Tuesday,
April 13, 1999
In early April, Kat Sunlove told Luke via email: "Luke, there seems to be a misunderstanding. The Lobbying Days event in Sacramento is an invitation-only event and is now completely filled. You are certainly welcome to attend the portion of the event open to the public, the Political Salon and Reception on Sunday afteroon from 3 - 6 p.m., $15 at the door (reservations required). But the rest of the educational and lobbying activities would not be open to you. You might also enjoy the National A.C.T. fund-raiser being held on Saturday night the 10th at Gold Club Centerfolds."
Highlights from www.geneross.com
Mike Ross:"Luke [Ford] has been given a lot of shots [in] the nuts. There's a lot of times where he deserves them, but I spent four days with the guy. Whether you like him personally or not is not the story. A lot of things he does are similar in nature to the press people who I work with on a day-in, day-out basis. Why does everybody pick on him? Because he publishes actresses' names?
Gene Ross: "Ford has publicly stated that he doesn't care two wits about the adult industry which kind of makes your pro-active stance totally contradictory to the friendship you acknowledge with him. What's with you and Luke F-rd?"
Ford: "From a professional standpoint, you have to stand one-step back. From a professional standpoint, I like what Luke's doing. He puts his balls on the line. Luke is doing the same thing as I am as the Luke F-rd's of the 21st century - online printing, using the Internet, being hi-tech. He should be patted on the back for that."
Kat Sunlove said that
both Ross and Luke F-rd were hanging around her all day Tuesday [4/13/99].
"Luke F-rd witnessed two of the most incredibly positive interviews
with legislators and staff that anybody could ever want to have, but
I'm told that this stupid twit has, once again, put up all kinds of
misinformation out there - total untrue stuff like this 749 bill. What
is it? It's absurd. It's beyond belief. These two children [Mike Ross
and Luke F-rd] need to go back to their rooms and write 500 times, 'I
will stop being a jealous little prick.' It's so annoying when you know
the truth. I'm there. I'm there with Luke F-rd. Mike Ross is skulking
about us all day long. I don't mind, but I know what he's doing. He's
trying to find something that he can
attack. Boy, some friend of the industry, I'll tell you."
Pink Poodle owner Pete Kuzinich, an active participant in the lobbying activities up until Tuesday morning, left because he was the transportation for Madison, a dancer at his club who apparently became upset because she felt that a question she had posed regarding dance clubs was not properly addressed.
Leonarto di Fordio's fraudulent sex expose of Gene Ross drags in Vivid director Paul Thomas as being the author of a quote, that if you want to get good reviews, you need "to shoot Gene a hooker." The comment was allegedly made to Buck Adams.
P.T., who just returned from Budapest where he was scouting locations for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, had this to say: "That is a ridiculous fabrication. Can Luke F-rd put anything on his site he wants to and get away with it? There's a much bigger issue. He's been putting on his site for a couple of years that my father went to jail for various reasons, and I took over his estate and tripled the amount of the estate in secrecy. Are people like him suable?"
[Luke wants to know where he wrote that PT took over his father's estate and tripled the value. Certainly not in my profile of Paul Thomas.]
Mystery Man Leonarto di Fordio
Rodger Jacobs who's still working on his magazine piece about the last days of Leonarto di Fordio, had a good chuckle about some of the recent Rossian retorts to di Fordio's postings, particular the responses to Jacobs' e-mails about di Fordio.
Jacobs [laughing]: "Carvellesque? I'm not Ford's apologist. I'm not his "mommy." I said he's in the gutter, and he's not a credible journalist. That's not a mommy. That's not apologizing for him. All I say is if you've got dirt on him, lay it out on the table.
Ross: "I never had dirt on him! That's the point of the whole thing. Luke thinks I went and did some research on him. Everything that's on my site laid it out exactly what happened. I April Fool suckered him into this!"
Jacobs: "It's very funny. My story got extended, thankfully. I'm just sitting here watching this thing play itself out and see where he goes and what happens to his page. He has resorted to a lot of cut and paste. Reading his page sometimes is like reading a recap of geneross.com. But I don't care if he has two addresses, are you sure that the other isn't a P.O. Box?"
Jacobs was informed that, if it were, di Fordio manages to throw his voice out of a mailbox. A phone call to di Fordio's secret second address in Beverly Hills elicits an answering machine in Ford's voice.
Jacobs: "Oh, that's funny. That is interesting. I wish we could do a phone number search and find out whose name it's in. Ford asserts that Leonarto August was his ex-roommate [Ford says from March 1995 to May, 1996], but there's something fuzzy about this Florida-thing."
The Ford Dossier shows Ford being in Orlando for a period of time in March, 1994 - nothing that would raise eyebrows, except for the fact that Ford managed to get a driver's license there which would suggest that he intended to stay there a lot longer than a month. He didn't. What's equally interesting is that Ford's dossier shows that he lived in California from April 1992 to August 1992, but disappeared, virtually, off the face of the earth from August 1992 to March, 1994 where he lands in Orlando.
