1. Gay Marriage Bans Gain Wide Support in 10 States
2. Sex slave, dominatrix claim they are feminists
3. Porn dealer scoffs at feds
4. When Does Art Become Porn?
5. Fetish Photographer's Suit Against Ashcroft Begins In Court
6. This is the manic magic house that Penn built
1. Gay Marriage Bans Gain Wide Support in 10 States
2. Sex slave, dominatrix claim they are feminists
3. Porn dealer scoffs at feds
4. When Does Art Become Porn?
5. Fetish Photographer's Suit Against Ashcroft Begins In Court
6. This is the manic magic house that Penn built
Gay Marriage Bans Gain Wide Support in 10 States
by Sarah Kershaw
The New York Times
November 3, 2004
In a pointed vote against same-sex marriage, voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly supported amendments to their constitutions that would define marriage as between only a man and a woman.
Voters in 10 of the 11 states with such initiatives on their ballots supported the amendments by wide margins.
Gay-rights groups had expected to lose their battle at the ballot box and said the results were not surprising.
"We knew that we were underdogs in every state when we started out," said Matt Foreman, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. "Putting a basic right up for a popular vote is always wrong and always extraordinarily difficult to win."
[cont.]
To read this article, go to:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/03/politics/campaign/03gay.html
To respond, write to: letters@nytimes.com
Sex slave, dominatrix claim they are feminists
by Libby Pearson
Chicago Maroon
November 2, 2004
Glenna Grimsley, using her pseudonym Mistress Simone, and Jarith Bailey have an interesting perspective on how bondage, dominance, sadism, and masochism (BDSM) relate to the feminist effort. Bailey has been a slave to a male master for four years, while Simone is a professional dominatrix who has kept female slaves with her husband for 10 years.
The two came to campus last Friday for the Gender Studies Brown Bag Lunch Talk on how BDSM relates to feminism.
Bailey is a 22-year-old student at the Harrington College of Design in Chicago. "I wear skirts five days a week, thigh-highs five days a wee", she said. "He tells me whether or not I have breast implants, which I do, what my major is, where I go to school."
Grimsley listed common misconceptions about why women become involved in BDSM: "You hate men and like to hurt them, you are a lesbian venting your anger on the male sex, you were abused as a child and this is your way of coping."
Simone countered by saying she loves "men and women. I love the community that I've found."
[cont.]
To read this article, go to:
http://maroon.uchicago.edu/news/articles/2004/11/02/sexslavedominatrixcl.php
To respond, write to: garthj@uchicago.edu
Porn dealer scoffs at feds:
Faces trial for selling ultra-violent films
by Torsten Ove
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
November 2, 2004
Indicted California pornographer Robert D. Zicari had a message for everyone yesterday after a federal court hearing to determine if he committed a crime by selling films showing women being raped and murdered.
"Order 'The Federal Five!'" he said, referring to the five hard-core porn movies on which federal prosecutors in Pittsburgh have built the first major U.S. obscenity case in a decade.
"We're not talking about bestiality and child pornography," said Zicari, 31, who owns Extreme Associates with his wife, Janet Romano, 27. "We're talking about consenting adults."
In a case being watched nationwide, Extreme Associates defended itself for the first time in court, asking U.S. District Judge Gary Lancaster to throw out an indictment for distribution of obscene materials brought last year by U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan.
Possession of obscene materials is legal, but production and distribution is not.
[cont.]
To read this article, go to:
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04307/405268.stm
To respond, write to: the author at tove@post-gazette.com
or contact the editors at:
http://www.post-gazette.com/contact/comments_form.asp?ID=40
When Does Art Become Porn?
by OIA staff
Out In America (OIA)
October 29, 2004
NEW YORK – Art photographer Barbara Nitke got her day in court Wednesday. In contrast to the great hullabaloo surrounding Howard Stern and Michael Powell duking it out on the air, and Jon Stewart eating Tucker Carlson for lunch on television, Nitke vs Ashcroft was a very quiet, polite, civil affair.
Noise level is in inverse proportion to the importance of the issue.
Nitke v Ashcroft challenges the criminalization of free speech on the internet. Trial is in the Federal District Court for the Southern District of NY, case # 01 CIV 11476 (RMB).
Today's expert testimony ranged from Arthur Danto, the Emeritus Johnsonian Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University to noted sex educator and personality Tristan Taormino. Both testified about the nature of art, pornography and distinction between the two.
[cont.]
To read this article, go to:
http://www.outinnyc.com/home/news.asp?articleid=7199
To respond, go to:
http://www.outinnyc.com/membership/feedback.asp
Fetish Photographer's Suit Against Ashcroft Begins In Court
by Charles Farrar
AVN
October 28, 2004
NEW YORK – A New York-based fetish photographer's lawsuit against U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft went to trial October 27, in a case some observers believe will prove a profound challenge to any and all attempts to criminalize free speech on the Internet.
Barbara Nitke is challenging the Communications Decency Act as a co-defendant with the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom. The trial's first day of testimony included witnesses such as Columbia University philosophy professor Arthur Danto and sex educator Tristan Taormino, both of whom spoke of the nature of art, porn, and the distinctions between the two.
"One court watcher", according to a statement issued from Nitke's camp, "commented that the government's case seemed to be focused on describing autumnal trees as doing a strip tease at the change of season, rather than a celebration of the beauty of bare branches and foliage."
Nitke's suit, which was filed in 2001, trains on the CDA's allowance for community standards judgment over what may or may not be deemed obscene.
[cont.]
To read this article, go to:
http://www.avn.com/index.php?Primary_Navigation=Articles&;Action=View_Article&Content_ID=203006
To respond, write to: tim@avn.com
This is the manic magic house that Penn built
by Marco R. della Cava
USA Today
October 29, 3004
LAS VEGAS – Enter at your own psychic peril.
That's the message to trick-or-treaters as they come upon the desert lair of magician and writer Penn Jillette. Inside are sights so outrageous as to leave libertines breathless with glee and the moralistic begging for CPR.
Sitting on 12 hardscrabble acres, the sprawling 6,000-square-foot playpen – nicknamed The Slammer by Jillette, the larger half of the Penn & Teller duo – is stocked with erotic art, freak-show collectibles and a ubiquitous logo that spells out "No God."
And did we mention the bondage room off the master suite?
To the bondage room, Robin. Just off Jillette's leopard-themed bedroom (which he shares with his privacy-preferring girlfriend) is a mirrored walk-in closet whose centerpiece is a harness suspended from the ceiling. There are some whips, and few restraints and a one-way mirror to check for intruders.
"Actually," he adds, "there are a few rooms here I really can't show you at all."
[cont.]
To read this article, go to:
http://www.usatoday.com/life/lifestyle/2004-10-28-at-home-penn-jillette_x.htm
To respond, write to: editor@usatoday.com
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