FEMMES CENSORED!!!!
A lot of us spend a lot of time talking about the invisibility that femmes face in our daily lives in terms of not always being read as queer and I think most if not all of us have had the experinece of feeling as though our particular queered femininity was not apprecaited or welcome within larger LGBTQ community, however this morning I happened upon femme censorship so explicit that I couldn’t help but blog about it immdiately.
A photography exhibit titled “Femmes: Front and Center” featuring the beautiful work of Kristin Kurzawa (click her name to see some of the beautiful photos from the exhibit) was scheduled to open today (Friday, May 15th) at the Affirmations Pittmann-Puckett Art Gallery which is part of the LGBTQ Center of Ferndale Michigan, however the center has now censored the exhibit siting that the photographs (which remember are of femmes) are too explicit, and are not “family friendly” which is a center policy regarding art.
According to a Pride Source news article Kurzawa received an email from the center last week stating that:
“While we fully appreciate the beauty of queer femme performance portrayed in the collection, the images do not meet the agreed upon PG-13 or family friendly nature of our community gallery. We have decided to cancel the opening and the show.”
Femmes- this isn’t just about one artist whose beautiful work has been censored, this is about all of us being deemed ‘too much,’ ‘too sexual,’ ‘too flamboyant’ etc. by an LGBT community that in my opinion is becoming more and more conservative by the day. This is a community that is supposed to represent us, not censor us in the name of being appropriate, and “family friendly.”
If you are interested in making your oppinion heard you can contact the Center/gallery at this is an opportunity to make it clear that femmephobia will not be tollerated in our community, and that it is not the job of LGBT centers to police what is or isn’t appropriatly queer I found this contact info for the center from Holly Hughes’s facebook (where i first learned about the censorship):
248-398-7105
Chief Administrative Officer, Kathleen LaTosch klatosch@goaffirmations.org
Chief Executive Officer, Leslie Thompson lthompso@goaffirmations.org
Last 5 posts by Sassafras
- One Freak Show! - March 6th, 2010
- K.D. Lang at the Olympics *fans my femme self* - February 13th, 2010
- Sacred Kink - February 13th, 2010
- The Big Book of Sex Toys - February 8th, 2010
- Femme Conference 2010 - January 24th, 2010
4 Comments
Critic
May 15th, 2009 at 12:10 pm
I wouldn’t hang those photos in my gallery.
Not because of content, but because they are not well done. The lighting is sub par, the composition is lacking and generally they would reflect badly on the gallery.
It’s entirely possible that the gallery simply realized they had a no win situation and didn’t want to hurt the photographer’s feelings.
She’s clearly capable of much better work, there are other photos on her site that are compelling and even thought provoking. It’s too bad that she didn’t submit those.
Reply
Kristin Kurzawa
May 19th, 2009 at 8:48 am
Hi everyone!
I’m the photographer of Femmes: Front and Center. A photography exhibit that explores and celebrates queer femmes and queer femme performers. Affirmations LGBTQ Center of Metro Detroit has declared the show too sexual and removed it from its gallery. We here in the metro Detroit area are working hard to get it reinstalled before Detroit’s Pride Weekend. Feel free to voice your concern against censorship and for First Amendment Rights to Affirmations’ CEO lthompson@goaffirmations.org. Thank you! Kristin Kurzawa
Kristin Kurzawa’s last blog post..FEMMES: FRONT AND CENTER
Reply
Callaigh
May 20th, 2009 at 2:54 am
I’m afraid I have to agree with the gallery on this point. If their policy is “family-friendly PG-13,” then women in pasties and thongs would be stepping over the line, in my estimation.
I don’t think it has anything to do with femmeininity itself being “too much” or “too flamboyant” in any negative sense,; instead, it is simply a conflict between the images chosen and the policies of the gallery.
If you choose to argue that the gallery should not aim to be family-friendly, though, that’s another thing entirely; but it’s not censorship of femmes as such, and is instead a censorship of sexuality in general. That, of course, you could take to task separately.
Reply
Kris Kurzawa
June 1st, 2009 at 12:08 pm
Thanks for the comments, everyone.’
I wanted to update everyone that Femmes: Front and Center II has been rehung at Affirmations in Ferndale, Michigan as of May 29, 2009-June 12, 2009.
Affirmations did not have a PG-13 policy in place prior to contracting for Femmes: Front and Center. They are crafting new gallery policies now, which may include such language.
In the meantime, with a lot of cooperation between the agency, members of the queer community, and myself a compromise was reached that seems to satisfy everyone’s needs. The show will be up through Motor City Pride, June 6&7.
Thank you for checking in and reading about the show.
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