LANSING - A Macomb Township representative wants to cut about $630,000 from the Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs because he says it supports pornography.

Republican Leon Drolet said government money shouldn't go to support art, especially not the type the council funds.

The council, which is part of the Department of History, Arts and Libraries (HAL), provides grants for arts programs and projects throughout the state.

"I think people who buy art should fund art," Drolet said. "The art that is funded by the government is not the art that most people in Michigan enjoy - otherwise they wouldn't need a subsidy."

Drolet said he especially objects to the council's funding of the Ann Arbor Film Festival. Last year, the festival's schedule included "Chests," which showed two men bumping their bare chests together, and "Sex Workers' Art Show," which featured strippers, prostitutes and other members of the "sex industry."

"I'm not a prude," Drolet said. "I'm not here to drive out porn. I just don't think it needs to be funded by the government."

Sarah Lapshan, public information officer for HAL, said cutting money for the council would hurt more than film festivals.

The council also gives grants for art exhibits, film series and art education in schools, she said. A panel of experts screens each grant application before approval.

The council gave out 301 grants this year worth $9.8 million.

Lapshan added that the council's grant provided only a small portion of the funding for the Ann Arbor festival last year, and none of the money was used to produce the actual films.

Michael Gielniak, interim director of the Art Center in Mount Clemens, said Macomb County will receive $142,000 this year in grants.

He added that this amount is much smaller than what comparable counties receive, and the money shouldn't be cut because it is "extremely important" to the Art Center and projects it supports. The center itself will receive $74,500, part of which is distributed to local nonprofit art organizations.

"It would just be a shame considering we're trying to compete and we're already receiving less," he said. "We have a couple of nonprofits which are really struggling."