Jess de Wahls: Artist wants apology from Royal Academy over transphobia row

Jess de Wahls creates hand-sewn portraits from recycled clothes

Jess de Wahls has said she wants an apology from the Royal Academy after it removed her work from its gift shop over views which some complained were transphobic.

The artist, who denies transphobia, told Radio 4 she may also take legal action against the London institution.

The Academy recently removed her items after it received complaints relating to a blog she published in 2019.

In it, she stated that "humans can not change sex".

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

But de Wahls told Radio 4 on Monday that she had received lots of support in the light of the Royal Academy's decision.

"I'm looking for an apology," she told Today.

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Asked if she would consider legal action, she added: "I might do. Right now, I have a feeling that there is a hope within that institution, it's mind boggling to me that this will just go away.

"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."

The Royal Academy has not yet responded to her comments.

How did the row start?

In an Instagram post, the Academy said: "Thank you to all those for bringing an item in the RA shop by an artist expressing transphobic views to our attention."

It said that they were unaware of the artist's "stated views" and their work would not feature in the future, but it did not mention de Wahls by name.

"We appreciate you holding us to account on this issue, and we would like to reiterate that we stand with the LGBTQ+ community."

The RA's statement is no longer available to view as it was part of an Instagram story, which expires after 24 hours.

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De Wahls told Today that she had received an email from the Royal Academy prior to its post being published, saying they had received eight complaints which they were investigating.

She described the tone as being "quite reasonable".

She said she did not receive any more communication with the Academy to update her on their investigation before their Instagram post appeared.

The Royal Academy re-opened last month after some Covid-19 restrictions were lifted

De Wahls said "it's distressing when there is a mob mounting against you on social media that has the power and capacity to sway an organisation like that".

She added that the floral embroidery patches that had been removed from sale had nothing to do with her politics.

When asked about the views published in her 2019 blog, in which she also discussed defending "gender non-conforming" people including her father, she told Today: "I have compassion for the journey they're [transgender people are] going through but I can't make myself believe something that I don't believe to be true.

"The biological fact that there's only two sexes [is talked about] as an opinion - when has that become an opinion? It doesn't remove my compassion from that person but I don't exist to validate other people's idea of themselves."

She added that the Royal Academy had originally approached her about stocking her products a year ago, saying she had not approached them or many other galleries herself due to previous controversy surrounding her blog.

"I stocked with them because I thought, this is such a big institution, maybe they won't be swayed by the online mob," she said.

The Royal Academy has been contacted for a response. ​LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall has also been asked for its comments.