Jacksonville Hands On Children’s Museum

According to Merriam-Webster, one definition of “family” is “a group of individuals living under one roof and usually under one head.” The Jacksonville Hands On Children’s Museum, however, does not define it that way. A local same-sex couple said they were denied the family membership rate and told they would be charged an additional fee to add a second adult, effectively failing to recognize them as a traditional family (i.e., one with a female mom and a male dad). According to a statement released by the museum, membership qualifications are specific and don’t allow substitutions. The museum does have the right to make its own rules regarding memberships (and isn’t breaking any laws, since Florida doesn’t recognize same-sex marriage), but it’s just bad practice in today’s society for a business to even appear that it discriminates against members of the LBGT community. The museum’s policy is especially frustrating for the couple, who said they have family memberships at YMCA, Jacksonville Zoo and The Cummer Museum of Art & Gardens. With the amount of negative publicity the Hands On Children’s Museum has received as a result of the women going public with their experience (and they can add this blurb to the list), their actions epitomize the phrase “penny-wise, pound-foolish.”