Humza Yousaf's SNP-led Government has been accused of giving £110,000 of taxpayers' cash to fund a quango to create a "harmful and abusive" hardcore porn film.
Creative Scotland, which received Holyrood grants to create a "moving image installation", will produce content showing performers participating in "non-simulated" intercourse.
Leonie Rae Gasson, the artist behind the scheme, was awarded £23,219 in lottery funding in August 2022.
The pot was given to Gasson for "research and development" for the so-called Rein project.
Humza Yousaf's Government has received criticism for taxpayers' cash funding Leonie Rae Gasson's Rein project
GETTY/NATIONAL THEATRE SCOTLAND
A nine-minute film has been created using the £23,219, showing three characters “riotously hump, languidly lick, and shake their manes” in an “experiment in teasing each other and the viewer”.
The project received a further £84,555 in lottery cash in January this year for full-scale development of the project.
The film will premiere in August 2025 and is currently seeking more performers.
Concerns about the project led Creative Scotland to say it was “considerably more explicit in its execution” than had been indicated in its application, adding it was “reviewing the award”.
The website promoting the film highlighted how the proposed project will be “an exploration of dyke sexuality” in a “magical, erotic journey through a distinctly Scottish landscape.”
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS:
Gasson is based in Glasgow and describes herself as a director who “works across live performance, film and virtual reality”
NATIONAL THEATRE SCOTLAND
The film will include "daddies lurking in the woods,” princesses “playfully trying to drown each other” and “bare a**e lovers frolicking in long grass”.
In a further sexualisation of the film, viewers were told "your climax" will be "a secret sex party" where sex acts are "exploding onto the screens".
The description added: “The relentless pace of the work slows into a warm, spacious scene of aftercare, for the performers on screen, and the audience.”
A casting call was issued for "dyke-identifying performers" aged 18 or over.
Cast members will receive £270 per day, with three being required for the "explicit sex scene".
Cast members will receive £270 per day, with three being required for the "explicit sex scene"
GETTY
It added: “Some roles will involve just snogging, others will involve vanilla sex and others more hardcore acts.
“If you are selected to be in the cast, our intimacy co-ordinators will support you to more clearly identify your detailed needs and boundaries with the sexual aspect of the work.”
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, from the For Women Scotland group, claimed the public would be "horrified" to learn taxpayers' cash is funding a project that is so "offensive and dehumanises women".
Scottish Conservative deputy leader Meghan Gallacher expressed her concern about the situation
GETTY
Scottish Conservative deputy leader Meghan Gallacher also expressed her concern, saying: "Given the concerns raised here, Scottish Government Ministers must make clear that robust processes were followed before handing over taxpayers' money for the show."
Gasson is based in Glasgow and describes herself as a director who “works across live performance, film and virtual reality” and specialises in “bold, conceptual & visually arresting work from a queer and neurodivergent perspective.”
The Rein project is also being supported by Take Me Somewhere Festival.
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.”