Ford's driver's record, however, shows him obtaining a California license in October, 1993 but with no corroborating address. Ford's California residency doesn't get re-documented until he leaves Orlando in 1994 and moves back to LA. Nothing to suggest foul deeds, a point of curiosity, if nothing else.
Jacobs acknowledges the discrepancies inherent on Ford's driver's license where he's listed as a blond, and said he "overreacted" in his letter on Ross making the point about the connection between clerical errors and the Marc Wallice snafu.
Jacobs: "I jumped into the middle of this to have a little bit of fun. In a way I was being his [Ford's] apologist. I told him don't get in the middle of it. I'll send Gene a little note, you stay out of it. It's not your fight. He'll tell you I was the first one to jump all over his s--- about the 'poofter' and 'pansies.' He claims to have a problem with CFS - Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. My contention is that he has a problem with manic-depression that he's not revealing. I'll talk with him a couple of times a day and I'll see the mood swings. When he started the poofters and pansies-thing he was absolutely giddy. He asked me how do you spell 'poofters.' I said, Luke, 'What are you writing?' He starts giggling. I told him he shouldn't be posting something like that. I talked to him later on that same day, and the giddiness was gone. I know some people who are clinical manic-depressives, and I see the same behavior in Luke."
If he hasn't already
done so, Luke F-rd is intending to run a list of top "faggots" in the
business, with Gene Ross listed as number One. Impeccable sources place
Lynne L-patin as the author of this latest wave of assaults. When contacted,
L-patin had this virulent message to offer: "Closeted faggot. Big difference.
Need an explanation? Actually you were third on the list. I bumped you
up after I read several days worth of silly back and forth between you
and Luke. Whereas I had previously only read the "Luke is so cute" crap
you encourage. You do want him, don't you? Regards. The
born-female bitch you managed to 86 from this industry for ten years.
Gene Ross sez: "Gee,
I had no idea. 1), that I'm encouraging the "Luke is so cute crap."
Where is this coming from? Did I miss something? Luke is cute in the
way a cobra is cute. Perhaps L-patin should go to the dictionary and
look up the word, 'irony'; 2) That I "want" Luke? Does L-patin see this
because I make patently absurdist comments about Ford's vanity and mythical
8 by 10 glossies? Puh-leese; and 3) that I 86-ed her from the industry
for ten years? How was I supposed to have done that, and what were the
means at my disposal? Considering that I have had virtually no
communication with L-patin, this is a truly remarkable turn of events.
Up until now, I had given L-patin credit for some degree of intelligence.
She should confine her imagination to her script writing. She'll need
it."
Luke F-rd posted an atttorney's [Rob Black's attorney] letter dated February 16, 1998 which is supposed to be contradictory to all the statements given by Black on this site last week regarding Tiffany Mynx and the Elegant Angel credit card fiasco in which Mynx allegedly ran up card bills to the tune of $20,000. At the time of the letter, Black sprung to Mynx's defense.
Rob Black responds:
"There's a very simple comment. That's what between $5,000 and $10,000
gets you. It's when you got to deal with the law to get someone out
of a f---ing jam. It's that simple. It was a lawyer letter. It was our
stance on that matter, and that's what it cost us. Nothing more, nothing
less. In a nutshell, $5,000 provided us with all those f---ing letters
and f---ing reasons for what she [Mynx] did. Of course, all those things
cost money. Whatever that magical letter Luke F-rd has, I'm glad that
it's there. It shows that our lawyers did their f---ing job. It shows
that we had to
pay for all that research and all those stupid excuses in those letters.
There's nothing more to be said. I was out of that loop. In hindsight,
there's nothing to say. At the time she [Mynx] was with us, we had to
say that no she didn't steal. She took liberties and borrowed. We had
to mount a defense and that's what the money cost to get her out of
it." www.geneross.com
It's been a busy week for Kendra Jade. First, Luke F-rd was going to resurrect a story from December in which Jade said at the time she saw Gene Ross take bribe money from John T. Bone every Friday. Jade admitted at the time she lied. Then she finally admitted it to Luke F-rd who never bothered printing a retraction, and Jade admits it now, again that she fibbed.
Jade says her issues with Ford stem from her willingness to go to bat for people who she perceives as friends. Jade has been a staunch defender of Ford.
John T. Bone: "When she befriended Luke, she became his greatest advocate and would get into arguments with me over what a great guy he is and how she's talked to him and he hasn't printed it, that he has to be admired for that.
[Ford admits on his site that he trades up on stories - like someone buying and selling cars.]
Bone: "Then, when Luke decides to fight you, he buries Kendra. Now, all of a sudden she's standing there with her ass hanging out, going, 'But this is my friend. How can he treat me like this?'"
Jade says her and Ford were not sleeping together. 'We'd e-mail 'suck my dick-stuff,' but we didn't have any ongoing thing like that. "I have told him a great deal of personal things, things that he's never printed which is part of the great deal of respect I have for him. He knows a lot about me, but he hasn't printed it."
