Vagina Museum Saved After Transphobic Post From J.K. Rowling

The Vagina Museum in Bethnal Green, London has surpassed its stretch goal for donations thanks to a hateful spotlight on social media made by infamous TERF J.K. Rowling.

A trans-inclusive museum in London has been struggling to stay afloat, relying on community support to pay rent. On March 14, the Vagina Museum posted that it may have to permanently close its doors due to high rent prices that must be paid quarterly instead of monthly. The museum created a GoFundMe to help raise the money, stating that the landlords are unwilling to negotiate with them, and that they were one month from having to close their doors and cease all digital activity.

The Vagina Museum first came to be in 2017 after the founders realized that there was no vaginal equivalent for the penis museum in Iceland. Their goal is to educate people about gynecological anatomy and “be part of a societal shift from bodily shame to celebration.” The museum values the challenging of heteronormative and cisnormative behavior, conversations about issues surrounding gynecological health and anatomy, and the promotion of intersectional, feminist, and trans-inclusive values. They have featured exhibitions highlighting misogyny and oppression in history as well as an exhibitions that addresses myths about vaginas and trying to dispel the taboo and stigma around talking about them.

As we have seen, acknowledging or respecting trans people in any way will get the transphobes up in arms, which is exactly what the Vagina Museum’s call to action did. J.K. Rowling saw the post and made a response bashing the museum for having her blocked, claimed they were, “begging for funds,” and linked a disgustingly transphobic article written by another self-proclaimed TERF. Rowling claimed that the article would help explain why some people were apparently responding to the museum’s possible closure with, “good riddance” but the article linked was just a show of ignorance on the part of the author.

Despite her attempts to shame and condemn the Vagina Museum, the post was viewed more than 500,000 times and is to thank for the museum exceeding its goal. They were hoping for £60,000 and instead raised more than £71,000 at the time of writing. Amidst their rent issues and the world-wide crises happening to trans people, reproductive rights, and the arts, the Vagina Museum will now have a strong foundation to build on and create more sustainability in their activism and education.

Photo Courtesy of Vagina Museum 2024