[Christmas Dynasnow]

Royal Academy apologises to artist Jess de Wahls in transphobia row

The Royal Academy of Arts has apologised to artist Jess de Wahls after
removing her work from its gift shop following complaints that she had
expressed transphobic views.

Her embroidery was removed after a backlash over comments she made in
2019 saying "humans can not change sex".

De Wahls, who denies transphobia, said she "appreciates" the apology.

"We had no right to judge her views," the prestigious London institution said

in a statement on Wednesday.

"We have thought long and hard since then about this and the wider issues it
raises.

"One thing is clear to us now - we should have handled this better. We have
apologised to Jess de Wahls for the way we have treated her and do so again
publicly now. We had no right to judge her views on our social media. This
betrayed our most important core value - the protection of free speech."

De Wahls said the apology was "common sense and I am glad we are getting

back to that", adding: "I hope this makes other institutions wake up and take

note."

The German-born textiles artist wrote in a blog in 2019 that "a woman is an
adult human female. (Not an identity or feeling.)"

She told BBC Radio 4 on Monday she had received lots of support in the light
of the Royal Academy's original decision to remove her work.

"The feedback I'm getting from the general public is quite the opposite [from
the Royal Academy's stance]. This isn't going to go away. This is a
conversation that needs to happen in public."

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-57578732