SNP quango gave £110,000 of funding to ‘porn masquerading as art and culture’

AN SNP government quango has been accused of using almost £110,000 of public money to fund a “harmful and abusive” hardcore sex film.

Creative Scotland has come under fire over grants to create a “moving image installation” which will feature a “secret sex cave party” in which performers will be shown having “non-simulated” intercourse.

The artist behind the scheme, Leonie Rae Gasson, was awarded £23,219 in lottery funding in August 2022 for “research and development” for the project, which she called Rein.

This helped pay for a nine-minute film in which three characters “riotously hump, languidly lick, and shake their manes” in an “experiment in teasing each other and the viewer”.

Creative Scotland then awarded the project a further £84,555 in lottery cash in January this year for full-scale development of the project, which is due to premiere in August 2025 and is currently seeking performers.

Following concerns, the agency said the project was “considerably more explicit in its execution” than had been indicated in its application and that it was “reviewing the award”.

According to the website promoting the film, it is proposed that the project will be “an exploration of dyke sexuality” and will include “daddies lurking in the woods”, princesses “playfully trying to drown each other” and “bare-a---lovers frolicking in long grass”.

Kate Barker, from the LGB Alliance, said: “We see this whole project as offensive. It is harmful and abusive towards women. It’s nothing more than porn masquerading as arts and culture.

“We all know that women working in the porn industry are vulnerable and exploited, so this project being given £85,000 public money is unacceptable and appalling.”

Trina Budge, of the For Women Scotland campaign group, said members of the public would be “horrified” to learn a project that “is so offensive and dehu- manises women” would be handed so much public cash. She added: “The act of prostitution is recognised as a crime of violence towards women, and this project is paying actors to have sex, as well as promoting unhealthy and dangerous relationships.”

Ms Gasson, who is based in Glasgow, describes herself as a director who specialises in “bold, conceptual and visually arresting work from a queer and neurodivergent perspective”.

A Creative Scotland spokesman said: “We support freedom of expression and artists being able to push the boundaries of radical performance.

“However, the project, Rein, is considerably more explicit in its execution than was indicated in the application received to our Open Fund.

“As such, we are reviewing this award and will be discussing next steps with the applicant and with the other partners in the project.”

Ms Gasson was approached for comment.