GOP: Don't Censor the Smithsonian
- by: CREDO Action
- recipient: House Majority Leader Eric Cantor
Under the knife of the Republican Party, the Smithsonian museum removed an artistic video depicting the suffering of an AIDS victim from its exhibition on same-sex attraction in America.
The exhibit should be seen as a representation of all facets of American culture, but the GOP is threatening to take all the federal funding away from the museum, calling it "an outrageous use of taxpayer money." However, the GOP conveniently fails to mention that federal funds are used to support the buildings and staff, not to pay for the exhibit itself.
The GOP isn't just threatening to de-fund the museum. It's robbing the artists of their right to free speech, too.
Tell the new House Majority Leader Eric Cantor not to censor art in the name of religion and keep the exhibit open as a part of American history for all who wish to see it.
Subject: Don't Censor the Smithsonian
Dear Rep. Cantor,
Your party's threatening to de-fund the Smithsonian's exhibition "Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in America" violates the artists' freedom of speech.
The museum has already taken out a video that was meant to depict the suffering of an AIDS victim from it's exhibition because of the pressure it felt to censor itself or lose federal funding.
[Your personal comments will be added here.]
However, the federal funding used at the Smithsonian did not pay for the exhibition, but rather only for the buildings and staff.
Please reconsider de-funding the Smithsonian for this exhibition, and give a voice to the GLBT artists involved who have gone so long without one.
I am writing to urge you to not censor the Smithsonian or the artists involved in the exhibition on same-sex attraction in America and give them their right to freedom of speech.
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