New Hampshire town considers banning all public art over LGBTQ+ murals

A small town in New Hampshire may ban all public art after a local official objected to a “diversity mural” sponsored by an LGBTQ+ group.

In late August, state Sen. Carrie Gendreau (R), a member of Littleton, New Hampshire’s three-person Select Board, took issue with a mural consisting of three paintings by artist Meg Reinhold, according to the CBC. Commissioned by the NOCO Mural Project in collaboration with local LGBTQ+ group North Country Pride with funding from a United Way grant, the paintings went up late this summer on a brick wall outside local restaurant Jing Fong.

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Gendreau brought up the mural at an August 28 Select Board meeting, noting that it was on private property. “But I really think we need to be very careful about what kind of artwork goes up,” she said. “This last artwork that went up on the side of the Jing Fong building, I would encourage anyone to research what that really means.”

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A post on NOCO Mural Project’s Instagram page explains that one of the paintings depicting dandelions growing out of an open book is a commentary on the current political climate in which books and access to gender-affirming healthcare are being banned across the country. Another showing a white bearded iris over a rainbow color wheel is meant to be a nod to the Greek goddess of rainbows, the Pride flag, and queer artist Hilma af Klint. The third shows two white birch trees, New Hampshire’s state tree, and is titled “We Belong.”

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Gendreau did not elaborate on her interpretations of the images, though the two other members of the Select Board appeared to know what she meant.

“It’s a very uncomfortable thing, I know, because it makes it sound like I’m anti…whatever. I’m not,” she continued, claiming that the group responsible for the mural had plans to install more art on public property. “It’s coming, and what went up was not good. Was not good.”

“I don’t want that to be in our town,” she added. “I don’t want it to be here, I don’t want… I just don’t want it to be here.”

Town Manager Jim Gleason responded that the Select Board “definitely can regulate the public property.”

“Town property, we can keep every sign, no matter what it is, off of town property,” he said.

Gleason, whose job, according to the CBC, is simply to carry out decisions made by the elected officials on the board, later told The Boston Globe that the town is seeking legal advice on banning public artwork altogether because it would be illegal to ban only LGBTQ+-related works.

Following public outcry over her comments, Gendreau resigned from the Woodsville Guaranty Savings Bank board of directors in September. “We are aware of comments made at a recent Littleton Select Board meeting by a member of the bank’s board of directors about the new mural in downtown, causing hurt to the LGBTQ+ and art communities and to the community at large,” a September 8 statement from the bank announcing her resignation read. “We want you to know that we truly understand. The comments are not representative of what the bank stands for.”

Days later, Gendreau told the Caledonian Record that she would not apologize for her comments and said that she opposes displays of LGBTQ+ support. “Some of our dearest friends are in the gay community. I love those people,” she said. “But there seems to be a movement [to put LGBTQ+ culture] in our face. I don’t want Littleton to be plastered with sexuality, whether it’s heterosexual sexuality or homosexual sexuality.”

According to The Boston Globe, Gendreau describes herself as a follower of author and Messianic Jewish rabbi Jonathan Cahn. The CBC describes Cahn as a “doomsday prophet” who has said that the 1969 Stonewall uprising opened the gates to another realm, allowing pagan gods to reenter the world. Cahn has also reportedly described rainbows and eyes as demonic symbols. Gendreau told the Globe that the murals in Littleton contain “demonic hidden messages” and “demonic symbolism.” She also described local theater company Theatre UP’s production of the queer show La Cage aux Folles as “disgusting,” and falsely equated drag performers with pedophilia.

An estimated 300 people attended a September Select Board meeting, where North Country Pride and another local LGBTQ+ organization, Our Friends, Our Neighbors, organized a silent protest in response to Gendreau’s comments and the possibility of a public art ban. According to the Caledonian Record, Gendreau tabled discussion of public art at the meeting in order to hear public comments.

But CBC reports that during an October 10 meeting with town officials, Courtney Vashaw, president of Theatre UP’s board of directors, learned that the public art ban was still under consideration. Vashaw also told the Globe that Gleason informed her that the Select Board was unlikely to renew the theater company’s lease for the Littleton Opera House due to its “inextricable link to the LGBTQ community.”

“Under the current environment that we’re going through,” Gleason told the Globe, “I think it would be very difficult to get two of the three board members to be supportive of any kind of long-term agreement with the group.”

“We have a town government that is actively hostile to LGBTQ people, even if they’re pillars of the community, even if they’re helping with tourism, and helping with the vibrancy of our local arts and culture scene, and even if they’re bringing a lot of money,” said Jordan Applewhite, a local bar and restaurant owner who identifies as queer. “That doesn’t feel like responsible government.”

“This may be a moment where people start to realize that you can’t ignore town government,” Applewhite said. “You actually do have to show up for town elections in March and do a little research about who the candidates are and maybe even consider running yourself.”

At an October 23 Select Board meeting, Gendreau faced calls for her resignation, according to a statement from North Country Pride. Fellow board member Linda MacNeil spoke out against censorship of art, while Gleason recounted a heartbreaking incident in which a Littleton resident came to his office and told him that she hoped his son, who was gay and died of cancer, was “happy in hell with the devil, where he belongs.”

“I’ve had to come into work today and wonder: How do I go forward? How do I focus on my job, which is supposed to be potholes, sidewalks, police, and fire, when I’ve got people in this community telling me my son is in hell — because he was gay? He didn’t choose to be anything. He was born gay, and I loved him,” Gleason said to thunderous applause.

In September the Caledonian Record reported that Gendreau has no plans to step down from either the Littleton Select Board or the state Senate, but she does not plan to run for the Select Board again.

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