Please consider signing this change.org petition in support of Rhode Island Latino Arts
and
come and show support at the motion hearing
This Thursday
3/27 at 10:00AM
Courtroom 3
Motion Hearing
Rhode Island Latino Arts et al v. National Endowment for the Arts et al
Senior District Judge Smith
U.S. District Court
District of Rhode Island
One Exchange Terrace
Federal Building and Courthouse
Providence, RI 02903
Dirt Palace and the Dirt Palace Public Projects Board of Directors fully stand in solidarity with Rhode Island Latino Arts (RILA); National Queer Theater (NQT); The Theater Offensive (TTO); and the Theatre Communications Group (TCG) in filing a lawsuit against the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in the U.S. District Court of Rhode Island.
This suit comes in response to new eligibility criteria, under which arts organizations were asked to certify that they and their projects do not “promote gender ideology” in order to be funded.
We stand together in our assertion that diversity, feminism, LGBTQIA+ rights, and racial justice are core values of our community and its organizations. The NEA’s new “anti-gender ideology” certification and funding prohibition devalues the critical contributions to culture made by women, feminists, and LGBTQIA+ artists in our community and violates our First Amendment rights.
Further, by asking artists and arts organizations to self-censor their practices by submitting to criteria that imposes limits on artistic freedom and cultural expression, the federal government is restricting fiscal support to artwork which only conforms with what the current administration deems favorable or appropriate. This attestation contradicts the Fifth Amendment's protections against self-incrimination, and undermines the precedent establishing artistic excellence and merit as the sole measure of funding.
We appreciate Rhode Island Latino Arts for taking this important legal action and are united in our support.
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