Adult Entertainment Industry's White Paper 1999
Dear Legislators:
On behalf of the adult
entertainment industry's trade association,
the FREE SPEECH COALITION, we offer you our 1999 White
Paper entitled "The Truth About California's Adult Industry." Our
report is a combined effort of industry representatives in an effort
to
inform you about the actions and workings of California's
multi-billion dollar adult entertainment industry. We shall entertain
many of California's most basic questions about adult industry.
But first, what does
this report cover? Past White Papers have
specifically addressed motion pictures, live entertainment and
health issues in the industry. This year, we provide information on
the "adult" portion of the Internet and discuss the "mainstreaming"
of
the adult industry also.
Initially, we need to
define just what "pornography" is. Legally, the
word "pornography" has no meaning whatsoever. As defined by the
United States Supreme Court in Miller v. California (1973),
"obscenity" is not a synonym for "pornography." Pornography is
communication fully protected by the First Amendment. In fact,
Webster's dictionary defines pornography as "writings, pictures, etc.
intended primarily to arouse sexual desire." Therefore, much of
society's poetry, music and any other art forms can be interpreted
as "pornographic." Obscenity is material outside of the protection of
the First Amendment, criminalized by California and Federal law.
Unfortunately, prosecutors
and other would-be censors often use
these terms interchangeably, creating a false image - an image that
more often than not insinuates (if it does not claim outright!) that
"pornography" involves children, violence and/or rape. As regards
the legitimate adult entertainment industry, this is completely untrue
and unfounded. By the actual definition of pornography, everything
from adult movies to Calvin Klein ads to Tom Jones songs could be
deemed "pornographic," simply because all could be seen as
"intended primarily to arouse sexual desire." This is a far cry from
the rigorous, three-tiered obscenity standard required by the
Constitution. The erotic entertainment provided by the adult industry
may be dismissed as obscenity by some individuals; yet it is not
necessarily obscene simply by the nature of its sexual content. That
is why Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer, James Joyce's Ulysses and
the film Carnal Knowledge were all initially convicted as obscene by
courts, but all of those rulings were reversed on appeal.
While community standards
play a significant role in determining
what is legally obscene, just because one community is offended by
a book or film does not render the communication illegal. Indeed,
not withstanding the extremely conservative standards of certain
communities, less than one-tenth of one percent of all commercial
adult entertainment has ever been charged as being obscene.
Moreover, most of those titles would not even be accused of
obscenity in 99% of the rest of the country. Remember, despite the
misuse of the term by the media, as well as some legislators and
prosecutors, "pornography" is legal; "obscenity" and "matter harmful
to minors" are not.
We have prepared this
report to dispel other myths and replace
them with facts, in the hope that this material will be used as an
educational tool and provide insight into an industry regulated but
seriously misunderstood by government. In this report, you will find
specific information about the following aspects of our industry:
I.
Industry Statistics
II.
Employment
III.
Underage Workers and Child Pornography
IV.
Content and Consenting Adults
V.
Working Conditions
VI.
The Adult Entertainment Industry and Insurance
VII.
The Adult Entertainment Industry and HIV
VIII.
Substance Abuse in the Industry
IX.
The Myth of Rape and Sexual Abuse
X.
The Internet and New Technologies
XI.
The "Mainstreaming" of Pornography
XII.
Legislative Proposals
Sincerely,
FREE SPEECH COALITION
Gloria Leonard, President
Jeffrey J. Douglas, Executive Director
Kat Sunlove, Lobbyist
I. INDUSTRY STATISTICS
The information used
in the video portion of this report is derived
from several sources: a survey of 5000 retailers who answered an
annual national questionnaire composed and analyzed by Adult
Video News (AVN), the trade publication of the adult video industry,
with additional information provided by Paul Kagan & Associates
and the Video Software Dealers Association (VSDA), the trade
association for the entire home video industry.
The VSDA estimates that
over 60,000 retail outlets in the United
States carry home video. Adult video cassettes, laserdiscs and
DVDs are carried in over 25,000 retail outlets across the United
States, including such major chains as Virgin Megastores, The
Wherehouse, Tower Video, Palmer Video, Movies Unlimited, West
Coast Video and others. In addition, hundreds of small boutique and
large mail order companies sell adult tapes, laserdiscs and DVDs
directly to consumers. Further information came from a special
survey of mail order and Internet content providers.
The information used
in the dance sections of this report is
based on statistics collected from targeted cities and specific clubs.
Performers have also provided input.
VIDEO:
FACT: In the United
States in 1998, adult video rentals and sales
made up 28.9% of the video market in stores which carry adult
products, for a volume of over $4.1 billion. This figure includes
transactions in retail outlets but does not include mail order. Nearly
34% of the nation's rental and sales transactions involving adult
tapes took place on the West Coast, with more than half of that in
California!
