This small town in the US is considering a public art ban

Littleton, a small town in the northern area of New Hampshire, close to the Canadian border, has been turned into the local stage of the American cultural wars.

The small community is considering banning art from public spaces as it battles the internal division between its citizens over one single mural.

The ban would affect all signs or murals in any public space. However, some community members told the media they worried it could extend to other art forms.

What caused the controversy was the LGBTQ+ mural in the picture. It has a book, a rainbow wheel, and New Hampshire's signature tree and was sponsored by North Country Pride.

Image: NOCO Mural Project / Instagram

While most people find it normal, Carrie Gendreau, a member of the town's board, saw demonic symbols in it, according to a recollection by the Boston Globe.

Gendreau is a member of the town's three-person Select Board and an extremely conservative Christian. She is also a state senator with a somewhat known profile.

The State Senator told the Boston Globe she believes that the mural holds"demonic hidden messages" and "demonic symbolism" representing the Mesopotamian goddess Ishtar.

She also clarified that she is a follower of Jonathan Cahn, a doomsday pastor who believes abortion rights and gay marriage are condemning the US and that God sent Donald Trump to save America.

Image: Graphtronics / Wikimedia Commons

The town manager, Jim Gleason, told CBC that, after the complaint, he consulted with the municipal lawyers about the possibility of restricting specific art.

According to Gleason, narrowing it down and targeting only LGBTQ+ art would open the door to expensive constitutional legal battles, so it should affect all art.

Grenau is also targeting a painting in the town's Harmony Park, with the sun as an eye and a rainbow-colored stack of rocks and a play by the local theater company, Theatre UP.

Image: NOCO Mural Project / Instagram

She referred to the local theater production of 'La Cage aux Folles,' a French comedy about a gay couple that pretends to be straight when their son's future inlaws come for dinner.

The theater company performs in the town's opera house, a historic building. They won a grant to restore it with some budget from the board, which has now stopped the plans.

Theatre UP also hoped to renew its lease, which will expire in May. Now, they think the board will push them out of the building that has housed them for a decade.

According to what some community members have told CBC and the Boston Globe, the mural dispute is chipping away at the town's peaceful coexistence.

Jim Gleason, who had a gay son, Kerri Harrington, who helped organize the mural painting, and Courtney Vashaw, the president of UP Theater, told CBC how they now feel unwelcome in their community.