LOS ANGELES--G. Wayne Clough, the Smithsonian Institution's chief executive, said Thursday that Republican House leaders' threats of budgetary consequences factored into his Nov. 30 decision to remove a video from a National Portrait Gallery exhibition of work by artists who are primarily gay and lesbian.
In a brief interview after speaking at the Town Hall Los Angeles public issues forum at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel, Clough, who has been the secretary of the Smithsonian 2 1/2 years, said he wished he had taken more time and spoken to more art experts before making the decision. "It's the most painful thing I've ever done," he said.
But he said he didn't consider it censorship because in making the decision, "I didn't judge this work of art."