In 2006, America took a fresh stand against porn, while we were not busy consuming it. We did it for the children! Now there's lots of good stuff in the "Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006." For instance, it is illegal to sell date rape drugs over the Internet and, fine, people who have abusive sexual contact with children now get 30 years to life in prison. (That'll fix 'em!) But after the (quite reasonable!) section about "prevention of distribution of child pornography" comes one called "prohibiting the production of obscenity." And it is illegal for anyone to not only transport but "produce" "any obscene, lewd, lascivious, or filthy book, pamphlet, picture, film, paper, letter, writing, print, silhouette, drawing, figure, image, cast, phonograph recording, electrical transcription or other article"—and, in at least Ohio's version of the law, you must also register as a sex offender if you pander obscenity. This does not sit well
with the mother of two who runs the Cincinnati Hustler store!
The woman is afraid, [her lawyer] Sirkin said, because under the current law, if she sells something at the store that is deemed—even years later—to be obscene, the law requires her to register as a sex offender for 15 years.
Such a conviction and reporting requirement, Sirkin said, likely would result in her two children being kicked out of their Catholic school, because it requires background checks, and would end her volunteering as a school volleyball coach.
Maybe Cincinnati is more awesome than we remember, if pornographers are coaching volleyball. It should be noted that
Lou Sirkin, her lawyer, is
Larry Flynt's. And also that the store
has caused Flynt's corporation to be convicted of "pandering obscenity" before. Won't someone think of the volleyball team?
I can assure you, Cincinnati is NOT more awesome than you remember. I was arrested once for standing on the sidewalk in front of a gay bar at 2 am. It is a town run by right wing hoo-has who never fail to make the city a laughingstock every few years; arresting the curator of the Contemporary Arts Center, dragging him out of the Mapplethorpe opening in handcuffs. Blowing up their local abortion clinic so that the beautiful second empire house that planned Parenthood once occupied could be replaced by a hugely efficient, prison-like abortion factory. Wasting millions on the Larry Flynt witchhunt, the Mapplethorpe trial... believe me I could go on. Thanks Cincinnati! The city teeters on insolvency while the sports stadiums thrive. The long suffering citizens just roll their eyes and carry on with self deprecating humor. But most of the people I grew up with there got the hell out. They're hostile to art, to culture, and patricularly to the gays, who can be relied upon to bring out the base whenever a gay rights or gay marriage issue is at the polls. There is fun to be had there in spite of all this, I guess, but awesome...NO.
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