Federally-Funded Art: Gays, Guns, and Climate Change

In the big picture of the federal budget, $620,000 is hardly worth mentioning, much less worth getting enraged over. But in the case of new grants being offered by the National Endowment of the Arts, what’s troublesome is not the money being spent but the obvious agenda. Even if the NEA had spent only a dollar to fund these projects, we would deserve a refund.

The projects given taxpayer money this week read like a radical liberal’s wet dream.

$10,000 went to support the premiere of a play called Cocked, which delves into a lesbian, interracial relationship between two women “staunchly opposed to gun ownership.

Another $10,000 went to fund a summer festival for LGBT singing ensembles.

$20,000 went to an open mic group for their upcoming series, “Out/Spoken: Stories About Queer Culture in America.”

$30,000 went to San Francisco’s ODC Theater for a production of “Gender in Translation,” a mini-series developed by a drag queen with the stage name “Fauxnique.”

The NEA isn’t just in the business of funding gay and transgender “art.” They spared some money for a production of Smart People, a play that “follows a racially diverse group of Harvard intellectuals who interact personally and professionally for several years, each confronting issues of racial bias and stereotyping.”

The federal government also handed out grants to support artistic endeavors centering around climate change, cultural attitudes toward beauty, and immigration.

“These projects, from all over the nation, will make a difference in their communities,” said NEA Chairman Jane Chu. “We know from experience as well as through hard evidence that the arts matter and these projects will provide more opportunities for people to learn, create, and experience the value of the arts in so many different ways.”

Well, it depends on what you mean by “different.” There did not appear to be a single funded project that explored any ideology other than the one espoused by the most extreme feminists, radical left-wing racists, and LGBT militants this country has to offer.

Art is not the problem here. Neither, really, is the money. Washington wastes more than $600,000 daily before most of the congressman have had their cereal.

The problem here is that we have a federal government playing politics with the taxpayer treasure chest, funding social propaganda that masquerades as art.

As Chu mentioned, these projects will “make a difference.” Each well-scripted play will further normalize the liberal attack on traditional values, turning a few more minds away from the social truths that have sustained this country for two hundred years.

As this is America, the land of free speech, it is no concern of ours how many plays are produced espousing liberal themes. Artists should be free to express themselves in any manner they see fit. But this isn’t free speech; this is, in fact, the very opposite of free speech. This is the federal government picking and choosing projects based not on need but on adherence to a very narrow set of values. And if there is enough taxpayer money to fund this kind of propaganda, then there’s too much taxpayer money.