TheWrap Tackles the Thorny Issue of Porn and Politics

PORN VALLEY—In the novel Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert Heinlein has one of his characters say, "I don't pay much attention to politics." The response from the "wise old man" protagonist is, "You should. It's barely less important than your own heartbeat." If there's one topic, though, that most in the adult industry want to avoid talking about, it's politics—but Itay Hod of TheWrap.com found a few high-profile members who were willing to express their views on the subject, and surprise, surprise, they all understand that electing conservatives is not only bad for free sexual speech, it's also bad for business. "Out of all candidates, I think he could really help small business," BurningAngel founder Joanna Angel told TheWrap regarding Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, who's running on the Democratic ticket. "He’s against censorship and he’s focused on real issues." On the other hand, Hustler founder Larry Flynt said he's supporting the more mainstream, big-business-friendly candidate. "I'm endorsing Hillary Clinton," Flynt told Hod. "If she wins, she'll be able to appoint two or three judges to the Supreme Court, which could shift the balance." Of course, it's likely that whoever wins the presidency will be appointing several justices, what with Ruth Bader Ginsburg currently clocking in at age 84, Antonin Scalia and Anthony Kennedy at 79 and Steven Breyer at 77—so the question adult industry members and supporters should be asking themselves is, "When I vote for the Democrat, will it be the right Democrat who'll support my sexual speech rights through wise judicial and other nominations and appointments?" Part of the problem is, as Hod points out, nobody on the national political stage wants to be connected in any way to the adult industry, and adult lore is full of stories of candidates who've refused or sent back campaign donations from those in or allied with the industry. "Hillary Clinton won’t take my money," Flynt lamented to Hod. "So I mostly give to local candidates." But where Hod's article goes a bit off the rails is his suggestion that due to porn's immense popularity, politicians might actually starting paying attention to the industry's needs. "Even though presidential contenders — Democratic or Republican — haven't typically touted support from the porn industry, experts said that all could change," Hod writes. "Millennials are far less squeamish about porn and more averse to politicians telling them what they can or cannot watch." It's unclear who Hod's "experts" are. Only Free Speech CEO Diane Duke is quoted on the subject, opining that, "It would be a mistake for politicians not to listen to a large part of their constituency," and adding, "We don’t have the power that Hollywood has, or even a fraction of it. But we do good old-fashioned lobbying, talking to politicians, informing them about the industry and letting them know how many people in their district are employed by the business." And while it's true that the adult industry has been able to head off "porn taxes" on adult products in the state, and has defeated several attempts at a statewide version of the Measure B mandatory condom statute, it's rare that the industry has been able to influence legislators to enact laws that would benefit it. Just two examples come to mind: a law allowing companies access to company records that may have been seized by authorities pursuant to, for instance, an obscenity bust, and one that makes it a crime to use fraudulent identification documents to obtain work in the adult industry aka the "Traci Lords law." Hod also seems to think that the fact that webcamming has provided increased revenue for women by allowing "anyone with a laptop or smart phone to start a virtual peep show from the comfort of their own home," which he claims has "eliminat[ed] the need for a studio contract," he's clearly in LaLa Land with the next sentence: "And that, experts say, could translate into tangible political power." Um... how? Seriously? Perhaps the most optimistic actual adult industry expert Hod quotes is Vivid's Steve Hirsch, who told him, "There’s no question that porn is everywhere. It's more accepted than ever before. You can watch it on the Internet, you can watch it on TV. Does that translate into political power? It may. But if it happens, it happens behind the scenes." And that's a big "if." Frankly, the notion that the adult industry will have more than a miniscule amount of influence on the upcoming presidential election is just a pipedream. Fortunately, there are several in the industry who have such dreams, but that they'll have any influence on national politics in the near term is likely just another adult fantasy.