OREM -- The Clothesline Project abuse display, banned from LDS Church-owned Brigham Young University in 1996, had its third annual showing at Utah Valley State College this week.
The display includes T-shirts with pictures and writings describing physical, emotional and sexual abuse against women.The 300-some shirts were created by victims of abuse. Each year at the display, more victims are invited to create their own shirts and add them to the line.
The art is graphic. Some of the shirts are spattered with blood-red paint, torn and slashed, a heart cut out on the left front top.
One was inscribed "Prince Charming never learned NO means NO," and had a tattered cutout of a Cinderella from a children's coloring book.
It was inscriptions critical of the church that drew the wrath of BYU officials in the mid-1990s. One T-shirt on display this year said: "Does God love me even though I was sexually abused at church?"
Another shirt bore a genealogy chart listing all the men in a family line and which women they had abused.
The annual displays were carried out at BYU for three years. In 1996, BYU President Merrill Bateman, according to organizers, demanded the removal of every reference to the church. The display has not been back at BYU since.
Sponsors at the UVSC display said Wednesday that they had received no negative comments.
Clothesline is sponsored by "Friends of VOICE." VOICE is a women's group at BYU that aims to bring about awareness of women's issues. Clothesline is one of many projects by VOICE or "Friends of VOICE."
"We want to raise awareness about the reality of violence against women and give people the opportunity to break the silence by sharing their stories," said VOICE president Jolene Yukes.
Clothesline displays started in the East in 1990 as part of "Take Back the Night" anti-violence marches.
The BYU displays began in 1994. Some students were offended and called the art "obscene, vulgar, hateful, unforgiving and bitter."
"Abuse is ugly," said former VOICE co-coordinator Christina Kemeny.
The display was held at St. Mary's Episcopal Church in 1997 and has been at UVSC since then.