Censorpedia: An Interactive Database of Censorship Incidents

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Featured Case Date: 1992 Region: North America Subject: Political/Economic/Social Opinion, Sexual/Gender Orientation Medium: Film Video Artist: Jennie Livingston, Miramax and the NEA Confronting Bodies: Dr. Ted Baehr's Christian Film and Television Commission Dates of Action: 1992 Location: New York City and Washington, DC Description of Artwork: A documentary film depicting homosexuality and gay balls in New York City. The Incident: The Christian Film and Television Commission called for "all moral Americans" to boycott Jennie Livingston's Paris is Burning, charging that it was a "homosexual propaganda film." Livingston received grants from Art Matters, Inc., the New York State Council on the Arts, and the NEA film and video program. Results of Incident: Paris is Burning received international attention and distribution. The Commission continues to recommend local ratings boards for film. Source: Artistic Freedom Under Attack 1992 What is Censorpedia? Censorpedia is a crowdsourced online database of censorship cases within the arts and in culture. It is aimed at those researching censorship, at activists working for freedom of expression and at artists and other cultural producers whose expression has been subject to censorship or attempted censorship. Censorpedia documents censorship incidents by providing the who, what, when, where and why. By providing a repository of information about what is vulnerable to censorship and about the strategies and tactics that have defeated previous’ censorship attempts, Censorpedia aids the fight for free expression. Researchers can search for a specific case, year or keyword using the search box, as well as browse by medium, by grounds for censorship, or explore a random case. Activists can search for ongoing cases or contribute a case that is ongoing or recently resolved. Artists and cultural producers are similarly invited to add cases they are directly involved with or are familiar with first hand. Censorpedia builds on the landmark 1994 art project The File Room, initiated by Muntadas. For more information about censorship visit our Annotated Bibliography Feel free to: add a case Browse censorship cases by: medium grounds for censorship region all cases ongoing cases random case Censorpedia Terms of Use