FACT: In stores in the
Western Region of the United States
(California, Arizona, Oregon and Washington), adult video made up
35.6% of the sales and rentals in stores that carry both general
release and adult video. This means that many if not most video
retailers depend upon adult product to stay in business.
FACT: Approximately
2800 retail stores carry adult video for
sale and/or rental in the State of California. The average store in
the
State of California stocks over 700 different adult tapes for rental.
This excludes tapes stocked for resale.
FACT: During 1998, in
the United States, stores reported a total
of 686 million rentals of adult tapes, more than three-quarters of
which were produced in California. Nearly 110 million of those
rentals took place in the State of California. If each of those rentals
were for one day only, a minimum of $27 million sales tax dollars
would have been generated for the State of California. This
excludes any tax generated by purchase, or additional money
generated by multiple rental days!
FACT: The wholesale
sales value of tapes sold to retailers from
distributors in the United States in 1998 totaled $819 million, with
over $120 million in wholesale sales to retailers in California.
FACT: Pornography produced
here in California is the most
sought-after in the world. In Europe, where the distinction between
"adult" and "mainstream" is not as pronounced as in the U.S.A.,
California based artists and their products are in great demand. At
the Cannes Film Festival, for example, California adult movies are
regularly the top award recipients of the Hot D'Or awards. The AVN
Awards, which annually honor the finest adult films and videos, are
the subject of intense international interest and acclaim.
FACT: At the national
video conventions, such as the Consumer
Electronics Show, Video Software Dealers Association Show and
the East Coast Video Show, attendance at the "adult" portions is
extraordinary. Tens of thousands of people visit the adult sections
each day. It is typical that the adult section reaches the maximum
allowed capacity, with thousands of people waiting outside. At the
East Coast Video Show, the adult section is a favorite not only with
the attendees. When the adult section was held in separate quarters
one year, the "mainstream" exhibitors complained strenuously
because of the fall off of interest in their exhibition.
DANCE:
FACT: In the exotic
dance arena, there are an estimated 7500
full-time dancers with another 5000 part-time.
FACT: Dancers run the
gamut from students to single mothers to
exotic dance professionals. What do they all have in common? They
enjoy the financial independence and the excitement of erotic
dance.
FACT: There are over
175 legally operating dance clubs in
California.
FACT: The dance industry
creates over 20,000 jobs in
California, while providing almost $1 billion in revenues.
FACT: The dance industry
brings in an estimated $500,000 to
local governments in much-needed tax revenue, most of which goes
towards law enforcement.
FACT: Much of the dance
talent has the opportunity for job
promotion and thus income expansion in other adult entertainment
areas.
MAIL ORDER:
FACT: Mail order provides
a means for distribution of adult
products with minimal intrusion into the community, and substantial
privacy for the consumer. A survey of mail order providers
conducted by the Free Speech Coalition established that in 1998,
there was $200 million in adult video sales, plus additional millions
in sales of magazines, lingerie and novelties. The sales of these
products generate tax revenue and employment in California which
sites most of the product manufacturers.
FACT: Mail order and
related shipping in California generates
so much revenue that following the U.P.S. strike, the U.S. Postal
Service assigned a special sales staff to encourage the adult
industry to keep using the U.S.P.S.
INTERNET:
FACT: The Internet,
or more specifically, the World Wide Web
provides a new medium for the distribution of adult products,
information and services. The FSC survey reveals at least $875
million of video sales, plus incalculable hundreds of millions spent
on retail sales of adult-oriented products other than video, as well
as
memberships and services such as teleconferencing, chat rooms,
e-mail, and other information services.
II. EMPLOYMENT
VIDEO:
Adult products are often
the primary profit center for non-chain
video stores. Adult videos carry higher rental fees, rent for longer
periods, and are more likely to convert to sales. Without adult
product, many of California's 2800 retailers that carry adult videos
would not stay in business, costing Californians thousands of jobs.
The adult video business
is made up of producers (who create
product), manufacturers (who duplicate and distribute their own
products as well as other producers' product), wholesale
distributors, retailers (including Internet sites) and mail order
companies. In California alone, AVN has identified 175
manufacturers, each of whom employs an average of 16
employees, making for 2800 jobs. An additional 60 wholesale
distributors and mail order outfits exist in California, with an average
of ten employees each (600 jobs). Moreover, these figures do not
include the numerous California producers and publishers of adult
magazines, novelties and websites, all of which are economically
significant industries in their own right.
In February of 1997,
US News & World Report stated that adult
entertainment was estimated to be an $8 billion economic giant.
AVN and other industry professionals estimate that the figure is at
least $2-3 billion higher than that.
Several hundred performers
residing in California are employed
in the adult movie industry, as are thousands of technicians,
directors, editors, producers, makeup artists, art directors,
designers, photographers, line producers, lighting technicians,
cinematographers, artists, computer experts, camera operators,
caterers, drivers, janitors, builders, Foley artists, musicians, etc.
Each of these employees pays state income taxes.
