Vashon is not an Island known for homophobia. Indeed, it’s long been considered a place extremely friendly to gay and lesbian families, couples and individuals. It remains so today.

Unfortunately, the off-Island owners of the Wallflower Building — an elderly woman from Burien and her adult daughter — were offended by some recent artwork hanging in the building’s thoroughfare, otherwise known as the Two Wall Gallery. Louise Rice and her daughter Wendy came into town last week, removing several photographs of artfully composed nude or semi-nude same-sex couples. A drawing of a teenage girl, with a caption that contained a four-letter word, was also taken down.

In the outcry that followed, some have accused Louise Rice of censorship and have decried her actions as a deprivation of the artists’ First Amendment rights. That’s not exactly accurate.

The First Amendment protects citizens from the government’s suppression of our free-speech rights. Had the county passed a law that said such art couldn’t be displayed, the First Amendment would rightfully be invoked. That didn’t happen here.

Censorship is somewhat more broadly defined, but that, too, is hard to argue in this instance, where Rice removed artwork from a building she owned and for which the gallery did not pay rent.

What is clear, though, is that her actions — premised as they apparently were on her own homophobic feelings — were wrong. Consider the outcry had she taken down photos of African-American couples, leaving behind those of whites. That she and her husband felt they could tell The Beachcomber that the photos were “pornographic” and that they were removed because of their homosexual content is a sorry statement about the pernicious persistence of homophobia. In some circles, as this incident sadly points out, it is not unspeakable to be anti-gay.

It’s also unfortunate that the merchants who have shops in this lovely old building have gotten caught in the cross-fire. Some will no doubt fail to make a distinction between the building’s owners and its occupants, painting all of them with the same dark stain of homophobia. That would be a mistake. The shopkeepers did not seek the removal of these photos.

Other issues linger on the edges of this debacle. We wonder about how effectively and well Louise Rice and Two Wall curator Jack Strubbe were communicating. We also have some concern for Rice, a woman in her 80s who has been thrust into a maelstrom for which her life experiences have likely not prepared her.

But the real issue is both significant and simple. Greg Davila, the artist whose photographs were removed, captured a universal longing of the human spirit — to love and to be loved. His was a life-affirming exhibit. There was nothing obscene about it. We wish everyone, including the owners of the Wallflower Building, could have seen his work for what it was — a celebration of life, love and our shared desire for intimacy.