fact and law in mischaracterizing the purpose of the Ladies Lounge and how it aimed to achieve its goal. The decision has been quashed and the case has been sent back to the tribunal for reconsideration. This ruling allows Mona to continue operating the Ladies Lounge as a space exclusively for women, in line with their intention to promote equal opportunity for a historically disadvantaged group.
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