Posted on 01/10/2005 9:11:06 AM PST by Ellesu
Professor says bill would force department to repeat productions:
To Stephen Tyler Davis, the monologue of character Paul in "A Chorus Line" was pivotal.
Davis - an aspiring actor, playwright and director from Huntsville - played the character in a UA theater department production of the play last fall, and he said he wanted to convey it perfectly. In the monologue, Paul discusses the sexual abuse he endured as a child and his homosexuality.
"It was just a real part of a person," said Davis, a UA sophomore majoring in theater. "It was a lot on my shoulders, and I wanted to communicate that.
"But with this bill, it completely squeezes the art of it."
Davis is among those in the theater department worried about a House bill prefiled by Rep. Gerald Allen, R-Cottondale, for next month's legislative session that would prohibit the use of public funds for activities that "sanction, recognize, foster or promote a lifestyle or actions prohibited by the sodomy and sexual misconduct laws of the state."
HB30, if it were to become law, would prohibit use of public facilities for performances of plays with gay characters, such as "A Chorus Line," in addition to works by gay authors such as Oscar Wilde. Books written by gay authors or books that have gay characters, as well as textbooks referencing homosexuality as an alternative lifestyle, would also be banned from state-funded schools and libraries.
Peder Melhuse, a UA associate theater professor, said he has little fear the bill will ever become law. But "if it did go through, I would certainly go out of my way to choose and vote for [productions] that went right in the face of the law," he said.
According to HB30, public employees convicted of defying the ban would face the penalties of a Class A misdemeanor under state criminal code: a maximum $2,000 fine and at most a one-year jail sentence.
Melhuse said the bill's broad ban would severely limit theater department productions, and not just plays with overtly gay themes, characters or authors, he said, but those that deal with topics like AIDS as well.
"We would be down to repeating the same family-oriented play each year," Melhuse said. "We would probably have to repeat [a play] at least once or twice each year."
The bill asserts that the ban is not a prior restraint on speech prohibited under the First Amendment. According to HB30, the bill "shall apply only to state agencies, public schools, public libraries and public colleges and universities in the use of public funds and public facilities."
HB30 also provides that its sections can be severed so that if one part of the bill were to be declared unconstitutional, others would not be affected. It also references state laws making sodomy and "sexual misconduct" illegal.
In its June 2003 ruling in Lawrence v. Texas, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled a Texas law criminalizing private, consensual gay sex unconstitutional. The court found that individuals' private sexual decisions were protected under the 14th Amendment's due process clause.
Efforts to reach Allen last week were unsuccessful, but in a statement released last month he defends the bill as fiscally responsible and touted it as a counter effort to those who have tried to remove religious activities and symbols in publicly funded schools and buildings.
"My argument is the same," Allen said in the statement. "Plays glamorizing homosexuality, books advocating gay and lesbian activities, public financial support for activities organized by homosexuals have created an undue influence on the children in our schools."
Allen also says in the statement that nationwide efforts to ban gay marriage, which he has spearheaded in Alabama, would be futile "unless [the state] stops supporting programs that encourage homosexuality."
Davis said that while the bill helps him lose hope in Alabama, he said he believes a large part of the state is fighting against the ban.
"I think that a lot of the state really appreciates art," he said. "They really appreciate theater and novels. People read."
But if the bill becomes law, Davis said he thinks it would undercut the reason he came to the Capstone: to absorb an unlimited, diverse collection of knowledge.
"I would definitely be appalled and wouldn't go to school here anymore - or in this state," Davis said. "But let's hope it doesn't come to that."
There was a lengthy thread about this bill a while back. Completely misguided.
In other words, they just can't find a play without faggotry that's good enough to produce.
Yeah, I believe it, sure.
Quick, Contact Bwarny Fwanks, SAVE THE NEA! :))
Ya'll are so funny! LOL. Thanks.
Who does this twinkie think he's kidding?!? Talk about an arrogant little panty stain, thinking that the only plays worth producing must have some sort of either overt or subliminal thread of faggotry running through it. Half these animals would much rather hop into a big pile and bugger each other in front of the audience than actually worry about 'art', IMO.
I think this is taking place in Alabama.
Excerpt:
The bill asserts that the ban is not a prior restraint on speech prohibited under the First Amendment. According to HB30, the bill "shall apply only to state agencies, public schools, public libraries and public colleges and universities in the use of public funds and public facilities."
If you want on/off the list let me know.
Excellent. Allen has guts. Good for him and Alabama and if the "gay" theater students and teachers don't like it, and want to leave the state I doubt they'll be missed.
And that spew about having to repeat "family" plays as though such a thought is sickening and as though all plays are centered on sodomy - have they ever heard the name "Shakespeare"?
As a taxpayer, I'm thrilled my money will no longer go to promote perversion.
The 'ar-teests' are just squealing because someone's trying to pull them away from the public trough!
I thought the SCOTUS Legalized Sodomy.
To much faggotry in the world. They are a minority and we the MAJORITY have TOLERATED Their rantings and ravings long enough.
The barring of the homosexual lifestyle, which is a Deviant behavior, from public area must be persued. Thr Christian Crucifix is being removed and replaced with this Trash!!
My mom shot a copperhead snake in the cellar once; my dad hung it up on the side wall so my sister and I could get a long hard look at it rather than burying it.
I hear you, but the copperheads are all coming out of the cellar now, so all can get a good look at them.
There is no perfect world -to err is human...
-erring in opposition to the homosexual agenda is better than erring in support of the homosexual agenda...
It's not just a matter of an agenda. Do you realize how many classic works of literature there are with homosexual undertones? This law is borderline unenforcable. The end result will be the end of public lirbaries. I prefer to err on the side of letting indivduals choose what they want to see or read.
I meant 'libraries' of course. Ugh!
They can -privately funded.
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