Many of the fine technicians
and artists who work in the
"mainstream" entertainment industry have previously worked behind
the scenes in the adult movie business, showing that the adult
industry provides a training ground for people wanting to work in
Hollywood. Many continue to work both in mainstream and adult
productions.
DANCE:
FACT: Many entertainers
earn 5-6 times the state's official
minimum wage.
FACT: Dancers choose
their own working environment and work
schedules, many times opening their own businesses.
FACT: Dancers enjoy
a level of financial independence not found
by women in other areas.
FACT: Female dancers
earn 3-4 times the amount of money
earned by their male counterparts.
INTERNET:
FACT: California leads the country in hosting adult websites.
FACT: These are sources
of high paying, technically
sophisticated jobs. Furthermore, young entrepreneurs are attracted
to these businesses because of the low capital investment for
start-up. The adult website industry keeps these creative, talented
people in California, and attracts similar technicians and
entrepreneurs from around the world. Each website generates more
employment in the shipping industry, and many provide employment
for models and dancers, and provide new means of distribution for
photographers and graphic artists.
III. UNDERAGE EMPLOYMENT
AND CHILD
PORNOGRAPHY
VIDEO:
Congress has found that
commercial child pornography does not
exist in this country. In the 15 years that Adult Video News has been
published, it has never received one tape depicting child
pornography. The regular, commercial adult movie industry,
operating in California (and in all 50 states) employs only consenting
adults over the age of 18 and produces material for consumption
solely for consenting adults over the age of 18.
Since 1990, the FREE
SPEECH COALITION has worked with
the Federal government to create a workable regulatory system
designed to prevent minors from working in the adult entertainment
industry. That law [18 U.S.C. §2257] requires, in essence, that
no
one can work in the industry without having copies of their passport
or driver's license, and a declaration under penalty of perjury of their
age and true name, on file with the production company's custodian
of records, and available for inspection by law enforcement. When
fraud perpetrated by underage performers has been detected, it has
been dealt with immediately, and tapes containing underage
performers have been immediately recalled. (See Legislative
Proposal #1.)
Additionally, the FREE
SPEECH COALITION offers a reward of
up to $10,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of
anyone involved in production or distribution of child pornography.
Those who would censor
adult material always lump mainstream,
Constitutionally-protected adult materials together with child
pornography (as well as obscenity, violence or matter harmful to
minors). The media often takes such a connection as fact and
consequently reports incorrect information to the public. It is a fallacy
that those who operate production and distribution businesses in the
adult industry also traffic in child pornography. No one from the
modern commercial adult industry has ever knowingly been
associated with the manufacture, distribution or sale of material
depicting children.
Indeed, when testifying
before an Assembly committee, attorney
Jan LaRue of the California Law Center for Family and Children, an
expert anti-pornography advocate, testified that there is no
connection between child pornography and the modern adult
entertainment industry.
DANCE:
In the dance and theater
circuit, most jurisdictions, entertainers
must show proof of age via California or U.S. identification cards.
Additionally, some cities and counties like San Diego and
Sacramento are about to or have established requirements for the
licensing of exotic dancers.
Dance clubs also provide
additional sources of employment for
the stars of the video industry. These stars perform as headliners in
the clubs, bringing in hundreds of thousands of fans, annually.
IV. CONTENT AND CONSENTING ADULTS
VIDEO:
The content of every
single adult tape manufactured by the
legitimate adult video industry on the shelves of every video and
adult store in the nation involves only consenting adults. Roughly
90% of the material produced and distributed over the past 14 years
contains mainstream sexual acts (oral sex, anal sex, group sex,
etc.). Adult movies do not contain rape, coerced sex, sex with
animals, violence, incest or child pornography. The other 10% of the
material available is classified as specialty material (i.e., foot fetish,
tickling fetish, bondage, spanking, etc.) which does not contain
explicit sex, but which still involves consenting adults.
DANCE:
All dancers are of legal
age and are recognized as consenting
adults based on documents which are required to be presented to
the club by the dancers themselves.
V. WORKING CONDITIONS
VIDEO:
Like all motion pictures,
adult movies are shot either at a
soundstage or a location. Performers ("Talent") are scheduled to
appear when they are needed, so although some shoots may take
more than eight hours, talent is rarely on set for the entire duration.
As in mainstream Hollywood movies, adult productions employ
production managers, assistant directors, production assistants and
other production personnel not only to make sure the shoot is
proceeding as planned, but to take care of the talent as well.
Catered meals and snacks are served at regular intervals, and
scheduled breaks are provided, as well as facilities for the talent
to
rest and take care of personal hygiene, which is also of the utmost
importance when shooting sexually explicit entertainment.
The FREE SPEECH COALITION
has put thousands of hours and
the majority of its financial resources into talent support services.
