Lesbian Couple in Museum Told Not to Hold Hands

Nothing’s better than a kerfuffle, especially one that breaks out in a museum, a place where you’d expect reverent silence and quiet contemplation. But a kerfuffle happened at the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco on Sunday afternoon when a security guard told a lesbian couple they could not hold hands in the museum.

SF Gate interviewed Jane Levikow, a museum patron who said she noticed a heated argument between the women and the guard. A small crowd formed and the guard tried to calm things down and quietly get the women out the door. They refused to leave and demanded to see someone in authority, Levikow said.

A museum spokesperson said that the museum supports the LGBT community and asked that the guard, who works for a private security company, be reprimanded.

The icing on the kerfuffle cake? The museum’s current feature exhibit is called Seeing Gertrude Stein: Five Evolving Stories,” about the life of the celebrated lesbian writer. The website about the exhibit includes a Cecil Beaton photograph of Stein and her partner Alice B. Toklas and also thoughtfully provides downloadable Gertrude and Alice paper dolls, which is delightful, though we’re pretty sure the only likely taker is going to be Lisa Simpson.