A Selective Timeline of Censorship in the U.S.A.: 1999

Prior to the opening of Sensation, an exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum of Art, New York City Mayor Giuliani, offended by the "anti-Catholic" content of one of the works in the show (Chris Ofili's The Holy Virgin Mary), orders the museum to remove it or to cancel the whole exhibition. He cuts off funding to the museum and threatens to eject it from its current building. The museum files suit in a federal court seeking to reinstate funding and prevent the threatened eviction. Judge Nina Gershon from the Eastern District rules that Giuliani's attempt to cut funding and evict the museum violates the First Amendment. Giuliani appeals the decision. The case is settled during appeal in March 2000. As part of the settlement, the city agrees to pay $5.8 million over the following two years to help repair the museum's entry hall.

NEA chair Bill Ivey withdraws funding for The Story of Colors, a Mexican folktale for children published by Cinco Puntos Press, because the book's author, Subcomandante Insurgente Marcos, is affiliated with the Zapatista movement in Mexico. The publisher denies that the author will receive any grant money or payment for the book.

Detroit Art Museum Director Graham Beal closes an exhibit on controversial art in the 1990s by Jef Bourgeau.

Chris Ofili, The Holy Virgin Mary