Artist Known for Gay Subjects ’Outed’ As Prop. 8 Supporter

[Bluebear]

An artist known for her gay-themed work has inspired controversy for having made a $1,000 contribution to proponents of California’s Proposition 8, the ballot initiative that put the rights of gay and lesbian families up to popular vote and saw those rights taken away last November by a slim majority at the ballot box.

LoHud.com reported in a Feb. 5 article that Chappaqua, NY artist Maureen Mullarkey, whose paintings have drawn on Pride events and cross-dressing performers as subject material, had made the contribution to the anti-gay side of the ballot initiative, shocking and angering many in the GLBT community.

Said David Juhren of GLBT group LOFT, "There’s something very duplicitous in making money through depiction of the LGBT community through her art ," the article reported.

Added Juhren, who serves as LOFT’s director of communications, "She’s relatively well-known, and that’s why it’s kind of a slap in the face."

The 66-year-old Mullarkey responded to such criticisms by saying that artists should not be harassed over their beliefs and comparing being called a hypocrite to the "brownshirt tactics" of the Nazis.

http://www.edgeboston.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=&sc2=news&sc3=&id=86912

[Toasterlad]

1. Fuck Her.

[roguevalley]

15. so art excuses evil. what a dipshit. I hope she goes broke and

the brownshirt stuff? She should look in a mirror, the bitch.

[robinlynne]

16. exactly.

[TheWraith]

2. How to lose all perspective, really fast.

I'd say that LOFT was exaggerating in the use of the word "duplicitous," but frankly when the other person comes back with a comparison to the Nazis--one which makes fuck-all sense, at that--it so outpaces any previous exaggeration as to render the whole discussion moot.

[Zenlitened]

3. Love her response:

The 66-year-old Mullarkey responded to such criticisms by saying that artists should not be harassed over their beliefs and comparing being called a hypocrite to the "brownshirt tactics" of the Nazis.

Memo to the aptly-named artist: There are no words to adequately describe what a ridiculous little person you are. You've raised vapid self-centeredness to an art form. And it ain't pretty.

[FreeState]

5. Yeah - she is going to learn fast...

when no one will buy her "gay" artwork anymore... spit on us we wipe it off and dont look back - and somehow thats brown shirting...

[The Brethren]

35. No, what's she's really saying is

we're being traitors to ourselves. We're suppose to stand by while some one walks all over us and our rights. Then in turn we are suppose to be very sweet to them.

How dare we get mad. :sarcasm: She's only exercising her right to be a bigot. We need to be more tolerant and bend over more for our periodic boot-kick up our backside.

[Duncan Grant]

4. Perhaps the Mormons or Catholics would appreciate her art?

[liberalmuse]

6. I can't reconcile that.

She is basically exploiting, then persecuting the gay community. Like someone else said, "FUCK HER!!!" So gays are 'brownshirts' and she's okay for wanting to break up gay families. Sounds like a 'puke to me.

[GodlessBiker]

7. This is her Donna Summer moment. What an asshole.

[Starry Messenger]

8. "Realist" artists are sometimes quite reactionary.

See: Thomas Kinkade.

[Vanje]

9. "Maybe she can sell her paintings to the mormons."

"The article also cited campaign finance reports that indicate that Mullarkey had contributed to the Swift Boat Vets and POWs for Truth."

Fuckn freeper!

[La Lioness Priyanka]

10. artists are above morality? thats a new one

[Bluenorthwest]

11. She's a right winger across the board

and just an opprotunistic, exploitative, money grubbing hack.

[The Brethren]

33. Another example of why it's

good to know who your friends are and esp. who your enemies are.

[Smarm E. Doofus]

12. Some of us have been saying for years......

>>>>>>The Daily News also reported that Mullarkey’s Web site speaks of the "erotic celebration" represented by Pride parades, saying that such events "keep us all mindful that Dionysus is alive, powerful and under our own porch.">>>>>>>>>>>>

......that it was politically unwise ( and *really* bad PR) to conflate notions of hedonism with LGBT rights. They are separate and distinct.

Now we know why. Thanks, Ms. Mullarkey.

Love that name, BTW.

[Iggo]

29. Welcome to DU.

:hi:

[Smarmie Doofus]

38. Thanks. It's only me.

I've had multiple identities since Jan. 31( computer foul-up) but looks like I'll go with this one.

I was in Whittier once. Pretty town. Saw the Nixon Library, etc.

