An art gallery covered up its lesbian founder’s drawings, prompting a battle over censorship and homophobia

PHILADELPHIA -- The lesbian founder of a Mt. Airy neighborhood art space filed a complaint with the state commission on human rights earlier this month, alleging that because of homophobia, board members turned two of her drawings away from public view, effectively censoring her work. The complaint, and the controversy the board’s actions have since sparked in one of the city’s most progressive enclaves, echo charged debates across the country over LGBTQ rights and what to do when artwork offends some viewers. In one of the drawings, entitled Kissing in the Summer Sun, two women kiss; in the o...