The self-guided tour, which is titled ‘Seeing Things Queerly’, explores queer communities and identities in the museum’s collection.

A spokesperson for the museum stated that the blog post was published to highlight objects related to LGBTQ+ experiences and communities. The museum argues that Lego’s descriptions apply heteronormative language to objects unrelated to gender, sex and reproduction.

“Like other connectors and fasteners, Lego bricks are often described in a gendered way,” a description on the museum’s website reads. “The top of the brick with sticking out pins is male, the bottom of the brick with holes to receive the pins is female, and the process of the two sides being put together is called mating.”

“This is an example of applying heteronormative language to topics unrelated to gender, sex and reproduction,” the description continues. “It illustrates how heteronormativity (the idea that heterosexuality and the male/female gender binary are the norm and everything that falls outside is unusual) shapes the way we speak about science, technology, and the world in general.”

An entry on Lego’s website explaining how its bricks work appears to use different language.

“The tubes on the bottom interlock with the studs on top of other bricks,” Lego writes of its bricks. “The studs get neatly wedged in between the tubes and the sides of every brick making them stick together firmly.”

Among items such as aeroplanes and replica chickens are accused of taking an anti-LGBT stance.