LONDON — Organizers of the London Porn Film Festival have released a statement after becoming the target of an anti-porn campaign that aimed to shutter operations just before tomorrow’s slated kick-off.
The festival, which highlights feminist and queer work, has announced a change of venue and increased security measures to ensure that scheduled activities are allowed to proceed without interruption.
???? CHANGE OF VENUE ????
— London Porn Film Festival 26-28 April 2019 (@LdnPFF) April 25, 2019
Due to the legal and security issues brought on by the transphobic campaign against us, we can no longer hold the festival with our good friends at @horsehospital. Miraculously, we've been able to find an alternative venue at very short notice!
While organizers have declined to publicly name their harassers, referring to them only as a “transphobic hate group,” they reveal in an open post on their website that the group allegedly had plans to picket the festival’s original venue and had sent a letter “full of lies, distortions and smears,” to local authorities.
U.K.-based “feminist campaigning group” OBJECT, which asserts itself an organization against “the sexual objectification of women and the oppression of women as a sex class,” has seemed to claim responsibility for the letter, publishing a note on its site’s dedicated page to the London Porn Film Festival.
The group appears to have a bizarre and misguided vendetta against the fest, claiming that it “promotes necrophilia,” rape and violence against women. In the letter that was allegedly sent to London’s Camden Council, Janice Williams, Head of OBJECT wrote, “Based on the descriptions provided on the Festival’s website and the associated hashtags, we believe that the screening for profit of some or all of these films may be unlawful under sections 63 to 67 and 71 of the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008.”
She continued to say that “Pornography depicts pain, abuse and degradation of women as ‘sexy’ … Even if the organizers of this festival claim to promote ‘queer’ or ‘feminist’ pornography, as far as we are concerned pornography is always harmful, its impact can never be positive and it is disingenuous to claim otherwise.”
OBJECT cites pornography, prostitution, sex encounter venues, surrogacy and trans ideology as the five key issues which contribute to the oppression of women. The group was also linked to the transphobic “Get the L Out” protest that occurred at the London Pride festival last year.
“Unfortunately,” read London Porn Film Festival’s message, “the London Borough of Camden is bound by law and has started an investigation, which has caused a lot of logistical and financial issues,” continued the post.
As per the tweet from the festival’s official account earlier this morning, it was announced that a new venue had been secured and that the address would only be released to ticket holders for security purposes. However, it appears that OBJECT has managed to skirt these efforts — as of the past hour an edit to their original post now shares the alleged new location with the sites followers.
This attack on the London Porn Film Festival comes amid recent reports of anti-porn campaigns orchestrated by a mysterious Twitter user and increasingly restrictive policies on various social media platforms.
with censorship on the rise, SWERFs becoming louder & the #UKpornban dawning, WE NEED a refuge for porn more than ever!!!come to @LdnPFF & meet our lovely @linabembe ???? or get a solidarity ticket here https://t.co/eAbmO75vcR #ISupportLPFF #resistcensorship https://t.co/xbLBg89oAt
— The Ersties Podcast (@ErstiesPodcast) April 25, 2019
In the case of the upcoming fest, the company has stated that the unforeseen costs incurred from the legal accusations against them have cut into their “previously solid” budget. “In the worst case scenario, a significant loss would mean we’d be unable to run the festival next year,” said a rep.
Organizers are now rallying fans and community members alike in a pushback fundraising effort against the anti-porn campaigners.
“We want to ask you to stand in solidarity with us, against transphobia and hate towards sex workers, and against attempts to censor and silence queer and feminist porn,” read their post.
To support the London Porn Film Festival, individuals are encouraged to attend screenings, purchase solidarity tickets and/or make direct donations to the organization. To purchase tickets or make a donation, click here.
The London Porn Film Festival is scheduled to take place this Friday through Sunday. For a complete schedule of screenings and events, click here.
