New York Times Magazine cover “Reverend Wildmon War on the NEA,” September 2, 1990
May 21, 1990: David files a lawsuit against Donald Wildmon for misrepresenting his work and defaming his character. David Wojnarowicz v. American Family Association and Donald E. Wildmon is the first lawsuit brought under New York Artists’ Authorship Rights Act. The case is brought by David (represented by David D. Cole, a staff attorney of the Center for Constitutional Rights) against Reverend Donald Wildmon and American Family Association. Wildmon had mailed leaflet misrepresenting David’s artwork to 6,000 people, including more than 3,000 “Christian leaders,” more than 2,500 media outlets and every member of Congress, during the National Endowment for the Arts controversy. Listen to David describe this attack on his work to Terry Gross on PBS.