OTTAWA – An award-winning sex exhibit has raised a firestorm in the nation’s capital for being too explicit for the young audiences who will wander through its naked figures and x-rated displays.
Even before it opened on Thursday at the Canada Science and Technology Museum, “Sex: A Tell-all Exhibit” was tamed down after it received 100 complaints from parents and other concerned citizens.
An animated video meant to educate children on masturbation has been removed from the exhibit and age restrictions have been tightened.
Although designed for adolescents over the age of 12, only teenagers over the age of 16 can view the exhibit without a parent or adult.
The museum said the displays, which include naked figures, condoms, models of penises and vaginas, are meant to give a youth audience reliable information on sex and sexuality. Questions about contraception, sexually transmitted diseases and love are all covered by the exhibit.
The racy exhibit didn’t ruffle many feathers during early tours to Montreal or Regina, but in Ottawa the furor made it all the way to Parliament Hill.
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Heritage Minister James Moore had strong words after a preview of the exhibit at the taxpayer-funded museum: “They asked me my opinion and in my opinion it’s not appropriate for young underage children to be exposed to sexually explicit material without the consent of their parents.”
The NDP called the government prudish and told Moore to butt out of the museum’s affairs.
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Moore said it’s up to the museum to determine the fate of the exhibit and said he hoped they would consider the public outcry.
“He’s the Minister of Canadian Heritage and of course his opinion matters to us – but today we’re listening to the opinion of our visitors – what they are saying – and that also matters a lot to us,” said museum spokesman Yves St-Onge.
Along with the 100 complaints, the museum received 60 letters in support of the exhibit by the time it opened Thursday morning.
Approximately 200 visitors strolled through the exhibit in the first four hours it was open – a number double what the museum generally expects for a weekday.
Zita Dube-Lockhart, her two-year-old son in tow, came to see what had her city so hot and bothered.
“Certainly it is a very depictive and very descriptive view of sexuality but I’m not seeing the offense,” she said. “I think if the goal was to target the youth demographic and introduce them to the very complex topic of sex, they’ve nailed it.”
Another museum-goer, Matt McGeein, said it’s better teenagers learn about sex through the exhibit than through experimentation.
“Most of what I’ve learned happened on the schoolyard and that’s also through trial and error – and this is not something we need trial and error with,” he said.
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