This Woman Had the Perfect Response When Told She Couldn't Breastfeed at a Museum
Emily Locke, a 33-year-old mom from Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, was taking photos for her sister's wedding at the Western Reserve Historical Society in Cleveland, Ohio this past weekend when she had to take a break to breastfeed her 9-month-old son. In a Facebook post, she explains that she was soon approached by a staff member who told her, "You aren't allowed to do that here."
"I responded that I was actually legally allowed to nurse my child," Locke wrote. "She said it was against the museum policy, and I had to stop. I refused, and she said she would have to get her manager. I said I would be happy to speak with her manager. Moments later, I was approached by a young woman. She said I would have to move, and they had a private area where I could 'do that.' I said I was fine where I was, and told her that legally I could nurse my child where ever I was permitted to be. (I wanted to be near where my family and other two children were posing for the pictures. I truly did not have time to stop the feeding and move to another location even if I wanted to.)"
Locke says the woman then told her that Society is a "family museum" - to which she responded that she was engaged in a "family moment." (#Boom.) "She then told me she was just trying to protect the innocent children," Locke recalled. "I was pretty shocked."
The confrontation ended when the museum employee gave up, but the ordeal understandably left Locke feeling "disappointed and saddened." So, she shared her story on Facebook, and it has since racked up over 31,000 likes and more than 10,000 shares.
Locke's experience also grabbed the attention of the Historical Society's President & CEO Kelly Falcone-Hall, who issued the following statement in response:
"We were made aware that, last weekend, a breastfeeding mother was asked to move to a private space by members of our Cleveland History Center staff. This reflects poor judgment on our part, for which we are truly sorry. We have formally apologized to the mother, and are immediately implementing additional training for our entire team in order to ensure that an incident like this does not happen in the future. The Western Reserve Historical Society strives to be an inclusive, family-friendly organization that provides a welcoming environment for all our of patrons, including breastfeeding mothers. We did not live up to that goal in this instance."
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