Trump Administration Begins A Shadow War On Adult (AVN)

Read the full article by Mark Kernes at AVN.com

WASHINGTON, D.C.—It probably hasn't escaped Republican politicians' attention that it's virtually impossible to get a jury to convict a producer or retailer on obscenity charges anymore. After all, most of the jurors probably watch porn themselves, and legitimate adult producers tend to shy away from creating hardcore scenes that would shock ordinary people's sensibilities—and under existing obscenity laws, it'd be damned hard to get a conviction on, say, a BDSM movie that doesn't include hardcore.

So what's a pro-censorship religious conservative to do? Answer: Chip away at the margins of free sexual speech.

One early example of such action, apparently taken with an eye on the then-impending Supreme Court decision in Masterpiece Cakeshop v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, was that in early January, Health and Human Services Deputy Secretary Eric Hargan announced that the agency would be forming a "Conscience and Religious Freedom Division" within HHS' Office for Civil Rights. An HHS press release stated that the new division would "more vigorously and effectively enforce existing laws protecting the rights of conscience and religious freedom, the first freedom protected in the Bill of Rights"—and its website specifically identifies abortion and assisted suicide as "procedures for which health care professionals may need conscience protection"—and right-wing media speculated that some doctors and nurses also may request "protection" against being forced to assist with gender transitions.

The message that adult entertainment should take from this concatenation of actions is simple: As we all assumed, They are coming for us; it's just taking them a little longer than we assumed. But the war has started, so get ready.