The Times Are Getting Tough Again
 

As I read the Head's Up reports, I noticed there seems to be increased police anti-gay/cruising activity even at a time that many police departments are cutting back on staff and patrols. Some have suggested the city/town/county are looking for more fine revenue at the expense of a segment of the population outside the mainstream. Others attribute this to increased anger at the economic hardships of today being focused on the gay community.

Adult bookstores (ABS) across the country are coming under greater pressure. Like sharks drawn to an injured swimmer, local municipalities are launching successful attempts to out ABS from the community. ABS owners are ill equipped in these lean economic times to pay for an expensive and drawn out legal battle to defend their business. Personally, one of our stores was temporarily closed in September, 2008 due to observed gay activity by an undercover cop. Despite an exhausting legal battle, it remains closed today. And this is in a city that previously had a reputation as gay business friendly.

Even the federal government has smelt the blood in the water and launched several bold assaults on the porn industry as a whole. Paul Little, aka Max Hardcore, sits in a federal prison for making porn movies, and he didn't even sell the contested tapes. Another business, unrelated to him, sold and shipped them to undercover agents over his instructions not to sell them in Florida. Rob Black and Lizzy Borden of Extreme Associates were sentenced to prison last year for making videos the government deemed pornographic. Rob just got out of jail last month after serving 10 months of his original sentence. Now, John Staglino and his Evil Angel Production company are fighting for his freedom for shipping dvds across state lines that the government agents who ordered them deemed pornographic. Recently in Iowa, government agents seized dvds and successfully prosecuted a collector of Japanese anime on the grounds that the age of the cartoon characters on the dvds could not be established. The dvds did not represent the characters as underage, but how do you provide proof of the age of a cartoon character?

Even the US government's avowed intent to let gays openly serve in the Armed Forces is proving a difficult pledge to fulfill as legal challenges may side track it before it even gets implemented. Strange, with the country's growing anti-gay/anti-porn attitude, I thought they would welcome the chance to use the gay servicemen as cannon fodder.

Don't be fooled by the seeming progress on gay issues like same sex marriage. The government wants to control your sexuality, and wipe out what they deem socially undesirable activity. The days of sexual progress are coming to an end and there is a Dark Age of Repression looming on the horizon.

What is the deal with Max Hardcore?? What did they accuse him of?? His vids were really graphic bordering on abuse of the model(s) in my opionion.

In continuation. I think that the local govts see the store as a 'blight' of sorts in thier towns. Not the same thing but people do spend $$ in these stores and unlike bars/night clubs where people get drunk and drive and kill at least it's a somewhat safe way to enjoy your private time.

The dark days continue to approach as Carl Paladino mounts a campaign for Govenor of New York with a strong anti-gay message. (see related article in this Forum section).