Discrimination ruling over Mona's Ladies Lounge raise questions about women-only, men-only spaces

There are men-only clubs, women-only gyms and an array of other facilities that operate on the basis of being exclusive to one gender. New South Wales man Jason Lau visited Hobart's Museum of Old and New Art in April last year and was refused entry to the Ladies Lounge, and made a complaint that was referred to the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal The Ladies Lounge features artwork in a small private room enclosed by green curtains, with only those who identify as women allowed to enter, apart from the male butlers "who live to serve women, attending to their every wish and showering them with praise and affection". TASCAT found although the Ladies Lounge was "for a good faith artistic purpose", the refusal to permit Mr Lau entry constituted "direct discrimination,' with Mona given 28 days to stop refusing entry to people who don't identify as ladies. "If the Ladies Lounge were a women-only club it might well be able to lawfully function for its members as it functions now for women patrons of Mona," TASCAT deputy president Richard Grueber noted. After the complaint was lodged, the lounge's creator Kirsha Kaechele, said men were getting to "experience" the lounge as art.