LONDON — The U.K. porn protest scheduled in Manchester on Sunday will include a “mass spanking” at its now-disclosed location, Sackville Gardens.
Sex worker Charlotte Rose, who organized a “mass face-sitting” protest involving hundreds of participants outside Parliament in December, and others are protesting the Audiovisual Media Services Regulations 2014 (AVMS), which require video-on-demand online porn operators adhere to the same guidelines laid out for DVD sex shop-type porn by the British Board of Film Censors (BBFC).
Ben Yates, an adult entertainment producer based in Manchester, will be among the speakers giving views on increasing regulation and what he calls “draconian laws.”
“The AVMS targets online porn, but the power and legal frameworks put in place to control online porn can and most probably will spill over into tighter legislation and controls for sex work in general including for the many city center parlors and working girls,” Yates told XBIZ.
“So, I’ll be there fighting for the adult producer’s right to produce the material they want and that there is demand for but I will also be there helping to protect the wider sex industry.”
The protest and mass spanking at Sackville Gardens will begin at noon on Sunday and is scheduled to last up to three hours.
Rose is planning other porn protests in other U.K. cities this year, including a “mass caning” event scheduled for April 5 in Birmingham and a “mass whipping” on May 3 in Brighton.
After Sunday’s protest in Manchester, Rose and other participants plan on going to a local pub to celebrate. Yates said he will be celebrating in another old-fashioned way.
“After the protest you will find me celebrating what is bound to be a success in one of my favorite parlors operating in the city center taking full advantage of a person’s freedom to choose what they want to do,” Yates said.
