TORONTO

This haunted house warns of “severed” male genitalia while encouraging women to flash theirs.

Billed as art, you are paying for it.

“Don’t trip over the severed penises,” says one sign inside the guided tour of Toronto’s own “lesbian haunted house.”

There is also a mock “ball-busting room.”

Happy Halloween.

Creepy.

It’s an example of your tax dollars at work.

Allyson Mitchell, the artist behind “A Lesbian Feminist Haunted House,” has received thousands in government grants.

Acknowledgment is posted on the outside of the rented location at 303 Lansdowne Ave., also called Killjoy Kastle, that funding was provided by the Toronto Arts Council, Ontario Arts Council (OAC) and Canadian Council for the Arts. The artist undertook her work in collaboration with the Art Gallery of York University (AGYU).

Mitchell refused to discuss the funding for her project.

However, “Allyson Mitchell received $500 through OAC’s Exhibition Assistance program towards this project,” Shoshana Wasser, communications coordinator of the Ontario Arts Council, told the Sun News Network.

“The Art Gallery of York University receives operating funding through OAC’s Public Art Galleries program. It received a grant of $59,500 for its 2013–14 operations,” Wasser said.

Research shows the AGYU received $55,000 from the City of Toronto so far in 2013.

The Canadian Council for the Arts 2013 allotments are not yet available but documents show Mitchell was granted $20,000 in 2011 from the council and a total of $61,000 since 2005.

Mayor Rob Ford is offering a traditional haunted house in his office but it was paid for with his own funds.

Everybody is welcome.

While tax money is covering the cost of the raunchy themes at Killjoy Kastle, acceptance inside is not necessarily inclusive.

Sun News Network contributor David Menzies and cameraman Ryan Belgave were not permitted entry. Toronto Sun photographer Dave Abel and I were also denied entry.

“You are from the Sun and we are not permitting you to go in,” said Mitchell.

She said “hurtful, homophobic” comments by a commentator on a radio show (not affiliated with the Toronto Sun) was the reason, “so you can blame him for it.”

Nothing hurtful about joking about severing men’s private parts?

And what about the four journalists who were denied a look even though they helped pay for this project?

Sun News Network reporter Marissa Semkiw later went in undercover and discovered bizarre displays — which were shown on Wednesday’s The Arena with Michael Coren on SNN.

They included “the polyamorous vampiring grannies and the straw feminist hall of fame” which featured pictures of Sarah Palin, Lena Dunham and Margaret Thatcher.

Another special room is for women to “look at your own vagina,” where the host encouraged the reporter to “pull your dress down and look at your vagina.”

A disturbing feature was a “secret tunnel for women in love” where video shows a host encouraging visitors to “crawl on your hands and knees” and warns “you will get touched.”

Is that art?

There was no sign posted indicating the attraction was restricted to adults.

“It’s kind of funny that creator Allyson Mitchell will be very discriminating in terms of who she’ll let into her adorable lesbian feminist haunted house but she sure doesn’t discriminate when it comes to scarfing down tax dollars,” commented Menzies, who broke this story.

“Imagine a man putting up a haunted house with baskets of breasts or severed vaginas? The outcry over the perceived misogyny would be off the charts. But apparently, misandry is not only tolerated but publicly funded.”

It is outrageous this province has difficultly funding life-saving cancer medication for a woman with a brain tumour but has money to throw around for this.

It is something that should be privately funded and done on a person’s own property. What should be severed is the public funding.