2007 Poster Controversy
For the 24th annual event held September 30, 2007 the official poster artwork was a photo featuring well-known LGBT and BDSM community members in festive and fetish attire including Sister Roma "as players in an innovative version of the culturally iconographic" The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci complete with table draped with the Leather Pride flag and "cluttered with sex toys, whips, and various (BDSM) restraints". The artwork by FredAlert was used on the official event guide as well as produced as collector's posters that were also posted throughout the city for advertising. Some conservative religious groups criticized this as anti-Christian and blasphemous although media outlets noted that parodies and homages of the Last Supper painting like Renée Cox's Yo Mama's Last Supper are numerous including ones by The Simpsons, The Sopranos, Phish, That '70s Show, Robert Altman (in the film MASH) and the Boston Red Sox. Senior Pastor at San Francisco's Metropolitan Community Church agreed that "they are just having fun" with both the painting and the current notion of 'San Francisco values' stating he thought it was "tastefully and cleverly done."
From a press release about the poster, Andy Copper, Board President of Folsom Street Events, a non-profit organization, states "There is no intention to be particularly pro-religion or anti-religion with this poster; the image is intended only to be reminiscent of the ‘Last Supper’ painting. It is a distinctive representation of diversity with women and men, people of all colors and sexual orientations." and "We hope that people will enjoy the artistry for what it is - nothing more or less. Many people choose to speculate on deeper meanings. The irony is that da Vinci was widely considered to be homosexual. In truth, we are going to produce a series of inspired poster images over the next few years. Next year's poster ad may take inspiration from 'American Gothic' by Grant Wood or Edvard Munch's 'The Scream' or even 'The Sound of Music! I guess it wouldn't be the Folsom Street Fair without offending some extreme members of the global community, though."
The Catholic League, Concerned Women for America and the Family Research Council targeted the largest mainstream sponsor of the event, Miller Brewing Company, threatening to boycott their products for the company supporting the event and allowing its logo to appear in the ad. Miller asked for their logo to be removed from the poster with a statement on their website "while Miller has supported the Folsom Street Fair for several years, we take exception to the poster the organizing committee developed this year. We understand some individuals may find the imagery offensive and we have asked the organizers to remove our logo from the poster effective immediately." The Catholic League dropped the boycott within a month with no evidence of Miller's sales being affected.
Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the United States House of Representatives who represents San Francisco and is also Roman Catholic, fielded a question on this as part of her Friday morning press conference. She responded "It's a Constitutional question. It's a religious question. It's about as global a question as you could ask...I'm a big believer in the First Amendment. I do not believe Christianity has been harmed by the Folsom Street Fair."
Read more about this topic: Folsom Street Fair
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