Censorship in Colorado Springs

Several artworks by high school students were banned from the Young People's Art Exhibition in Colorado Springs for having "inappropriate" content. The offending works:

A painting of a football player, called Dismantled Stereotype, was excluded because of the Gay Pride sticker on the pickup truck's bumper. "We can't have that--it's a reference to a gay issue," said one member of the selection committee.

A portrait of a homeless man--based on the student artist's experience with the actual man pictured--was banned because it shows the man smoking. "No tobacco," was the ruling, as if homelessness somehow glamorized smoking.

And a portrait of an African girl was disallowed because its source material was a photo of a girl in Darfur, Sudan. (Whether it's the suggested political content or some issue about the appropration of a news photo isn't clear.)

Lest you deem this fascism by the overseers of the School District 11 show, rest assured that a work showing an image of a crab nebula was approved for the show. One judge thought it looked like breasts and wanted it removed, but was over-ruled.

Via The Raw Story.