[Iggo]

39. Yeah, it's nice.

And pretty old-ish for SoCal. Of course, like most couch-surfing party-cannibals, I've lived just about everywhere in and around L.A. County...and a little bit of Orange County...and even some San Bernardino County.

[grace0418]

13. Aside from being hypocritical and downright evil, it's a really stupid career decision.

She pretty much lost her entire market. What a dumb-ass, in more ways than one.

[donco6]

14. I hear the Bush library needs some crap for the walls.

Maybe they'll take hers.

[vixengrl]

17. Her name is Mullarkey?

Wow. Sounds like a homonym for for her support of gays, doesn't it?

[davidinalameda]

18. screw her

I hope she's made enough money off of our community because I doubt she ever sees another queer penny

[bluedawg12]

19. Maybe she's just studying us like bugs?

[Behind the Aegis]

20. Sounds like some here.

I am all for using your issues, until I think they are a detriment.

"Some of my best friends are gay and they agree with me that "marriage" is 'too much too soon.'"

[cboy4]

21. Oh boy .. Godwin's Law.

You know you're in a hole when you have to start bringing up the Nazis.

[bluedawg12]

22. The artist formerly known as - successful.

[The Brethren]

34. LOL

Ya, didn't she once sing: "Purple Rain". Sorry, wrong artist.

[bluedawg12]

37. She's going to be singing

for her supper. No more gay dineros.

[Maven]

23. Not surprising if you look at her artwork

http://www.edgeboston.com/display/viewimage_story.php?id=86912

It's obvious she sees gay people as curiosities and not human beings entitled to equality.

[SacredCow]

25. Yeah- after reading her comments, it's pretty clear.....

that she's mocking her muse.

If I had a piece of her art, I'd take it to the closest gay club and throw it in the urinal for all to desecrate. Then ship it back to her.

[SacredCow]

24. Why in the F**K.....

is it only harassment when it's aimed at them?

I can be denigrated to hell and back, and the excuse is, "Oh, they're just expressing their beliefs... They have a right to their beliefs, just as you do."

Fuck her with something hard and sandpapery!

[bluedawg12]

26. We're just expressing our beliefs too.

Don't buy her art.

[SacredCow]

27. Oh, and the artist's quotes get better with each paragraph!

The 66-year-old Mullarkey responded to such criticisms by saying that artists should not be harassed over their beliefs and comparing being called a hypocrite to the "brownshirt tactics" of the Nazis.

Mullarkey stated that it is her belief that "marriage is the union of husband and wife--a premise so simple, so fundamental that nature and civilization itself both testify to the truth of it."

Added the painter, "Artists are not in the habit of imposing ideological conformity on one another or demanding it from others.

"Moreover, regard for individual gay persons does not require assent to a politicized assault on bedrock social reality and the common good."

______


Oh, no she did NOT just say that treating me and every other homosexual in the US as a 3rd class citizen is for the "common good!!!!!"

[Hassin Bin Sober]

31. "Artists are not in the habit of imposing ideological conformity "

No we just vote it in to law. :eyes:

Fucking asshole.

[TEmperorHasNoClothes]

28. WTF??????????????

[ColbertWatcher]

30. She godwinns herself? What a victim. n/t

[The Brethren]

32. "saying that artists should not .....

be harassed over their beliefs and comparing being called a hypocrite to the "brownshirt tactics" of the Nazis." What a load of crap.

Mullarkey has every right, according to our freedom of speech, to say whatever she wants (within reason based on local laws). She also has the right to do whatever she wants with her money. Likewise, everyone else has a right to their opinions including criticizing her if they wish. Similarly, anyone who may have previously considered spending money on her art (product) who now may choose not to, has every right to spend their money as they wish. And this hypocritical bigot uses gay people in her art which helps generate money for her....that is even more repulsive.

And being an artist does not put her above her actions and her bigoted views through her support of Prop. 8.

[tbyg52]

36. Well, all I have to say is

:puke:

Scumbag.

[Zenlitened]

40. I think it's possible for someone to be so DUMB that they're EVIL.

Where does evil come from? What makes a person evil?

It occurred to me, thinking about this whole thing...

A person's stupidity can be so profound, so sweeping and so far removed from rationality... that it reaches a sort of critical mass, and goes from being a deficit or lack to something positively, measurably harmful.

Evil.

Not the Hitler-level of evil. Not the serial-killer level of evil. Just the everyday evil that hums along in the background all over the world. Powered not by insanity or mad plans for conquest, but by plain old stupidity. Which never seems to be in short supply.

[closeupready]

41. Nazi "brownshirt tactics"? Fuck off.

Hypocrite!