A
health and welfare corporation, called Protecting Adult Welfare
Foundation (P.A.W.) wholly owned by the FREE SPEECH
COALITION, was established to manage the talent services
previously undertaken by the COALITION. P.A.W. operates a peer
counseling hotline staffed by experienced members of the adult
community, who have been trained by a licensed psychologist. This
service has been in place for over five years, and has helped
hundreds of industry members to deal with substance abuse,
depression, relationship problems and the full gamut of
stress-related issues. Likewise, P.A.W. runs educational seminars,
offering assistance in estate and pension planning, tax preparation,
health education, sexually-transmitted disease (STD) testing, life
skills and other support services for the male and female actors in
the industry, and is currently seeking access to a credit union for
industry personnel.
In 1998, an independent
non-profit entity was spun off from the
FSC. Dedicated to providing direct medical and psychological
services to the adult industry and others, the Adult Industry Medical
Healthcare Foundation (A.I.M.) provides a committed, "one-stop
shop" for medical testing, health and safety education, 12 step
programs, relationship counseling, tracking for HIV and STD testing,
as well as support for condom use.
This is yet another
example of the modern adult entertainment
industry taking care of its own.
DANCE:
Working conditions at
gentlemen's clubs vary depending on the
age of the facility and the philosophy that the club embraces. In most
cases, the clubs are well-lighted, adequately protected by house
security, and are tastefully and in some cases lavishly decorated.
These clubs have top-of-the-line sound and stage lighting systems,
and the entertainment provided is on par with what you might expect
at Las Vegas cabaret shows.
As a result, most of
the entertainers work on stages, under bright
lights, dancing to rhythmic music (usually of their own choosing).
They are protected by in-house security at all times. Now that the
FREE SPEECH COALITION offers its members health, dental,
vision and life insurance, the number of insured dancers is growing.
VI. THE ADULT ENTERTAINMENT
INDUSTRY AND
INSURANCE:
One of the great accomplishments
of the FREE SPEECH
COALITION is the availability of the full range of insurance to adult
entertainment industry businesses and individuals. As recently as
three years ago, no insurer was interested in providing insurance to
the industry. Not only was health insurance simply unavailable for
actresses, actors and dancers, production insurance for
movie-making and even premises liability insurance for warehouses
and retail outlets was either unreasonably expensive or utterly
unavailable.
Now, all forms of insurance
are available, with excellent benefits
at reasonable prices. Most exciting of all, members of the FREE
SPEECH COALITION have available to them dental, vision and
health insurance of the highest quality. For health, we offer not only
a
PPO policy through Blue Cross, but also an extraordinary HMO
policy. The HMO is extraordinarily comprehensive; its services and
prices are equivalent to that offered by the Screen Actors Guild.
Furthermore, the policies are underwritten by manufacturers through
a 4% employer payroll contribution. This means that an actor or
actress working several times per month (as is the norm) can get
health insurance free!
The long-term significance
of this cannot be over-emphasized.
The availability of quality insurance in our country often impacts life
expectancy and the quality of life. Under these policies, early
detection of health conditions and preventive treatment, as well as
treatment for drug and alcohol problems, will be a mainstay of the
lives of the actors, actresses and dancers, to say nothing of the lives
of retail employees, warehouse workers and others who could not
get access to insurance.
A fundamental mission
of the FREE SPEECH COALITION is to
improve the quality of life for those people who earn a living in the
adult entertainment industry. The effort to provide access to
insurance to thousands of people previously without ready access is
an accomplishment to be most proud of. It reflects both an industry
which is maturing and the recognition of that maturation by the
insurance industry.
VII. THE ADULT ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY AND H.I.V.
The adult entertainment
industry has reacted with remarkable
responsibility to the tragic arrival of H.I.V. into the community of
adult
actors and actresses. Despite the fact that the on-set practices of
the industry, as well as the testing programs, delayed the advent of
any H.I.V. infection for over 15 years, in early 1998, five members
of
the community tested positive for the disease. Enlisting the
extraordinary guidance of retired actress Miss Sharon Mitchell, a
certified chemical dependency specialist, and street-gang and
H.I.V. counselor (and founder of A.I.M.), the FREE SPEECH
COALITION and its health and welfare affiliate, P.A.W., enlisted
internationally-recognized researchers and treatment specialists to
create a state-of-the-art testing program.
Every 27 days, each
and every actor and actress voluntarily tests
for the presence of H.I.V. in their blood by means of the newest, best
test available, the PCR-DNA test. Compliance with the testing
regimen is nearly universal among performers. These artists have
accepted responsibility for their own health - and they inspect
certified copies of each other's H.I.V. tests before performances.
It is the ultimate measure
of the success of our program that no
performer has tested positive for H.I.V. in over a year. There are
very few if any industries that have had similar success.
Equally importantly,
the industry is addressing not only the health
of its performers, but also the health of its audience. many of the
major manufacturers of adult motion pictures have announced a
policy of accepting only all-condom sex scenes in their productions.
Moreover, they are supported in this effort by most of the largest
wholesale purchasers of adult tapes. The wholesalers have pledged
to give preferential treatment to condom-only productions in their
sales effort.
