Porn Czar's Salary Would Be Dependent Upon Utah's Sex Industry
In the little more than two years since Houston was appointed by Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff as the state's Obscenity and Pornography Complaints Ombudsman, finding $150,000 a year to fund the first-of-its-kind project has been a problem.
Shurtleff's spokesman, Paul Murphy, said pornography is no laughing matter in Utah, even if the title of porn czar is "kind of funny." He said the attorney general's office lists pornography under the heading of "Violent Crime and Drug Abuse."
"I think what we're seeing in pornography is that more and more, it is depicting women being victimized," Murphy said. "There's portrayals of rapes and murder and that sort of thing towards women, and we think that creates a real harmful attitude towards women.
However, according to Murphy, there hasn't been any funding for Houston's position, "pretty much the entire time she's been in office."
"They (legislature) said, 'Well, we won't cut the position,' but then our budget was cut that exact amount of money. That's happened several times," Murphy added.
Murphy said Shurtleff's office even attempted to use its own budgetary allotment to fund Houston's reported $80,000 annual salary, but was incapable of doing so after suffering its own set of budget cuts.
Unless state money is made available to fund Houston's salary and the support and materials she needs, her title as America's first and only porn czar will cease to exist as of April 1, 2003.
Porn Czar's Future Hinges on Bi-partisan Support
Utah State Rep. Duane Bourdeaux (D-Salt Lake City) said support for the state's porn czar exists among both Democrats and Republicans.
Bourdeaux recently introduced a bill (HB 300) in the Utah House that would tap an unlikely source for the money necessary for Houston's position and the projects it entails. According to his proposed legislation, all of the state's adult entertainment businesses, including strip clubs and escort services, would be forced to pay a 10-percent sin tax.
According to Bourdeaux, part of the money collected from adult entertainment operations statewide would be used to fund "therapeutic organizations" that treat victims of pornography or sexual abuse and also establish a toll-free help line operated by the attorney general's office.
"Say John Doe is experiencing a tough time with pornographic materials," Bourdeaux said, "he can call this 1-800 line and they would refer him to treatment organizations to be able to provide a service."
Bourdeaux said the strategy or "mindset" is similar to that employed by states that sued the tobacco industry and are using money from the settlement to fund anti-tobacco campaigns.
"You can smoke. You can drink alcohol ... but we tax you, and it pays for other secondary causes of the initial [problem]," Bourdeaux said. "A lot of these individuals that perpetrate sexual abuse crimes start with pornography."
Bourdeaux said the only thing preventing him from calling for the total ban of adult entertainment business is the First Amendment. But he is confident that his bill to tax the porn industry will be passed into law before the Utah Legislature adjourns March 5.
Utah Legislators Compared to Taliban
"We have a constitution that tells you that you can do these things, you're free to do them," said "Rob," a manager at the Executive Entertainment escort service in Salt Lake City, who refused to divulge his last name. "To have a pursuit of happiness, you should not control somebody's happiness if they want to be entertained," he said.
Rob told CNSNews.com that he objected to Bourdeaux's reference to adult nightclubs and escort services as a form of pornography. He also condemned any attempt by the state legislature to force his business and others like it to pay for the therapy of those addicted to Internet pornography.
"We don't think this is pornography. It is entertainment," Rob said. "People come from out of town. They take ladies out dinner-dancing. People that are single or their wife has died ... they want some companionship and things like that."
Rob also insisted that there is absolutely "no sex or touching of private parts" that occurs in his line of business. "It's purely entertainment," he said.
"If they want to eliminate all the bars, all the clubs, all the drinking places, I mean, they can do so much," Rob said. "If they're going to be like the Taliban or Saudi Arabia in America, then I don't have anything to say."
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