NEW YORK [August 14, 1989] — In response to an increased threat to federal funding of controversial and erotic art, members and supporters of the arts community staged a protest on Wednesday evening, August 2 [1989] in front of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The two-hour demonstration was arranged by Art Positive, an organization which fights homophobia and censorship of the arts. The protest included a makeshift rally in front of the museum, and was followed by a meeting to discuss further actions.
Demonstrators expressed outrage at an amendment proposed by Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC), passed by the Senate on July 26 [1989], which seeks to prohibit the use of federal funds to support "obscene or indecent materials." The amendment came just two weeks after the House of Representatives cut the budget of the National Endowment for the Arts, which had supported controversial exhibits by Andres Serrano and the late gay photographer Robert Mapplethorpe.
Afterwards, demonstrators adjourned to the Dia Foundation for a planning meeting, where they found police waiting for them outside of the building, at 155 Mercer Street. Art Positive's Bill Dobbs said that the police tried to enter the meeting to find out who was in charge.
— Mark Chesnut, OutWeek Magazine No. 8, August 14, 1989, p. 25. Photos by Tom McKitterick and Desi Del Valle.
