On November 30, the National Portrait Gallery, part of the Smithsonian, removed A Fire in My Belly from its exhibition Hide/Seek, on “sexual difference in the making of modern American portraiture.” The censorship came after pressure from the Catholic League, incoming Speaker of the House John A. Boehner (R-OH) and incoming House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA), who objected to an 11-second segment of the video that depicts a crucifix covered with ants.
“A Fire in My Belly” was created in 1987 to honor of Peter Hujar, a …