From Deseret News archives:
SLCC art attracts more viewers — and complaints
The publicity surrounding a series of photographs suggesting a homosexual relationship between two men dressed as LDS missionaries resulted in dozens of telephone calls to the campus, SLCC spokesman Joy Tlou said.
"I've gotten a lot of phone calls, negative and positive," he said, describing the callers as "nice" even if they were angry about the exhibit. The show was moved Tuesday from a foyer near the entrance of the South City Campus' main building at 1575 S. State.
Tlou said campus security is "making a few extra rounds" at the new location, a small room inside the student services area, and student volunteers are also posted at the exhibit, open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m.
The art show, which features a number of other pieces, is sponsored by Coloring Outside the Lines, a club for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and heterosexual students. It is scheduled to continue through Friday.
Tlou said the college does not condone the content of the show but is proud of its students.
"We're in support of the students. Colleges and universities traditionally have been places where people meet and share thoughts. . . . Sometimes it's controversial, and this is one of those times," Tlou said.
He had no comment on critical statements made about the photographs by Evergreen International, a group that teaches attraction to the same sex can be overcome using principles consistent with the teachings of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Evergreen's executive director, David Pruden, said he was not asking the college to remove the photographs. But he said the depiction will make it more difficult for young men struggling with homosexual feelings.
"Sexual acting out by missionaries is against everything the LDS culture teaches and represents," Pruden said. "It is hateful to suggest that all individuals who experience same-sex attraction are sexually out of control and are a threat to others in their mission."
