August 11, 2006 | Sex & Society

Hotels without porn?

Most advertisements sell everyday wares such as cars, electronics or clothing. But leave it to the radical right to take out an ad in USA Today attacking companies that supply hotels with adult pay-per-view movies.

GAYVN,  in a scathing editorial, counter-attacked Citizens for Community Values (CCV), the group responsible for the ad, for severely distorting facts about pornography use and production.

The ad itself -- which is available on CCV's and the Family Research Council's websites, and which ran only in the New York and Washington, D.C., editions of USA Today -- reads, "If what begins with a click can end as a registered sex offense, it's time we rethink hardcore porn." It targets in particular two companies -- OnCommand and LodgeNet -- that provide hotels with pornography for their pay-per-view movie services, and calls upon the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate them on suspicion of violating laws that forbid the distribution of obscenity.

"It is a known fact that registered sex offenders use adult hardcore pornography as a high-octane fuel to direct dangerous sexual behavior toward others including children," the ad asserts. "The often-addictive nature of pornography -- which many view as a private act -- continues to have drastic public consequences."

According to GAYVN News, the ad quotes several anti-pornography pundits, but ignores scientific evidence that pornography does not, in fact, appeal to most sex offenders. What's more, it skirts legal precedents that legitimize pornography and free speech.

"In fact, all legitimate studies have shown that pedophiles are completely uninterested in 'adult hardcore pornography;' it doesn't turn them on," Mark Kernes, author of the GAYVN editorial, writes. "Moreover, it's unclear what the organizations mean by 'dangerous sexual behavior toward others.' Not using condoms? Getting blowjobs while driving? Most responsible adult producers oppose those practices as well -- but it's doubtful that that's what the ad is directed toward."

More likely, Kernes suggests, the ad is directed toward the same ignoramuses who deny the existence of global warming and the efficacy of safe sex education. In other words, the anti-porn activists are preaching to the conservative choir using the tried and true technique of perverting the truth. Now that's obscene!

• Commentary: Theocrats call On Justice Department to bust hotel pay-per-view [AVN]