AITA gets political
Speaking at this special meeting were AITA Chairman and Strictly Broadband boss Jerry Barnett, producer and passionate porn defender Anna Arrowsmith née Span and Tuppy Owens, sex therapist and civil liberties advocate. Guest speaker of honour was Fiona Patten, head of the Australian adult trade body Eros and one of the founders of the Australian Sex Party. The select audience contained a number of adult industry people along with various journalists, academics and other interested parties, such as representatives of ASACP - the Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection - and the .XXX sTLD. Barnett opened the meeting by apologising for the band practice next door, saying: “Welcome to the AITA Jazz Festival.” Aided by a PowerPoint presentation, he explained that the meeting had been inspired by both Fiona Patten’s visit to the UK and recent media coverage of the adult industry - coverage that appeared to have a heavy bias against pornography. He explained why AITA exists - as a combined voice calling for positive change within the industry as well as fair treatment by legislators - and outlined some of its successes, including helping to get sex shop licence fees lowered, before switching to the main thrust of his speech, that the industry shouldn’t be passively taking unreasonable criticism.
Arguing that simply responding to often ill-
informed comments in the press and on television had hampered the industry, Barnett said that rather than be called upon to defend itself, now was the time for the industry to “Go on the attack.” He explained how web censorship of consensual adult material was a freedom of speech disaster and likened it to other civil liberties struggles, such as gay equality. He was especially scathing of former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith’s recent pronouncements.
Barnett continued his presentation by explaining how both the Video Recordings Act and the Obscene Publications Act were badly out of step with the post- Internet revolution age and how these “draconian” laws were being applied to situations they weren’t written for. Net filtering, the control mechanisms of fear, politics and religion, and the lack of evidence of the supposed harm to society from pornography were all key thrusts of his argument. Claire Perry MP, Nadine Dorries and Jacqui Smith were all accused of mixing up feminism with the suppression of sexual expression, with Barnett adding that, “Moralistic societies do not deliver equality. They divide men and women.” He finished, saying that when under attack it is not enough to defend your position. You have to attack back and while the industry must remain self-critical in those areas that could be improved, now is the time to go on the offensive.
Going
In an unusual open-to-the-public event, on May 9th the Adult Industry Trade Association hosted a meeting with the theme of Sex and Politics at the University of London’s Student Union...
“ONLY 65%”
Next to speak was creator of the Outsiders’ Club - which helps people with physical and social disabilities to enjoy active sex lives - and sexual freedom campaigner Tuppy Owens. She began by detailing her background as the writer of the Sex Maniac’s Diary, which was produced for 23 years, and how the Sex Maniac’s Ball morphed into the Night of the Senses and the Erotic Awards. She spoke movingly of some of the tragic stories of disabled people she encounters, terribly frustrated by the limitations conditions such as Muscular Dystrophy apply to their lives, and how sexual expression was too often denied them. She bemoaned how little was done to protect children from socially or culturally acceptable genital mutilation too, highlighting the plight of Somali girls, some of whom have their vaginas horribly butchered and clitorises removed - even in the UK. Owens’ argument was that for much of the world, including Britain, sex is treated as a shameful act and this was used by the authorities to both control people’s private, legal activities and to tax the industry. One statistic Tuppy gave got a particularly big reaction from the audience. In a recent report 65% of UK people said homosexuality was ok. As she put it: “Only 65% think being gay is acceptable.” The liberal
The audience included industry figures, journalists, academics and other interested parties... 52
Erotic Trade Only June 2011
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