This year's Celebrate Free Speech Lobbying Days, which took place April 18-19, had one unique feature: An "embedded" reporter, Dana Harris, from Variety, the mainstream entertainment daily, which also publishes a weekly edition for those who can wait a while for the latest Hollywood news and gossip.
Harris' story was published in this past weekend's edition, and sadly, it's another example of mainstream journalism still not quite Getting It.
"Undeterred, the Free Speech Coalition, a nonprofit trade org led by a 60-year-old former dominatrix from San Francisco," Harris wrote, "is stepping up efforts to remind politicians that porn means jobs, tax revenue and First Amendment rights. In other words, they're not just pretty faces."
The "60-year-old former dominatrix" thing – not the first time this description has seen print, but it's here twice – rankles Legislative Affairs Director Kat Sunlove, who's spent the past eight years training industry personnel to help create a legitimate voice for the adult industry in its yearly sojourns to Sacramento – which makes Harris' comment that "the timing [of the lobbying event] is curious" somewhat curious itself.
Several years before her involvement with Free Speech, as publisher of Spectator magazine, Sunlove personally lobbied to prevent California's oppressive news-rack law from being passed (the law, enacted in 1995, has squelched sexually-expressive speech in one of the last unfettered public venues: The street corner); and several years before that, she worked as a union organizer and as a grassroots activist trying (successfully) to get Tom Bradley elected mayor of Los Angeles.
"The most annoying part of that being my only description is that it represents such a small part of my life," Sunlove responds. "I am 60 years old and I've done a lot of other things in my life, including run a social service program for children and other similar programs, union organizing for the hotel/restaurant industry and other political activism. My time as a dominatrix, while it was great fun, really is just such a small slice of my life, I feel it's just inaccurate to characterize me that way."
By contrast, FSC's new federal lobbyist, Aubrey C. King, is described as "a vet lobbyist who holds a master's in political science and economics from Johns Hopkins U."
"The whole thing smacks a little of sexism," Sunlove said, "since all she speaks of about me is my age, a suggestion about my looks, and my sexual background."
And although she spent two days with the amateur lobbyists, Harris also apparently didn't get the fact that FSC is not "led by" Sunlove, who relinquished her temporary position as Executive Director last October when the Coalition hired Michelle Freridge, a well-credentialed administrator with years of experience in running non-profit organizations.
To be fair, there's much that Harris does get right: The surprise expressed by most of the legislators and their staffs that the adult industry is as big as it is and is responsible for generating as much tax revenue as it does; that the amateur industry lobbyists get specific training in how best to get their points across to the politicians; and that the industry is squarely in the Bush administration's crosshairs, targeted for destruction.
"Although Dana apparently couldn't resist sensationalizing the 'sexiest' part of Kat's background," Freridge observed, "she was a pleasure to work with at CFSLDs and provided us with some helpful feedback that FSC can use as we continuously improve the event. We appreciate the participation of the press and will continue to work with the media to raise awareness about adult entertainment industry issues."
Incidentally, another Website reported that actress Nicki Hunter "had been in Sacramento all week for Free Speech" but the award-winning performer was in fact not part of this year's FSC lobbying effort. Present this year for the "festivities" were Nina Hartley, Brittany Andrews, Stormy Daniels, Inari Vachs, Anita Cannibal and Dave Cummings – but Freridge would like to extend an invitation to Hunter to "join the team" next year.
To view the Variety article, visit http://www.variety.com.
