Texas LGBT art exhibit could advance normalization of pedophilia, Christian group warns
A Christian religious liberty group is warning that an ongoing photography exhibit at a Texas museum could lead to the normalization of pedophilia and abuse after authorities reportedly seized obscene images from the exhibit.
Police have reportedly removed four photographs from the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth exhibit "Diaries of Home" by acclaimed photographer Sally Mann after a number of Republican officials alleged the exhibit was promoting child pornography, according to KERA, a National Public Radio-affiliated outlet in North Texas.
A Fort Worth police spokesman confirmed to The Christian Post Wednesday that an investigation is underway but would not provide any further details. This post will be updated if any additional details are disclosed.
"Diaries of Home" showcases the work of 13 women and LGBT-identified artists, including Nan Goldin and Carrie Mae Weems, and is described as exploring "multilayered concepts of family, community, and home," according to the museum's website, which noted the exhibit also "features mature themes that may be sensitive for some viewers."
While the exhibit includes work from multiple artists, it's Mann's photographs that have stirred public outrage.
Among the images in question are "Wet the Bed," featuring a young, naked girl, asleep and lying in a puddle; "Popsicle Drips," which depicts a young nude boy with liquid running down his body; and "The Perfect Tomato," which depicts a completely naked girl jumping on a table, according to The Danbury Institute, a religious liberty advocate based in Dallas.
In an open letter dated Dec. 28, Sharayah Colter, chief communications officer at The Danbury Institute, condemned the exhibit, calling it "disturbing, exploitative, and inappropriate."
"These images are presented under the guise of art, but in reality, they sexualize children and exploit their innocence," Colter wrote. "This exhibit should be called what it is: child pornography."
Pointing to a museum plaque that described the exhibit as featuring children "naked, moody and in suggestive situations" in order to "evoke an edgy, dark side of childhood," Colter said such a characterization is "morally unacceptable."
"The exhibit as a whole effectively works to normalize pedophilia, child sexual abuse, the [LGBT] lifestyle, and the breakdown of the God-ordained definition of family," she added.
On Jan. 8, Tarrant County Judge Tim O'Hare, among over 2,000 signatories to The Danbury Institute's open letter, called the exhibit's images "deeply disturbing" and urged law enforcement to take action.
O'Hare, a Republican and self-identified Christian, wrote on X: "The images of children reported in the media at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth are deeply disturbing. Sexual exploitation of a minor, including under the guise of 'art,' should never be tolerated.
"I have full confidence in law enforcement to thoroughly investigate this matter and take appropriate action. I will always be committed to protecting the most vulnerable members of society, our children."
Other prominent Texas Republicans also condemned the images, including Tarrant County Republican Party Chairman Bo French and House District 91 State Rep. David Lowe, who called for "someone … to be criminally charged" for the museum exhibit.
The National Coalition Against Censorship (NCAC), meanwhile, condemned the police's reported seizure of Mann's photographs. In a statement released on Jan. 9, the organization criticized the notion that such images constitute child pornography.
"The allegation that these works are child sexual abuse material is not just disingenuous, it is deeply dangerous to the freedom of the millions of Americans who wish to document the growth of their own children without the threat of government prosecution," the statement read. "Furthermore, it assumes the perspective of the pedophile, and degrades the seriousness of real incidents of child abuse."
The group pushed back against allegations that naked photos of children displayed in public should automatically be considered indecent, saying any criminal "investigation can only contribute to the perverse and troubling perception that all images of naked children are inherently sexual, thereby reinforcing the very sexualization of children that critics purport to oppose."
Mann, who garnered critical attention in the mid-1980s and early '90s for intimate portraits of her family's life in rural Virginia, also generated controversy over photos of her nude children published in her collection "Immediate Family" in 1992.
The collection depicted her own children smoking candy cigarettes, falling asleep in fields, and dancing naked on tabletops, among other activities.
Mann later defended her work in a 1997 essay, arguing that "no artist can predict how each image will be received by each viewer, and that what is devoid of erotic meaning to one person is the stuff of another's wildest fantasies."