National Gallery of Art Under Fire for Blocking Woman With Pro-Life Lapel Pin

Life News ^ | 1/27/10 | Steven Ertelt

[wagglebee]

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The National Gallery of Art is coming under fire from a pro-life advocate who says officials there prevented her from entering the facility because she had a pro-life lapel pin. Meghan Duke writes about her experience in a blog post at the First Things web site.

"While visiting the National Gallery of Art this past Saturday, I ran into a pair of errant security guards who have taken to interpreting the Constitution in their spare time," she writes.

Duke planned to stop in to see some of the famous works of art after spending time at the March for Life.

Searching for inspiration for her interest in photography and anticipating a visit to an exhibit on processes of photography before the digital age, Duke entered the facility excited about her time there.

But, after searching her bag, two guards at the Gallery told her, "You're good to go in, but first you need to remove that pro-life pin.”

"He was indicating the small lime green pin with the message 'impact73.org' and the silhouette of a small hand inside that of a larger hand that I had attached to the lapel of my coat," Duke writes today.

"The pin, they informed me, was a 'religious symbol' and a symbol of a particular political cause and it could not be worn inside a federal building," Duke continues.

"Why, I asked, can I not wear a religious or political symbol inside a federal building? Bringing to bear the full weight of the supreme law of the land, the guards informed that it was a violation of the First Amendment of the United States’ Constitution: The combination of me, wearing a pro-life pin, in a federal building was a violation of the separation of church and state," she explained.

Asked for a written copy of the rules preventing her form wearing a pro-life pin as a visitor to the gallery, they informed her the rules were not allowed for public viewing.

Neither Duke nor LifeNews.com could find a copy of the rules on the NGA web site and NGA routed a call for comment for this article to a staff member whose voice mail kicked in but who has not responded to a message left.

Duke also says there is no mention of the prohibition of the expression of free speech by wearing religious or political symbols in title 40 section 6303 of the U.S. code which gives a list of illegal activities at the National Gallery of Art as well as the Smithsonian Institution and the J.F.K. Center for the Performing Arts.

Duke has since learned the guars were apparently acting out of order.

"I followed up on my experience with a spokesperson for the Gallery this morning and was told that the guards acted entirely on their own initiative and would be censured," she said in the First Things post. "The spokesperson explained that the museum has a policy against carrying posters and signs into the museum, no matter the message, to prevent damage to the art—but none against lapel pins."

"It is good to know that the Gallery does not have a policy of censoring free speech, but the actions and arguments of the guards illustrate—besides complete confusion as to the purpose of the First Amendment—an all too common misconception of the role of religion in public life," she concluded.

Duke says she thinks the guards were looking for pro-life pins in the wake of the March for Life.

ACTION: Contact the National Gallery of Art at 401 Constitution Ave NW
Washington, DC 20004, (202) 842-6466 or at http://www.nga.gov/xio/phone.shtm

[syriacus]

I guess folks at the NGA need to remove some of the paintings from their collection.

Saint Anne with the Virgin and the Christ Child, c. 1511/1515 oil on panel

In this altarpiece panel, the Virgin and her mother, Saint Anne, flank the infant Jesus. Images with Saint Anne became common in the fifteenth century as her popularity grew, and this arrangement is one of the two principal ways in which she was shown. The figure of God the Father appears in a gold ground above the baby’s head, and the dove of the holy spirit hovers between them.

There are more examples of religious art, too.

[Bellflower]

They need to be sued.

[dennisw]

Could these guards possibly be 0bama voters of the affirmative action persuasion and pulling down minimum $100,000 per year w solid golf bennies and pensions? And do these guards possibly have children who are in training to be future federal commissars in charge of your medical services and health plan?

[dennisw]

Could these guards possibly be 0bama voters of the affirmative action persuasion and pulling down minimum $100,000 per year w solid gold bennies and pensions? And do these guards possibly have children who are in training to be future federal commissars in charge of your medical services and health plan?

[dennisw]

Could these guards possibly be 0bama voters of the affirmative action persuasion and pulling down minimum $100,000 per year w solid gold bennies and pensions? And do these guards possibly have children who are in training to be future federal commissars in charge of your medical services and health plan?

[mlizzy]

Plaudits to Meghan Duke for wrinting about her experience, and, we, as pro-lifers, need to keep pounding away at injustices thrown our way. As far as espousing pro-life beliefs, my husband and I, from time to time, wear our "CHOOSE LIFE" t-shirts (example shirts shown in photo) just like we would any other t-shirt. He wears his when he goes on his jogs, I wear mine when I "rosary-walk." We also wear them to the grocery store, church, *post office*, even Starbucks! By wearing the shirts, we are displaying our "choice" regarding life, just as we show the sports teams we "choose" on our backs as well. The wearing of lapel pins that some have commented on via this thread is great! Because it is with "insistence" that we will win this battle, or so says TFP through a cool banner at the March for Life, Washington, this year.

To see how demonic the pro-abort cause is, you can take a look at (however, I warn you it's odd/offensive) this poster and, I'm assuming, its creator that was displayed (as a counter-protest) at the recent March for Life in San Francisco. The words on the poster, read "My C*nt, My Choice," and the poster image follows suit with similar abrasiveness. It is a telling depiction of who it is *exactly* that inspires the pro-abort side, through deception, deceit, confusion, and lies.

[Albion Wilde]

Everybody reading here needs to wear pro-life pins into every public building in Washington.

[my_pointy_head_is_sharp]

The Precious Feet pin, one could argue, is not a political or religious statement of any kind, but rather a work of art unto itself.

To the Left, the pin IS a religious & political statement. And it's a vile one to them. They recoil at the site of it! Like vampires to a cross! That's why the woman was booted out of the National Gallery of Art. A museum! - she got booted out of a museum for wearing a pin! Not a swastika, not a symbol of anything vile - but two tiny feet symbolizing Life. The horror!