Calico Rudasil is a feature columnist for Sssh.com, the award-winning porn site for women & couples. With over 18 years’ experience under her belt, writing about and for the adult entertainment industry, Calico qualifies as something of a Web Porn Dinosaur; similar to a tyrannosaurus, only with far more attractive arms and a less pronounced overbite.
Another year, another round of moral indignation in some quarters of the Dallas populace over the notion of the Exxxotica Expo being held at the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center.
This year, however, instead of merely bitching about how much they despise porn, the Dallas City Council has actually voted to bar Exxxotica from staging its expo at the Hutchinson Center – a move sure to result in a lawsuit, given the expense and hassle required in rescheduling and moving an entire convention a matter of months before it is supposed to occur.
So, What Changed From Last Year?
In 2015, there was no shortage of opposition to Exxxotica taking place in Dallas, with a variety of voices piping up to claim the event would be a hotbed of human trafficking, sexual abuse and trafficked girls being “bought and sold” at the expo.
When all was said and done, though, Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings and the city council didn’t take any action in an attempt to block the 2015 expo from taking place – an event later described by one convention center employee as “kind of boring,” and by a police constable assigned to patrol it as “much ado about nothing.”
Last year, Rawlings said he was “deeply concerned” about the message sent by permitting the expo to take place, but he stopped short of taking any legislative action to prevent it. This year, however, Rawlings asked the council to deny space in to Exxxotica, which it now has by a vote of 8-7.
While Rawlings claims the notion of rejecting Exxxotica was strictly his own doing, not spurred on by forces outside the government, some locals are skeptical of his claim, seeing as how local billionaire Ray Hunt, who owns around 30 acres of the city’s downtown, recently emailed the city council asking them to deny the expo space at the convention center.
I’m sure Mr. Hunt’s email and its sentiments had nothing to do with Rawlings’ change of heart, though, right? Riiiight.
Suddenly, Getting Sued Is A Good Thing, Apparently
Last year, before his deep concern metastasized into the gumption to take on all litigious comers, Rawlings said there wasn’t a whole lot he could do about the expo coming to town, per the advice of his legal counsel.
“Use of the convention center is subject to the First Amendment,” said in a statement issued last July. “Our city attorneys advise us that the city therefore cannot deny its use strictly based on the content of a planned event.”
While neither the First Amendment nor local zoning regulations have changed in the interim, this year Rawlings has changed his legal reasoning and rhetorical tune, considerably.
“Last time I looked, I have a civic liberty and a civic obligation to protect the city and our citizens,” Rawlings said. “That is what our council was elected to do. And we will decide this matter, as opposed to ignoring it.”
Some on the council aren’t so sold on the idea “protecting the city” from a porn convention is what they were elected to do, however, possibly reasoning it wouldn’t be such a bad thing to avoid spending taxpayer money to fight what is likely to be a losing battle in court.
Councilman Scott Griggs, who also happens to be an attorney, called the action to block Exxxotica from using the convention center “foolishness” and a “potentially unconstitutional action.”
Another local attorney, Chad Ruback, noted the city council’s vote isn’t necessarily going to be the most meaningful one involved in this whole affair – and was somewhat less equivocal than Griggs on the question of how the First Amendment issues will play out in court.
“The Dallas City Council’s decision not to allow Exxxotica to rent space in the city-owned convention center will undoubtedly be found unconstitutional by a federal judge,” Ruback said. “If the city is going to own a convention center and lease it to private parties, the First Amendment to the Constitution precludes the city from discrimination based on the message that those private parties are wanting to express at the convention center. And, like it or not, it is well-established under federal law that erotic displays are protected under the First Amendment.”
In other words, the council’s vote is likely doomed to turn out to be a completely symbolic effort, one which will come with a price tag of several hundred thousand dollars in legal fees.
Strange; isn’t it usually the conservatives who complain about the government wasting money? I guess putting up a futile fight against pornographers doesn’t count, eh?
Oh Well; At Least Kay Approves
If nothing else, at least the mayor has the woman for whom the convention center is named squarely in his corner.
“I totally admire the leadership of the Mayor and those city council people who said if we have to litigate this issue, let’s do it, because it’s worth making it clear in the law that people who are coming here to gather to degrade women and children, and promotes activity that degrades other people, that they’re not welcome here,” Kay Bailey Hutchinson said in response to the council’s vote.
That’s a mighty fine sentiment there, Kay, very principled.
Say, I don’t suppose you or Mr. Hunt would like to foot the city’s bill for fighting the lawsuit, would you?
Yeah…. That’s what I thought.
Calico Rudasil is a Sssh.com (@ssshforwomen) columnist and Sssh will be on Peeperz for fun times again in the near future, meanwhile why not check us out:
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