“You hear people say they’d take a bullet for this or that, but Larry Flynt actually did take a bullet for the Constitution,” show producer Howard Mauskopf told the San Francisco Chronicle, referring to the 1978 attempt on Flynt’s life outside a Georgia courtroom where he faced obscenity charges.
The Exotic Erotic Ball is now in its 26th year and has expanded its format to include the two-day Expo featuring panel discussions on free speech and other issues, as well as an awards ceremony, all leading up to the main event on Saturday night. The Expo will take place at San Francisco’s legendary Cow Palace.
When Flynt accepts his award Friday night, it will not be the first time he has been honored for his commitment to speech in America.
Hastings College of the Law recently bestowed its Roscoe Barrow Memorial Award to Flynt, who estimates he has spent in excess of $44 million on legal fees in the 30-plus years he has operated Hustler, including massive fees for one trip to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Flynt also has donated upwards of $12 million to various free speech groups and created the Flynt Foundation for Human Development to assist workers and business owners in the adult industry deal with legal prosecutions on the municipal, state and federal levels.
But his charity hasn’t always been greeted with open arms. Hastings’ dean declined to present the Roscoe Award to Flynt, and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., recently returned a $2,500 campaign contribution from Flynt.
For his part, though, Flynt brushes off such affronts with humor.
“I’ll always be an outcast,” Flynt said. “I’ve been a lifelong Democrat, and I was trying to help them out. I didn’t say they had to agree with me or anything. But they can’t get their act together, those schmucks.”
Flynt said his hardcore commitment to First Amendment freedoms grew naturally over time out of his involvement with the adult entertainment industry.
“First, I’d like to think that I’ve helped two generations get through puberty, because we’re all about having fun,” he said. “The obscenity and free speech issues came later.”
But, ultimately, he knows that “having fun” depends, to a great extent, on being able to exercise constitutionally protected freedoms.
“You’ve got to see that this Justice Department keeps chipping away at our rights. The American people are so ill-informed that they don’t realize what’s going on. And they won’t until it’s too late,” Flynt said.
