Gay art exhibit raises ire at SLCC

A visual art exhibit at Salt Lake Community College was moved Tuesday after a group of photographs offended several students who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The exhibit, part of SLCC's Diversity Week, raised the ire of students who disapproved of depictions of two men dressed as LDS missionaries in various stages of undress.

The photographs suggested a homosexual relationship between the two men. There was no nudity in any of the photos.

The art show is sponsored by Coloring Outside the Lines, a club for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and heterosexual students. It was originally in a foyer near the entrance of the South City Campus' main building, 1575 S. State.

But after a group of students "had some concerns" with the art, the exhibit was moved to the Student Services Lounge, which is in the same building, said Joy Tlou, SLCC's director of public relations.

MaryEtta Chase, an assistant adviser to the club, said she wanted to keep the exhibit where it would be visible, but she was concerned angry students would somehow damage the art if it stayed where it was.

Tlou described the decision to move the exhibit as the result of a "conversation" in which both sides were able to express their opinions and work out a compromise.

"Colleges and universities are traditionally a place where ideas meet," he said. "The students who were voicing the dissent were doing so in a very civil way."

But Kathryn Heaston, a student who is not affiliated with Coloring Outside the Lines but said she witnessed the disagreement and got involved, said the argument was a little more heated than that.

"He (one of the offended students) got up in my face and was like, 'What do you know about the Savior?' " said Heaston, who supports the club and its display.

Joseph Freed, one of the students who complained about the photos, told KSL-TV he was exercising his right to express his opinion. "It offends me and what I believe in," he said.

Campus police officers were called to the site of the argument, but no one was cited.

The artist, Don Farmer, stopped by the school to see the exhibit Tuesday morning. When he arrived, he found students arguing about his photos. He is not a student at SLCC; he graduated from Westminster College with a degree in art. But a club adviser asked him the night before the exhibit's opening to submit pieces for the show.