This commitment reflects
concern not only for the health of the
actors and actresses, but also concern for the health of the scores
of
millions of people who comprise the adult entertainment audience.
An entire generation of the population has learned about sex
through the industry's products and services. While adult
entertainment is undeniably fantasy material, the major
manufacturers recognize that their products represent sexual role
modeling for the world. The presence of condoms throughout
sexually explicit productions is a great step forward.
VIII. SUBSTANCE ABUSE IN THE INDUSTRY
Substance abuse has
a negative impact on all sectors of
business productivity in the United States, and the adult
entertainment industry is no exception. It is the industry's policy,
however, to ban the use of all drugs and alcohol on production sets
and in gentlemen's clubs, and to provide an opportunity for
counseling and therapy for those industry members who find
themselves with a substance abuse problem.
Often, information on
industry members' abuse problems comes
from other performers or producers who are as concerned about the
health integrity of their industry as they are with creating entertaining
product. Again, such self-policing measures often prove to be a
reliable safety net beneath the industry's other safety policies. The
industry has numerous recovering, sober veteran performers who
provide support, education and intervention when talent is
determined to have substance abuse problems.
Through the efforts
of the F.S.C., P.A.W. and A.I.M., the finest
quality services are readily available, exceeding anything offered by
any other media industry.
IX. THE MYTH OF RAPE AND SEXUAL ABUSE
A common fallacy is
that adult entertainment activities like
dancing and movies lead to rape. It is likely that the opposite is true.
As part of just one of the U.S. Government's most thorough and
in-depth investigations into pornography, a study was conducted of
a broad sampling of felons in the U.S. penal system which charted
their exposure to sex education as well as sexually explicit
materials. The results paint a picture that clearly refute the
pornography/rape connection. The highest incidence of exposure to
adult material was found to be among non-sex-crime related
offenders, while rapists, child molesters and other sex-crime
offenders showed a preponderant lack of exposure to sex
education, sexual experience, and sexually-related materials.
Decades of psychological
studies (none of which were
sponsored by, nor were in any way conducted by or associated with
the adult industry or its members) have established that it is the
inability to fantasize that is connected to the violent acting-out of
sexual assault; thus confirming the accuracy of the homily that rape
is an act of violence, not of sex.
The conclusion, then,
could easily be reached that lack of sexual
education and sexual outlets like adult videos, dance clubs and
magazines lead to the ignorance, anger and frustration that may
prompt sex-related crimes. This conclusion is supported by the
dramatic reduction in sex offenses in Scandinavian countries
following the decriminalization of sexual materials in the early
1960s. Clearly, then, the viewing of sexually explicit materials is
a
source of sexual fantasizing for the consumer and not an impetus for
rape.
Another misconception
about the adult entertainment industry is
that women are coerced against their will to perform. The truth of the
matter is that the talent in the adult industry, both female and male,
solicit their own work, and most are represented by licensed and
bonded agents. In fact, many more women want to work in the adult
entertainment industry than the industry can accommodate.
Performers often give
their own input as to how a scene will be
played out, and also have the option of working with the partners of
their choice. They are never forced or coerced into working with
anyone. No substantiated report of coercion within the industry has
been made in over 20 years. There is not one actress or dancer in
the contemporary adult entertainment industry who has been made
to perform an act against her will.
X THE ADULT INTERNET AND NEW TECHNOLOGIES
An industry dominated
by California technology, technicians and
entrepreneurs, adult websites provide new mechanisms for access
to adult products, information and services. Websites are less
intrusive than retail outlets, providing even more privacy than mail
order services. The adult side of the World Wide Web is
responsible for the commercial development for many of the "new
technologies" such as teleconferencing and "streaming" video. This
is consistent with the historically significant role played by the adult
industry as a testing ground for the most innovative entertainment
technologies. For instance, the home video industry was driven by
demand for adult product. This trend has repeated with the digital
media, such as laserdiscs and CD-ROMs. Now we see this
occurring again with DVD, high definition television, and high speed
Internet access devices such as cable modems, ISDN and ADN.
This is a source for the best kind of investment, technical
development, entrepreneurship and employment - all based here in
California, especially in the San Fernando Valley.
All responsible parties
want to create effective mechanisms for
keeping minors away from inappropriate materials on the Web. The
adult industry is in the forefront of this effort. Commercial websites
need customers who have disposable income and the credit cards
to pay for products, information and services. Minors (who lack all
these qualities) represent unwelcome traffic, consuming valuable
bandwidth, without any payoff for the website.
Of course, the industry
creates these products, information and
services exclusively by and for adults. The commercial reasons to
prevent minors from gaining access are emphasized here solely to
establish that there are practical as well as altruistic reasons to
keep minors off adult sites.
