Republicans Force Smithsonian To Censor Gay Exhibit

What is the first thing Republicans wanted to in office? Take care of widespread unemployment, poverty, or the military.

Nope; the thing they're exercised about is a short art video that's part of a new exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution, "Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture."

"American families have a right to expect better from recipients of taxpayer funds in a tough economy," Boehner's publicity flack Kevin Smith (no relation) told the ultra-conservative CNSNews.com. "While the amount of money involved may be small, it's symbolic of the arrogance Washington routinely applies to thousands of spending decisions involving Americans' hard-earned money at a time when one in every 10 Americans is out of work and our children's future is being threatened by debt. Smithsonian officials should either acknowledge the mistake and correct it, or be prepared to face tough scrutiny beginning in January when the new majority in the House moves to end the job-killing spending spree in Washington."

At issue is a four-minute video segment, "A Fire In My Belly," by David Wojnarowicz, a gay artist who died from AIDS-related illness in 1992. Wojnarowicz made the video as a tribute to his fellow artist and lover, Peter Hujar, who'd died five years earlier.

"[F]or eleven seconds of that meandering, stream-of-consciousness work—the full version is 30 minutes long—a crucifix appears onscreen with ants crawling on it," explained Washington Post art critic Blake Gopnik. "It seems such an inconsequential part of the total video that neither I nor anyone I've spoken to who saw the work remembered it at all."

"Smithsonian Institution spokesperson Linda St. Thomas ... told CNSNews.com, however, that federal funds are not used to pay for Smithsonian exhibits themselves, including the 'Hide/Seek' exhibit, but instead pay for the buildings, the care of collections exhibited at Smithsonian venues, and museum staff, including the salaries for curators of exhibits."

In fact, the exhibit was paid for by contributions from, among others, The Calamus Foundation, The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, The John Burton Harter Charitable Foundation, and The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation.

But what the hell; the National Portrait Gallery's director, Martin Sullivan, caved to the censors anyway, pulling "A Fire In My Belly" out of the exhibit yesterday.

"I regret that some reports about the exhibit have created an impression that the video is intentionally sacrilegious," Martin said in a written statement on Tuesday. "In fact, the artist's intention was to depict the suffering of an AIDS victim. It was not the museum's intention to offend. We are removing the video today."