Dallas City Hall Poised to Settle Exxxotica Lawsuit (YNOT)

Read the full article by Mallory Hall at YNOT.com

After years of back and forth, the City of Dallas is apparently ready to settle its lawsuit with the Exxxotica Expo — to the tune of $650,000.

In August 2015, the Exxxotica Expo made a stop in Dallas. This would mark the first time the show was held in the city.

Though the programing included nothing out of the ordinary for the established trade show, according to a report from the Dallas News, undercover police officers and city prosecutors cased the show floor, looking for “trouble.” When the event wrapped, however, city officials reported that officers saw no problems — “no increase in reports of sex trafficking, no spike in prostitution, no violations of the state’s obscenity laws.”

But that didn’t stop the city from subsequently initiating a clusterfuck-level battle with the show.

When Exxxotica organizers began to work with convention center representatives on a contract renewal to hold future events in Dallas, the mayor’s office got involved. According to the Dallas News, nonprofits that worked with victims and survivors of sex trafficking wanted the show banned, insisting it was exploitative. Dallas land owner Ray Hunt and former US Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison also got in on the anti-Exxxotica action. 

Mallory Hall is from Central Texas. She has worked in journalism since her university years and enjoys exploring unexpected occurrences in ordinary places.