NEW YORK - After two of Lucas Entertainment's gay adult titles were decreed obscene by Canadian customs officials and turned back at the border, the studio's chief executive took his grievance to the White House.
On Thursday Lucas sent a letter asking U.S. President Barack Obama to discuss Lucas Entertainment's censorship concerns with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper during the two world leaders' meeting later that day.
The request followed the Canadian Border Services Agency's refusal to allow shipments containing DVDs of Lucas Entertainment's Farts! and Piss! to cross the border. In his letter to Obama, Lucas suggested disallowing gay porn shipments into Canada could harm both countries' economies.
"I was surprised that a country which is more progressive than the United States, and more open-minded in areas like gay marriage, has some sort of obscenity law that would ban these videos," Lucas said.
Lucas' letter, in its entirety, follows:
Dear Mr. President:
Farts! and Piss!, were seized by the Canadian Border Services Agency and deemed obscene according to their (and in my opinion, antiquated) decency standards. There are a number of issues here that concern myself and international trade, and I believe you are the only person who can rectify this situation at this moment in time.
Since you will be meeting with the Prime Minister of Canada today, I urge you to make what I detail below an item on your agenda, if it is not already a topic of conversation. I know that one of your points of discussion will be coordinating our nation's economic stimulus plan with Canada's. Farts! and Piss!, just two of the productions that were denied importation into Canada, are highly successful titles from my Lucas Raunch line. Both have gone on to be among my best sellers in 2008, including here in the United States, several European countries including Germany, France, and Austria, and South Africa. Piss! is also nominated for a GAYVN award for Best Fetish Video and its cover model, Ryan Raz, is up for Best Fetish Performer. As our economy teeters on the brink of total collapse, it would be foolish to deny access of such a high quality, proven moneymaker onto shelves of the Great White North's porn stores.
Secondly, and perhaps even more importantly, is Canada's impossibly restrictive and seemingly arbitrary method of deeming material obscene. I have no first-hand knowledge of how my products were seized and reviewed by the Canadian government, but I can imagine that it was shipped to a customer who willingly ordered it through my website, LucasEntertainment.com. When the package arrived at Canadian customs, an official took note of the titles and decided they needed a break from their real job. This (probably male custodian of Canadian law) popped my DVDs into the nearest player, beat off multiple times watching Ryan getting his face splattered with my urine, and then reported the material as obscene. While this entire ordeal was taking place, no one in my office was notified, and we are now helpless to deal with this tragedy of economic and social injustice.
Mr. President, I hope you are not overwhelmed with this task that I have placed upon you. I would have also included your Secretary of Commerce in this discussion to get more input as to how to overcome these obstacles to foreign trade, but you do not have one at this time. (I wish you the best of luck in finding one). So, as you look across the table at Prime Minister Stephen Harper during your meeting, remember that we must do everything possible to stimulate our economy and ourselves during these troubled times (and please don't get me started on Governor Patterson's "porn tax"). I appreciate your attention to this matter, and if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at (917) 449-3103 or via email at [email protected].
Sincerely,
Michael Lucas
