WASHINGTON (AP) - A New York-based activist group plans to protest outside the Smithsonian Institution over the removal of a gay artist's video after a Catholic group called it sacrilegious.

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The group Art Positive plans to protest Monday afternoon on the National Mall outside a Smithsonian Board of Regents meeting. The group is calling for Smithsonian Secretary Wayne Clough to step down for censoring the National Portrait Gallery exhibit.

The video, "A Fire in My Belly," by the late David Wojnarowicz explored the subject of AIDS. A short clip depicted ants crawling on a crucifix, which drew complaints from the Catholic League.

Clough has said he wanted to preserve the overall exhibit, "Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture." It's the first major exhibit to explore gay themes in art history.