UNITED KINGDOM - Police have praised organisers of a taxpayer-funded gay art exhibition featuring pornographic images for helping to promote respect for homosexuals.
The exhibition, at the Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow, has been criticised by church leaders and family campaigners.
But police diversity officers say the show is doing them a favour by raising awareness of gay issues.
When the event’s organisers told Strathclyde Police that pornographic gay artwork would be on display, they received warm and congratulatory feedback from the force’s diversity unit.
An email between two of the organisers has emerged, revealing that one police officer even expressed his eagerness to take his own children to view the controversial sh[OUT] exhibition.
According to the email, one of the organisers discussed the “most eyebrow-raising” works with the officer, who said “they all sounded fine”.
The email continued: “He also added that the show and outreach programme are doing a favour for the police as they are also in the business of raising awareness and respect for LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) folk.”
Another email reveals that police officers admitted it would “only be if a member of the public complained that they would even bother to investigate” – but the organisers suggested they would be okay as long as sufficient warnings about the material were displayed.
According to the Daily Mail the Christian campaign group CARE for Scotland has written to George Hamilton, Assistant Chief Constable at Strathclyde Police, claiming it “may be considered lewd and libidinous behaviour” to allow children to view the material on display.
A spokesman for the Roman Catholic Church in Glasgow said: “It seems incredible that the police would be so keen to promote an exhibition which clearly contains offensive, vulgar and disgraceful material.”
The exhibition, part of a £240,000 campaign to raise awareness of homosexuality, features explicit images of sex and sexuality, including one photo of two men engaged in an obscene act. The exhibition is open to all people of all ages – the only exception is that children under twelve must be accompanied by an adult.
Strathclyde Police Chief Inspector Jane Black said: “Strathclyde Police has not been involved in the promotion of this exhibition. However, the force is involved with partner agencies in providing access to police services and raising awareness of issues faced by the LGBT community.”
from The Christian Institute
No comments:
Post a Comment