National Portrait Gallery Protest

Protesters display censored art ("A Fire in My Belly" by David Wojnarowicz) inside the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC, days after pressure groups and members of Congress had it removed. Both protesters were detained and banned from all Smithsonian properties for life. More action is planned -- for updates see http://silencestillequalsdeath.blogsp...

Tell the Smithsonian to say no to censorship! Sign the petition -- http://www.gopetition.com/petition/41...

• Category

  News & Politics

[StoogeWatcher]

Now imagine what would have happened if it were ants crawling on a Koran.

[SilenceStillEqsDeath]

Great question. Clearly we both agree that one person's religious beliefs should never be used to justify censoring anyone else's ideas.

So if the artwork contained ants crawling on a Koran instead of a crucifix, I would hope that someone who cared deeply about the artist's right to free expression -- you, perhaps? -- would do the same thing we've done, and stand up to defend that right.

[SilenceStillEqsDeath]

Tell the Smithsonian that a museum is no place for censorship -- sign the petition at: bit(dot)ly/NPG_Petition

[SilenceStillEqsDeath]

Thanks everybody for your (mostly) kind and supportive comments! This really means a lot. We'll be announcing some next steps soon, so please be sure to check out the blog -- silencestillequalsdeath.blogsp­ot.com -- and I'll try to make sure it goes up on the new hideseek.org site as well. You all rock!

[saritapdx]

As one of the patrons intimidated by the security guards, I want to thank you. Thank you for taking a stand and thank you for showing "A Fire in My Belly". After Mike and Mike were escorted out, people starting talking about the video, the protest, censorship, what it means, and Mike and Mike's action brought the censorship to the foreground of discussion in the exhibit that day.

[SilenceStillEqsDeath]

I'm so sorry that happened to you and the others. That was the worst part of the entire experience IMO. But thanks for posting here, and I'm glad what everyone saw sparked some discussion.

[rg0057]

Banned for life ... from what? A museum that bans art?

And how do they intend to enforce this ban for life? It seems a waste to have security guards memorizing the computer-aged faces of people who present no harm to the facility.

Last, cops and guards of all sorts need to understand that people will NOT stop filming them. The public has a right to know what they do, anywhere. I can understand not filming a museum, but once guards detain someone, it's news, and must not be obstructed.

[Sophistrylol]

Get a fucking job you fucking loser.

[sneakerbabeful]

Jeez, people! If you wanted to protest DO IT OUTSIDE! What you did does not help you or the museum, the Smithsonian is in emough of a budget bind as it is so why do you feel the need to pull this kind of stuff? Why didn't you protest at the Capitol instead, since they're the ones who applied the financial thumb-twisting. Sll you did was put the Smithsonian right in the middle of a no-win situation. Ptttthhhhhbbbbbtttt....

[Pynshaibor37]

National thread protest

[LaSerpentaVerde]

So???  And your point is... ?

[StoogeWatcher]

Artists don't mock Islam because they're afraid of death threats and being called "Islamophobic" and "racist" even though Islam is not a race. Can you name one time Christians rioted after being offended? Besides, CNN didn't show the Danish cartoons. Neither did the New York Times. Both cited "respect for Islam", but they have no problem showing anti-Israel cartoons.

[StoogeWatcher]

Democrats are the fascists: Anti-Jewish, anti-Christian, pro-abortion, pro-Sharia, anti-military, food bans, Duke lacrosse rape hoax, Tawana Brawley, affirmative action, anti-Israel. You Democrats are the thugs. You want to lynch and kill Clarence Thomas.

[jdarrah17]

-- Another thing -- Dems are NOT fascists, no matter how you look at it. You obviously do not even know the definition of fascism. If any group in the US is fascist, it would actually be the Rethugs.

[jdarrah17]

-- Also, artists in the US probably do not mock Islam as much as they do Christianity because the majority of religious people in the US still practice some form of a Christian-based religion. If Islam grows here, I imagine we will see the mocking of Islam grow here too. Just a guess.