By Phil Miller

CHILDREN have been banned from the controversial new exhibition at the Gallery of Modern Art in Glasgow.

Unaccompanied kids aged 12 and under will not be allowed to view the shOUT show, which explores the sexuality and lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people'.

It features an explicit photograph by controversial artist Robert Mapplethorpe as well as work by leading artists such as Grayson Perry, David Hockney, Holly Johnson and Chad McCail.

Secondary school pupils were originally to be invited to view the art, but after details of the exhibition were revealed last week, Glasgow City Council said school visits would not be allowed.

The exhibition officially opens today and Mark O'Neill, the head of museums for Culture and Sport Glasgow, said that a museum attendant would make sure that children under 12 are not allowed in.

Earlier this week, four officers from Strathclyde Police's diversity unit visited the exhibition and viewed the art works, and gallery sources say they cleared it of any potential charges of obscenity.

Signs in 11 languages warning of the show's explicit content have been put up in the gallery foyer.

Mr O'Neill said that the gallery expects around 200,000 visitors to the free show, which runs to 2 November.

He said the inclusion of the Mapplethorpe image - called Jim and Tom, Sausalito, and depicting a sado-masochistic sex act - had been the subject of much internal discussion in the galleries, but said: "It is not an obscene image, no-one is being exploited in it.

"We have been criticised for including it, but part of the exhibition was to reflect a whole range of activity in human sexuality. And if the outrage is just a cover for homophobia, then addressing that is part of the whole process for us."

The exhibition also includes art by Del LaGrace Volcano - a photograph of the body of someone who has undergone treatment to change from female to male - and a large sculpture by the acclaimed Scottish artist Chad McCail, which is a tree adorned with models of brains, and both female and male sexual organs.

Patricia Cronin, a US artist whose contribution is a sculpture she has made for her and her partner's future grave in New York, was at the launch yesterday.

She said: "I think it's an amazing exhibition, it is very important and it has a really great spirit about it," she said.

"I think its especially important when you think of all the cities that have not, or will not, stage an exhibition like this, anything that helps take the next step is a good idea.

"I think the inclusion of the Mapplethorpe piece shows that we are all different."

shOUT is part of Goma's long-running Contemporary Art and Human Rights programme. It is the gallery's main summer show and runs until November 2.