September 26, 2007

If a Gay Musician Has a Picture of Naked Underage Girls, Can He Still Be Arrested?

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Elton JohnIt’s a zen koan for the 21st century. Elton John is being faced with a child pornography investigation after a Nan Goldin portrait he owns of two naked girls was about to be included in a gallery show. The photograph, called “Klara and Edda Belly-dancing,” was to be part of an exhibit at the Baltic gallery in Gateshead, UK, but managers there apparently called the police the day before its scheduled opening. That’s right, the gallery called the police. Were they just suddenly wracked with paroxysms of guilt or something? “All this time we thought it was art, but we were wrong, officers, so wrong! Take it from us!” So the police have seized the photograph and are apparently still assessing its worthiness as art. A statement on Elton John’s website pointed out that the photograph has been exhibited around the world with no previous kerfuffle. Besides, if they were going to seize something, why not seize this Donald Duck photo?

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