XI THE MAINSTREAMING OF PORNOGRAPHY
It is noteworthy that
the adult entertainment industry, as well as
sexually explicit product itself, has become increasingly admitted
into "mainstream" culture and institutions. Recent hit movies, such
as The People vs. Larry Flynt, Boogie Nights, and Orgasmo, all
depict the adult industry in considerably more balanced fashion than
has occurred historically. The critical reviews of 8 Millimeter reflect
an increasingly common understanding that there is no connection
between the modern commercial adult industry and violence,
coercion or criminality.
Increasingly adult actors
and actresses perform in mainstream
Hollywood features and related entertainment. Many major
manufacturers are being integrated into the rest of the entertainment
world. Vivid Video, for example, is in the forefront of a new "product
placement" trend, having already broken through other historical
barriers by having billboards promoting their product lines on
prestigious Sunset Boulevard.
The adult industry's
charitable activities are beginning to be
noted. The adult industry has made important contributions to the
fight against breast and ovarian cancer through its participation in
the annual Revlon Run/Walk For Women.
The adult industry has
also historically been generous in support
of the Pediatric AIDS Foundation, and one actress, Rayne, has
been extraordinarily committed to charity, organizing and hosting
charity events for needy children.
The barrier separating
adult entertainment from the rest of the
entertainment world is crumbling. Besides theatrical releases and
direct video release titles emphasizing sexual themes, cable
television has embraced explicit sexual series, often depending on
adult industry talent, from both sides of the camera.
XII INDUSTRY LEGISLATIVE PROPOSALS - 1999
PROPOSAL #1 - The Traci
Lords Act (written by the Legal
Committee of THE FREE SPEECH COALITION):
Underage persons defraud
employers and/or retail businesses
by presenting identification obtained by defrauding government
agencies. Relying upon government-issued identification,
employers lose tens of thousands of dollars destroying materials
created in good faith, but unsalable upon discovery of the true age
of the performer. Distributors and retailers lose equally substantial
sums destroying or returning product. Under current law, there is no
disincentive for underage persons to engage in this practice.
Instead, because of the publicity generated, there is an actual
affirmative incentive to attempt to engage in this fraud! Minors
offering false identification may attempt to enter establishments
which offer entertainment suitable and lawful only for adults. There
is
likewise no disincentive to engage in such activity.
For example, in the
1980s, Norma Kuzma, performing under the
name of Traci Lords, defrauded scores of manufacturers of adult
films by presenting apparently valid California - and
Federally-issued identification, which was fraudulently obtained.
Then a "superstar" in the adult industry, Kuzma performed sex acts
while underage for nearly three years, and cost the unaware adult
entertainment industry millions of dollars when her deceit was
revealed.
Kuzma has since exploited
her conduct to create a career as a
B-movie actress in Hollywood.
In 1996, it was discovered
that Aaron Lance Denno, performing
under the name of Jeff Browning, engaged in behavior identical to
that of Kuzma. Acquiring State and Federal identification by fraud,
Denno presented this identification in order to perform in more than
a dozen gay movies. The adult entertainment industry lost tens of
thousands of dollars retrieving copies of those movies and
eliminating Denno therefrom. No civil remedy can adequately
reimburse the industry. However, no defrauding underage performer
has ever been prosecuted for his/her actions, or even threatened
with prosecution. Rather, they are looked upon as the victims!
Proposed solution: Create
a deterrence to such fraud by
specifically criminalizing the behavior.
PROPOSAL #2 - The Access
To Seized Records Act (written by
the Legal Committee of the FREE SPEECH COALITION):
Problem: Current law
provides of the seizure of business records
and the computers on which such records are usually housed.
Review of those records can be time-consuming for law
enforcement. However, during the period of review, the loss of the
business records housed on the computers can shut down lawful
businesses, or create insurmountable problems regarding the
creation of tax records, making tax payments, maintaining customer
good will and fulfilling orders. Moreover, since many small
businesses, especially home businesses, use computers for
personal as well as business records, loss of access to those
computers' records may cause loss of access to vital personal
records, such as medical or school records.
Furthermore, absent
a statutory means for providing duplicate
copies of records, unnecessary litigation against law enforcement
agencies for loss of income and similar damages is inevitable. For
example, the Los Angeles Police Department executed a search
warrant on a home business in 1995, alleging that the operator of
the business, which published a newsletter, possessed child
pornography. All computer equipment, which contained the
company's complete business records, including subscriber and tax
information, was seized. Eight months later, the computer
equipment and records were returned without any evidence of child
pornography having been found. No criminal charges were brought.
Only good will, fear of reprisal and an un-trendy reluctance to litigate
on the part of the business owners prevented a bitter civil rights
action against the L.A.P.D.
Proposed solution: Provide
a systematic means to duplicate and
return business records to the entities from whom the records were
seized, while providing law enforcement with the means to protect
society from the dissemination of illegal matter by means of
immediate judicial review.
Thank you for your attention.
If you have any comments or
questions, please feel free to contact our Legislative Advocate, Kat
Sunlove, at (530) 888-1554, or the offices of the FREE SPEECH
COALITION at (800) 845-8503.