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NEA Adversaries Stung By Poison
by Patricia Thomson
from The Independent, June 1991

    It appears the wind has finally gone out of Reverend Donald Wildmon's sails, if Congress' lackadaisical response to the American Family Association's latest campaign against a federally-funded art work is any measure. In March, shortly before Congress began hearings on the National Endowment for the Arts as part of the annual appropriations process, Wildmon sent a letter to legislators alerting them to "explicit porno scenes of homosexuals engaged in anal sex" in the "Homo" section of Poison, a feature film by independent producer Todd Haynes that received $25,000 from the NEA. Never having seen Poison, Wildmon quoted from a review in Daily Variety that referred to "multiple glimpses if rear-entry intercourse and one of genital fondling" in the prison sequence of the film inspired by the writings of Jean Genet. (The Variety reviewer failed to note there are no shots of genitalia, and the sex and rape scenes are no more graphic than the average R-rated Hollywood film.)
    Two years earlier, a similar letter from Wildmon triggered the furor over Piss Christ, a photograph by Andres Serrano, who had received NEA funding. This time, however, Wildmon's campaign met a different reaction. NEA chair John Frohnmayer, who had waffled during earlier attacks from the religious right, took a strong stand in defense of the film. Quickly calling a press conference, he asserted, "[Poison] is clearly not a pornographic film," continuing, "The film illustrates the destructive effect of violence and is neither prurient nor obscene...It is the work of a serious artist dealing with a serious issue in our society." Haynes, too, defended the film during a blitz of interviews in the daily newspapers, on radio shows, and on such television programs as Entertainment Tonight, Personalities, and Cable News Network's Larry King Live.
    The flap quickly subsided. Congress apparently was in no mood to pursue Wildmon's allegations, barely mentioning the letter when they questioned Frohnmayer during the subcommittee hearings on the NEA's annual appropriations. The acquittal last year of Cincinnati, Ohio's Contemporary Arts Center - which had been charged with violating obscenity laws for exhibiting the work of Robert Mapplethorpe - by a jury of Midwesterners presumably helped stanch congressional fears of being labeled pornography supporters. In the end, the publicity only helped Poison at the box office. According to Variety, receipts for the first week were a healthy $41,511 garnered by a single screen at the Angelika Film Center in New York City.
    Although Wildmon may be down, he's not out. The indefatigable morality cop bought a permit to build a UHF television station in his hometown of Tupelo, Mississippi. His programming could go national via cable television is a satellite superstation picks it up. He's also equipped with a license for a radio station, which will start operations soon.
    One organization that monitors the doings of Wildmon and his ilk is People for the American Way. In an effort to systematically track censorship cases as they occur, they have instituted a research and public education project called Artsave. Information on the sundry and dispersed attacks of the religious right against the NEA and the arts is collected through surveys and a toll-free phone number (1-800-326-PFAW). Four months into the project, which was launched in January, Artsave has confirmed about 40 censorship incidents, according to People for the American Way's Michelle Richards. Between five and 10 phone calls come in every day, she reports, some concerning specific attacks on free expression in the arts and others simply to express concern or get information. The various cases have been collected in a newsletter called Religious Right Update: Attacks on Public Sponsorship of the Arts, available through: People for the American Way, 2000 M St. NW, Ste. 400, Washington, DC 20036; (202) 467-4999.
    Since the acquittal of the Contemporary Arts Center on obscenity charges, opponents of anti-obscenity language in arts legislation and NEA contracts have continued to fare well in the legal arena. In January, a federal court in Los Angeles struck down the anti-obscenity pledge that NEA grant recipients had been required to sign. The judge went further, however. Speaking to the issue of public sponsorship of the arts, he stated that a grant recipient should not be forced to forfeit his or her First Amendment rights when they receive public money.
    Another pending court challenge to obscenity restrictions on NEA grantees may benefit from this ruling. This suit targets the language in the NEA's reauthorization legislation that requires the NEA to consider "general standards of decency" in awarding grants. The plaintiffs' attorneys argue it is constitutionally vague and discriminates on the basis of political viewpoints. This suit was added to an existing lawsuit filed by Karen Finley, Holly Hughes, Tim Miller, and John Fleck, the performance artists whose grants were vetoed by Frohnmayer last year despite recommendations by peer panels. The National Association of Artists Organizations and the National Campaign for Freedom of Expression have both joined the artists as plaintiffs. Representing the group is the American Civil Liberties Union, the Center for Constitutional Rights, and independent attorney Mary Dorman.
    Meanwhile the White House is giving NEA the cold shoulder. In his proposed budget for 1992, President Bush requested increases for the Smithsonian Institution, the National Gallery of Art, the Kennedy Center - all the government's cultural agencies except the NEA. For the first time in its 25-year history, the NEA would receive less money than the National Endowment for the Humanities. Bush's budget allocates $178.2 million for the NEH compared to $174.1 million for the NEA. There are signs, however, that Congress may be more sympathetic towards the arts endowment and increase its appropriations slightly over Bush's figure.

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