Gay leathersex just isn't as shocking as it used to be

Mapplethorpe exhibit opens in LA... w/o protest this time...  in contrast to the Smithsonian exhibit of gay & lesbian artists which closed last year under threat of pressure.  It's curious... it seems that if the work is about sexual/homoerotic content then people are becoming okay w/ that... but the exhibit last year that was of "vanilla" work that just happened to be by gay artists drew protest...  Is it that people are becoming okay w/ gay people making "gay" art, but want artists otherwise to stay in the closet?  Or maybe it's just the difference between LA and DC...

More at:  http://www.artnews.com/2012/08/28/l-a-x/