The muscled, kneeling man chiseled out of teakwood meant as a tabletop holder sat unnoticed in the window of Phantom*SF on 18th Street in the Castro for weeks. The piece, from Bali, retails for $3,800 and as an added visual component features an eight-inch penis jutting out between the thighs.

Storeowner Robert Hedric originally covered the statue's genitals with a shimmering blue loincloth when he first placed the item in his shop window four months ago. Then on Castro Street Fair weekend, he decided to remove the fabric to show off the statuary in its full glory.

"I want to sell him and I didn't want to sell the cat in the sack. I took it off so people see what they are getting," said Hedric, who opened the antiques store and art gallery at the Castro location in September 2004. "I thought of it more as a sales strategy, showing him as is instead of displaying him covered."

No one seemed to mind and the piece went uncovered for three weeks until a gentleman lodged an anonymous complaint.

"He said he has kids and it was at the eye level of his kids," said Hedric, who was not at the store at the time. "I wish he had come back to talk to me personally. I never heard back from him."

Instead, police officers informed Hedric the week prior to Halloween that the item violates certain city codes and is considered to be pornography. Hedric said he was told if he didn't cover up or remove the piece he would be cited and the piece possibly confiscated. Once again Hedric used the loincloth to obscure views of the wooden phallus but the police visited the store to inform him the covering was inadequate.

"I complied immediately, but I had 1-inch of the tip of the penis showing. The police came and said I need to really cover it up completely," said Hedric, who is using the penis tip to hang the piece's price tag. "I am puzzled and disturbed. Somehow I am in disbelief over the whole thing."

While he complied with the police request, he said he is astonished that anyone could find pornographic what he considers to be artwork.

"It is a true work of art. This neighbor has no sense of art, whatsoever. You can go to a museum and see that same kind of art, especially in the antique world," said Hedric. "Many of my customers think so as well. They have come by and asked why I covered it up. Some thought I did it because of Halloween and that I didn't want it to get vandalized."

At press time, the district attorney's office did not know what city codes applied to store window displays, but referenced Penal Code Section 313.1(a), which could be used to regulate the display of adult material to minors. Sergeant Chuck Limbert, Mission Station's liaison to the LGBT community, said he did not know of the city code officers referred to when speaking to Hedric. He visited the store Tuesday, November 8 after being alerted to the situation and said it presents a slippery slope.

"I noticed there is also a statue of David in the window. If we are going to go this way that should be removed, too. I mean, where do you stop with this? Where does art prevail and something else take over?" said Limbert.

Limbert said he is not aware of any police department policy on what can and cannot be displayed in store windows and that when complaints arise, they are handled on a case-by-case basis.

"I have always handled it on an individual basis and worked out a compromise. I have always felt storeowners have been very agreeable to whatever suggestions and compromising they can do to rectify the problem," he said.

Periodically, the issue of store displays in the Castro comes up, with parents voicing concerns mainly about the wares shown in the windows of sex shops. A recent S&M scene in a clothing store's window around the time of the Folsom Street Fair also raised a complaint.

"This morning, as I walked to the Muni on my way to work, I saw the new S&M display in In-genuous (sp?) of a mannequin tied and bound to a toilet. As an adult, I find this disgusting. As a parent, I find it unconscionable," wrote Lisa Bennett in an e-mail to Supervisor Bevan Dufty. "And I am far from alone. As you know, there are two schools in the immediate neighborhood, a new rec center bound to attract more children, and a growing number of parents (gay and straight) who love all other aspects about this area. But especially as our children get older, our patience with the impossible arts of trying to avoid pornography in storefronts is growing very thin."

Bennett, who did not respond to a phone call seeking comment, suggested at a recent meeting of the Merchants of Upper Market and Castro that a height restriction be put in place so such displays could still be seen by adults and not be staring children in the face. As a lesbian parent, she also said the issue is one that transcends normal "family values" arguments.

In her e-mail, she wrote, "I believe this is a conflict that needs to be addressed now. I also know that it is not one that is as simple as gay v. family culture, since so many gay people are now raising children, although some merchants don't seem to have any sense of this reality."

MUMC President Paul Moffett said the board will most likely discuss the issue at its meeting next week. In the past, Moffett said merchants felt discussions on the issue were "a little over-reactionary" and hoped that a "happy medium" could be found this time.

"The issue has come up before and it's a challenging topic. I think it is a touchy subject – how to tell a merchant you can't display your wares, if you will," said Moffett. "This is a gay neighborhood and we have gay-oriented business owners. But then you need to be also cognizant it is also a neighborhood of many people, not just gay people, so maybe there is a compromise. I don't know but it is something that can be discussed."

For his part, Dufty said the best way to tackle the issue is through open dialogue, which is why he invited Bennett to attend the MUMC meeting.

"There are different perspectives and a lot of this is really how it is received or perceived by an individual – whether it is an open expression of art or something they find objectionable. I don't think there is any answer or definition that really addresses this spectrum so I think it is healthy to hear different views, which happened at the MUMC meeting," said Dufty. "We had a lesbian mom saying this is my community, too, and it is kind of tough to walk down Castro Street sometimes. We also had a gay man who is a business owner say this is my neighborhood, I am really comfortable and like seeing these images, I like living in a neighborhood where it is not uncommon to see homoerotic images."

Dufty added that he doesn't think either is wrong. But at the same time he doesn't want to radically alter the Castro's character, he said.

"I don't see us homogenizing it. I don't want it to look like Laurel Heights," said Dufty, who expressed doubts on the need to place height restrictions on the window displays. "I am not really sure what the practicality is of that. There is a way to have open healthy sexual expression and still make it easy for people to bring their kids or mom down the street."

To avoid any more problems at his store, Hedric has also completely covered in cloth a giant wooden penis phallus he had displayed on the left side of his window. The item is considered to be a fertility tool in some cultures and can be seen in shop windows throughout Chinatown.  

"I am confused about what I can and cannot display," he said.

He said other Castro storeowners should see the flap over the wooden penis in his store's window as a warning.

"I feel discriminated against from other merchants who can display other merchandise more openly tied to pornography," said Hedric, who feels his ability to sell the statue is hampered by having to cover it up. "This is the Castro, not the Vatican."