Page 69 - AVN October 2016

by RICCI J.LEVY
instant-messenger style transcripts between the main
The Newest War on Sex
D o you remember the story of the Trojan
horse? The Greeks used a hollow wooden
statue of a horse to sneak themselves into
Troy. Today we use the phrase to refer to a
person or a thing intended to secretly undermine or
destroy an enemy or opponent.
The War on Sex in this country has lots of Trojan
horses, phrases used to inflame, terrorize, inspire
and mislead. Slogans such as “harmful to children,”
“the war on human sex trafficking,” “sex addiction,”
“porn addiction,” and, of course, “traditional family
values” are Trojan horses disguising the real goal: the
restriction of pleasure, the suppression of sex and
sexuality, and the loss of personal autonomy.
When the appetite for the War on Porn dwindled
and Morality in the Media’s donations dropped from
over $1 million to just over $20,000 in just three
years, the group stopped much of its lobbying and the
Obscenity Task Force that had been responsible for
federal obscenity prosecutions was disbanded.
A victory in the war? No. Simply time for a rebrand
to the War on Human Sex Trafficking. What was our
first clue that this was just a rebrand? Morality in
Media changed its name to the “National Center on
Sexual Exploitation.” Sex panic still sells and still
moves the population politically (and financially).
The War on Sex is being fought in legislatures and
in the hearts and minds of the people. And nothing
tugs at our hearts more than children and the idea of
innocent victims of trafficking. And where our hearts
are tugged, our purses open. After the rebranding, the
$20,000 donated in 2006 jumped to $984,763 in their
first year of reporting (2014).
The War on Sex is being fought in schools, where
our children (those children the anti-sex folks are so
concerned about!) are denied accurate education about
sex, sexuality, pleasure, gender and gender identity.
The War on Sex is being fought in bathrooms, a
battle that’s costing millions and millions of dollars
because it’s a political year and fear moves voters.
With all of the problems in the world today, do you
really think it’s important to stop someone from
using the facilities in the bathroom of their choice? Of
course it isn’t—but it’s a great distraction from those
bigger issues, right? The problem is, lives are being
impacted and people are being harmed.
The War on Sex is being fought against sex workers
under the guise of anti-trafficking efforts—efforts that
ignore the reality of consensual sex work and that put
more lives in danger by restricting opportunities to
advertise and manage their own businesses.
The War on Sex is being fought in the courts. A
recent case in Illinois, Blumenthal v. Brewer, holds that
people who live as if they are married have no legal
recourse should their relationships dissolve. BUT a
person who has a dispute with a roommate about
a joint checking account they use to pay the rent
can go to the courts and find a remedy. What’s the
difference? In one case there’s an assumption of sex
between the two (or more) parties. In the other, it’s
assumed not. And if there’s sex, we must punish, we
must restrict, we must apply different rules.
The War on Sex is being fought in libraries,
particularly school libraries, where books are
censored for content deemed too sexual. Our allies
at the National Coalition Against Censorship battle
this year-round. Their most recent efforts center
around the two books TTYL and its sequel TTFN.
According to NCAC, “The entire book consists of
characters. The book and its sequel focus on the
stories of female high school students: their love lives,
social drama, and friendships.”
The War on Sex is being fought in banks—yes,
banks!—which are put under tremendous pressure to
deny services to adult businesses.
The War on Sex is being fought on social media,
where censorship is the rule and recourse is almost
non-existent. You can advertise Viagra on Facebook
but you can’t advertise a sex toy for pleasure.
The War on Sex is fought by elected officials who,
ashamed of something about themselves, create
onerous laws trying to limit their own temptation
(think Larry Craig, Mark Foley).
The War on Sex saw the battle to defund Planned
Parenthood in a relentless campaign focused on one
service provided by the clinics. The ultimate Trojan
horse rode in on deceptively edited videos creating a
crusade for lawmakers and political candidates and
resulting in the closures of clinics that left thousands
of women without medical care. Personal autonomy?
Not according to the GOP and the anti-sexual freedom
folks. The government, as part of the War on Sex, gets
to decide what you do with your body.
The War on Sex is the justification for violating our
Constitution and shutting down sites like Backpage.
com, MyRedBook.com, Rentboy.com and for forcing
Craigslist to shut down its escort ads. In Woodhull’s
statement after the Rentboy.com raid and arrest,
we wrote, “The impact of government actions in
the ongoing War on Sex, including attacks on sites
like Rentboy.com, is the systematic elimination
of constitutionally protected civil liberties and the
infringement of human rights.”
Human rights. That’s what this all comes down to,
this War on Sex. We have a fundamental human right
to sexual freedom and it is the job of our government
to protect our human rights—not to seek to restrict,
manage or remove them. This War on Sex has to
be brought to an end. Let us set fire to the wooden
horse by insisting on real conversations and bringing
the real issues into the light. Let us use the tools our
enemies in this war use and claim the floor of the
legislature, raise the flag of human rights, and insist
that our government support our human rights. And,
most important, let us look at every field this battle is
being fought on and find ways to support our allies in
their work. Let us seek opportunities to collaborate,
to join together, and to amplify our voices by raising
them together in support of our fundamental right to
sexual freedom!
Ricci J. Levy is president and CEO of the Woodhull Freedom
Foundation.
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