Religious Art Banned from Black History Month Display by Deltona, Florida
Shocking emails reveal relationship between Deltona's Mayor Mulder and the ACLU
February 17, 2006 news release: Following Lawsuit Deltona Reverses Decision - Paintings Will be Displayed
February 17, 2006 news release: Liberty Counsel Files Federal Lawsuit to Stop Deltona's Censorship of Religious Art
February 15, 2006 news release: Deltona Artist Not Accepting Religious Discrimination Quietly
February 9, 2006 news release: Deltona, Florida Censors Religious Paintings During Black History Month
Artist Lloyd
Marcus with paintings 3 A.M. and Christmas Basket
Lloyd Marcus
and his painting Going HomeLloyd Marcus is an accomplished singer, entertainer, songwriter and artist who raised funds for Hurricane Katrina victims through his song "America Cries for You." He also wrote a song entitled "I Love Deltona." He is the President of the nonprofit Deltona Arts and Historical Center.
Read media reports:
Daytona Beach News Journal "Deltona art saga prompts special meeting. Mayor Dennis Mulder is calling an emergency meeting for 3 p.m. today to discuss hanging Lloyd Marcus' art in a separate public display at City Hall. Meanwhile, the mayor of Holly Hill said Thursday he wants to hang Marcus' paintings in his own city-sponsored Black History Month display. .... Marcus' lawyers, however, say the offer isn't good enough. Because the paintings were denied from the original spot in City Hall, they must go back up there, not in a separate venue, said Matt Staver, president and general counsel of the Liberty Counsel. 'We believe (Deltona's) most recent suggestion is treating free speech as separate but equal.' Mulder is upset the group turned down his attempt to compromise. 'If you look at Liberty Counsel and their Web site,' Mulder said, 'they file suits every day and increase their budget.' For now, city leaders aren't quite sure how to respond to Holly Hill Mayor Roland Via's offer to hang the paintings some 30 miles away at his City Hall. The city is known in December for its nativity scene and menorah. Though Mulder said he is a tad irked at the offer, Via doesn't feel he's stepping on anyone's toes. 'We believe in separation of church and state,' Via said, 'not from church and state.'"
Orlando Sentinel "City meeting to discuss paintings lawsuit. The city is having a special meeting today to respond to the lawsuit filed this morning by an artist whose paintings were banned last week from a Black History Month display at City Hall due to their religious content. The Liberty Counsel is a Longwood-based conservative rights group that is representing the artist, Lloyd Marcus. Mathew Staver, the group's president and one of Marcus' attorneys, said at a press conference in Orlando today that their suit would not be resolved unless Deltona puts Marcus' paintings back in the display."
Daytona News Journal "Deltona pulls 'religious' art. Lavender and gold African gowns, portraits of famous figures like Oprah Winfrey and books like 'Roots' and 'Beloved' adorn the lobby of Deltona's City Hall, gathered by employees wanting to celebrate Black History Month. But you won't find Lloyd Marcus' colorful painting of a joyful New Orleans funeral procession among the mix."
Worldnet Daily - "City censors paintings as too religious. Marcus' paintings were to be part of an employee-organized display in the lobby of Deltona City Hall, but acting city manager Roland Blossom nixed the art, reported the Daytona Beach News-Journal. 'I saw the word 'Jesus' and the Holy Bible just sort of thrown in the painting,' Blossom told the paper, saying because the display is in a public building, observers might 'think this government is advocating in favor of one religion over another.'.... The woman in charge of the city display, Jeannine Gage, says she had only received positive feedback about the artwork. 'It's not like there's an angry crowd of residents at the doors of City Hall,' Gage is quoted as saying."
NewsMax - "Florida City Bans Christian Paintings. One of the paintings, titled 'The Christmas Basket,' features three black people: a minister, a woman and another man wearing a baseball cap which reads 'I Love Jesus.' The trio is shown delivering a basket of food to a poor single mother with her arm around her son standing beside her and a baby in her other arm. Another painting is titled, '3 AM,' which features an elderly black couple looking down from their second floor bedroom window above a storefront church. They see, standing in the rain, a battered white woman with a black eye and two little children looking up at them. The clock on the bedroom dresser reads 3 AM. A third painting shows a New Orleans funeral procession celebrated by blacks living in that city. ‘I would hardly call these paintings 'in your face religious,'’ Marcus told NewsMax.com. 'We’re asked to tolerate every other religion. Meanwhile, any hint of Christianity is banned from the public square.”
Go Volusia - "DELTONA - An open letter to Roland Blossom: Please note that a featured story on this link celebrates 'one of the few openly transgendered clergy members in the United States' in an article titled 'Call Me Malcolm'. Furthermore, the PLANNED PARENTHOOD website which is LINKED to the city website promotes a liberal religious agenda. Many in the Christian faith would find this liberal agenda to be contrary to the teachings of Jesus Christ.... Now, compare this Planned Parenthood website that is being promoted by the City of Deltona's website to the artwork of Lloyd Marcus that you banned from display."
Orlando Sentinel - "DELTONA -- A Bible. A clerical collar. A hat that says 'I Love Jesus.' Those symbols and other religious imagery prompted Deltona's interim city manager to remove three paintings from a display at City Hall celebrating Black History Month. The move has unsettled some officials and angered some residents who say the city, which recently dropped its opening invocation at council meetings in favor of a moment of silence, is being hypersensitive to the separation of church and state."