LOS ANGELES — In what has risen to a tsunami-like crescendo of #NoProp60 publicity at the eleventh hour, with the likes of comedy giant Seth Rogen tweeting his opposition to the draconian condom enforcement and Esquire declaring attorney Karen Tynan the “Erin Brockovich of porn,” the adult industry has waged a truly heroic crusade against a sinister existential threat.
Months of tireless advocacy, generous donations and selfless personal resources have delivered a valiant riposte to the poison-tipped daggers of AIDS Healthcare Foundation boss Michael Weinstein, who has squandered millions and millions of dollars to combat a phantom non-issue for the sake of what can only be described as an unhinged, egomaniacal personal vendetta. That a man positioned to do so much good for a legitimate public health issue, would so cynically light afire hard-won, life-saving funds in pursuit of a myopically obsessive scheme — to crush the local adult film community beneath his boot heels with all the puritanical zealotry of a medieval inquisitor — speaks volumes about his true intentions.
Armed with nary a handful of adult talent reps on his side — a misguided motley of marionettes spouting misleading and dubious claims across the airwaves to bend minds against the other 99 percent passionately opposed — Weinstein has invited the disdain of nearly every political party, major newspaper and healthcare organization, all of whom unequivocally stand against Prop 60. In scores of editorial articles ranging from the L.A. Times to Vice Magazine, the nefarious hidden mechanisms behind Prop 60 have been excoriated for their encouragement of harassment, bounty hunting, lawsuits and privacy breaches for countless sex workers statewide, not to mention a lucrative lifetime “porn czar” appointment for Weinstein.
Such a nightmarish tapestry of anti-democratic and unprecedented government overreach would otherwise go unnoticed, concealed beneath a brief paragraph of reasonable-sounding rhetoric in the silence of a voting booth, were it not for a massive outpouring of support from the adult industry… from the very people Weinstein summarily dismissed, like a shepherd wolf, ignoring even the entreaties of the Adult Performer Advocacy Committee itself.
Instead, a resounding battle cry has echoed from the firmaments, led by the great Free Speech Coalition, its executive director Eric Leue, its communications director Mike Stabile and its director of policy and industry relations Siouxsie Q. They have mobilized a vast host of devoted warriors, like Julia Ann, who has flooded social media the world over with an awe-inspiring mosaic of “No on 60” emblems, and galvanized major studios like Wicked, Evil Angel, Adam & Eve, Kink and Vivid, whose contributions have been invaluable.
No matter the outcome, the adult industry has come together like never before — through blood, sweat and tears — to slay a legislative dragon. And for that, we have made history, our efforts forever enshrined in the annals of adult entertainment.
