A new proposed museum from the Smithsonian dedicated to America’s women will feature transwomen, the museum’s interim director promised.
“We have a job to build a museum that’s going to serve the public for a very, very long time. From the DNA of this museum, there has been a desire to be inclusive,” Lisa Sasaki, the American Women History Museum’s interim director, told The New York Times. (RELATED: Smithsonian Facing Potential Lawsuits After Apparently Kicking Out Pro-Life Students, GOP Demand Answers)
Sasaki told the outlet that there is “no monolithic experience of womanhood,” and as such, she would not aim to make the museum fit a singular narrative. Sasaki is attempting to open the narrative of what it means to be a woman to women of all walks of life by encouraging visitors to submit their own stories as part of a planned oral history program, the Times reported.
In order to be fully inclusive, Sasaki is extending that definition to include transgender women, who she plans to feature in the museum, the outlet reported.
Though it has yet to receive final Congressional approval, the Smithsonian’s proposed American Women’s History Museum announced more than $55 million in gifts to help solidify its financial future, from donors including Melinda French Gates. https://t.co/Uk18LTZKrq
— New York Times Arts (@nytimesarts) February 27, 2023
Sasaki hopes to organize the museum around women’s contributions in various arenas such as politics, entertainment and science, according to the Times.
“The stories we tell about our country’s history so often overlook the contributions of the women in every generation whose efforts and ideas helped make us who we are today,” philanthropist Melinda French Gates said in a statement obtained by the Times. “By paying tribute to the women who shaped our past, the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum empowers and inspires the ones who will shape our future.” (RELATED: Congress Demands Black History Smithsonian Include Clarence Thomas)
Though Congress has not approved the project and no site has been chosen for the museum, the Smithsonian announced on Feb. 27 that it had received $55 million in donations to make the new museum a reality, the Times reported.