Dallas Responds to Exxxotica's Federal Lawsuit

DALLAS — The City of Dallas has the right to block Exxxotica from a new contract at its municipal convention center because the adult exhibition previously violated its contract at a previous show, according to a response to a lawsuit filed by the porn expo.

Exxxotica’s organizers early this month sued Dallas after the mayor and City Council members 86’d the show from future events at the municipal facility because they found evidence of public lewdness at its first and last event in the Texas city in August. Exxxotica filed for a motion for a preliminary injunction against the city.

In its 60-page response to the suit, the city also said that at the August event Exxxotica failed to check identification for ages as promised and failed to arrange for drapes to be placed near the lobby doors to block the view of exhibit space from the outside.

Dallas also said that it had accumulated at the August show video footage of "fondling and touching of breasts and simulated sexual intercourse by oral sodomy" that equates to public lewdness under Texas law.

The city further noted that the lessee of August expo, Exotica Texas, does not exist and the entity “has engaged in a shadowy shell game” that “makes it difficult to ascertain exactly who is involved in negotiating with the city.”

But, more importantly, the city said that Exxxotica does not comply with Dallas’ ordinance on sexually oriented businesses and that the expo produced secondary effects that the § 41A is designed to protect.

The city’s response to the suit included testimony from an expert in criminology who concluded that that the previous Exxxotica in Dallas is a sexually oriented business.

“The evidence shows that Exxxotica has the sort of secondary effects that § 41A is designed to target, and that Exxxotica is a ‘commercial enterprise the primary business of which is the offering of a service or the selling, renting, or exhibiting of devices or any other items intended to provide sexual stimulation or sexual gratification to the customer” as set forth in § 41A,” the city said in its response over the Exxxotica suit.

Three Expo Events, which operates the Exxxotica conventions, sued Dallas in federal court and asked the court to issue an injunction to allow it to return to the Dallas convention center, tentatively set for May 20-22.

Earlier this month, the Free Speech Coalition condemned Dallas’ decision to ban Exxxotica.

In a statement, the FSC blasted city leaders over their stance by saying, “Too often, public officials only believe in free speech when they agree with what’s being said. Unfortunately for them, that’s not the way the Constitution works. Unfortunately for us, the councilmembers will pay very little for their uninformed, bigoted stand.”

“The real losers will be the taxpayers, who will pick up the bill for lawsuits and damages that will no doubt follow, and the people at Exxxotica, who stand to lose an important event after over a year of planning, as well as those wishing to attend and exhibit at the event,” the FSC said. “Attendees and exhibitors alike are being denied their right to free speech.”