Cultural Attacks

Any time someone says they favor “family values,” I wince a little – not because I am against families, of course, but because almost invariably, that person is talking about a specific kind of family, with a specific sort of ‘values.’

Generally, when people talk about family values, they mean a family with two heterosexual parents, at least a couple children and an inclination towards Bible-reading. (For the record, the family I grew up in was two for three on that family values matrix, as the Bible never made the family reading list, alas.)

Take anti-porn crusader and Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, for example. Dobson wasn’t one to mince words when it came to what constituted a ‘real’ family. When then-President Jimmy Carter set up a Conference on Families that included a “diversity of families” Dobson lost his shit. Only the “traditional” family unit – with a male head of household who brings home the bacon and a female caregiver who then fries the bacon and dutifully feeds it to her husband and spawn – ought to be endorsed, or even recognized, by the government, as Dobson saw it.

Dobson’s presence on my list of people and organizations who deserve ‘credit’ for starting the modern War on Porn isn’t because he thought just about anything other than a conservative Christian value set to be anathema, however. He’s here because included in his ceaseless lobbying and activism in favor of a variety of socially conservative policy positions was his drive to convince people pornography was among the roots of all evil.

To establish just how Very Bad porn is, Dobson went straight to the most credible, respected expert he could find: Convicted serial killer Ted Bundy.

Now, some might say the statements of a guy like Ted Bundy shouldn’t be given a whole lot of weight, in part because at different times, he made contradicting claims when asked the same sort of questions. But all Dobson cared about was that Bundy was willing to go on record saying that violent pornography had played a big role in shaping and driving his fantasies. Acting out those fantasies is what made him a serial killer, ergo – in the world of Dobson logic, at least – watching porn turns people into rapists and killers!

As noted by one of his many critics, Dobson’s interview with Bundy was “widely discredited as little more than a Dobson being willingly and eagerly duped by Bundy’s pathological manipulation. But Bundy’s fabricated narrative fit perfectly with Dobson’s view that it was the unchecked liberal, un-Christian, feminist, sex-crazed, anything-goes social context that led to the breakdown of society and created serial killers.”

One doesn’t have to put much thought into the “porn makes men into serial killers” argument to know it’s utter hogwash, of course. While it’s not true that researchers have been unable to find any men who haven’t watched porn to serve as control group subjects, it is doubtlessly true that a lot of men (and women) watch porn. It’s also true, I think it safe to say, comparatively few men become murderers or rapists.

No question, our society has far too many of both murderers and rapists, but if it was true that prolonged exposure to porn makes people into killers and rapists, that sort of clear causal connection would mean we had a great many more rapists and killers in our midst, surely. Not only is Dobson’s claim one that can’t stand up to rigorous scrutiny, but it also can’t even stand up to momentary rumination.

I’m sure Dobson wasn’t troubled by the criticism of his interview with Bundy, or even particularly concerned with whether Bundy was telling the truth about anything covered in their conversation. The Bundy interview tapes reportedly generated over a million bucks in revenue for Focus on the Family, the bulk of which it donated to anti-porn and anti-abortion groups.

Dobson continued his activism through the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute (founded in 2010) through 2022, when he handed off the reins to the organization’s new president. He continued to record his radio show, Dr. James Dobson’s Family Talk, and his frequent appearances on Fox News, though, until shortly before his death in August 2025.

Dobson’s advocacy lives on, of course, through the various organizations he founded and a new generation of self-righteous, censorious social conservatives – each of whom I’m sure is just as certain as Dobson that their definition of “family values” is the only one that matters.

They say that politics makes strange bedfellows – and honestly, bedfellows don’t get much stranger than when a radical feminist like Andrea Dworkin found herself testifying before the so-called “Meese Commission” (which was actually called “The Attorney General’s Commission on Pornography), ostensibly on the same side of the issue with the likes of James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, an organization which largely occupies itself with lobbying against LGBTQ+ rights.

In many ways, Dworkin doesn’t fit the mold of a typical anti-porn activist. Among other things, Dworkin was againstthe existence and enforcement of federal obscenity laws. In an essay included in a collection of her writings called Letters from a War Zone, Dworkin wrote she and her likeminded feminists were “against obscenity laws.”

“We do not want them,” Dworkin added. “I want you to understand why, whether you end up agreeing or not… Obscenity laws are also woman-hating in their very construction. Their basic presumption is that it’s women’s bodies that are dirty.”

This certainly does not mean Dworkin opposed legal efforts targeting the porn industry, however. In her testimony before the Meese Commission, Dworkin suggesting the government consider “creating a criminal conspiracy provision under the civil rights law, such that conspiring to deprive a person of their civil rights by coercing them into pornography is a crime, and that conspiring to traffic in pornography is conspiring to deprive women of our civil rights.”

By the time she made that suggestion, Dworkin, along with fellow anti-porn activist Catharine MacKinnon, had worked with the city government of Minneapolis, Minnesota, to craft an anti-porn regulation for the city to incorporate into its broader civil rights ordinances. Under the regulation, pornography was defined as a civil rights violation against women, and enabled women who alleged they’d been harmed by porn to sue porn producers and distributors for damages.

(Decades later, we’ve seen something of a return of this approach, as various states have passed legislation creating a right of private action against adult companies for alleged harms incurred by minors who access porn on websites that fail to comply with state age verification laws.)

The law in Minneapolis passed twice, but was vetoed by Mayor Don Fraser both times, decisions rooted in his belief the language of the ordinance was too vague to survive court scrutiny. Mayor Fraser’s belief was later vindicated by the courts, after a similar ordinance was passed in Indianapolis, Indiana. The ordinance was challenged by the American Booksellers Association, with a U.S. District Court’s ruling invalidating the ordinance later upheld by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit.

Undeterred, Dworkin continued to back similar anti-pornography civil rights legislation in Massachusetts and Washington state, where attempts were made to pass similar ordinances through voter initiatives.

Occasionally, you’ll hear one of Dworkin’s critics assert that she argued all heterosexual sex is “rape” – but an honest reading of her work reveals this as an unfair oversimplification. Dworkin did assert that to the extent the sexual subordination of women depicted in pornography reflected broader societal beliefs and attitudes towards sex, that heterosexual sex in a patriarchal society is inherently coercive to (and degrading of) women and that the act of sexual penetration may by its nature condemn women to a submissive, inferior position that “may be immune to reform.” Nowhere did she write anything like “all heterosexual sex is rape,” however.

In response to her critics, Dworkin later said she believed “both intercourse and sexual pleasure can and will survive equality.”

“Since the paradigm for sex has been one of conquest, possession, and violation, I think many men believe they need an unfair advantage, which at its extreme would be called rape,” Dworkin added. “I do not think they need it.”

In any case, nuanced as though her broader social and political views might have been, Dworkin’s opposition to porn was perfectly clear throughout and a big part of her legacy – whether she would want it this way or not – lies in the anti-porn legislation, rhetoric and lobbying she inspired and endorsed over the decades.

MONTRÉAL — A deadly shooting unfolded Monday outside the Montréal headquarters of Aylo, the parent company of Pornhub, leaving three people dead, including a Jewish Canadian-Israeli civilian, a police officer and the gunman. Authorities have not yet determined whether Aylo was the intended target of the attack.

Police identified the shooter as 25-year-old Seth Scott Hatfield. Witnesses and local reports said Hatfield appeared near Aylo’s offices in the Côte-des-Neiges borough wearing camouflage clothing and carrying what appeared to be a long gun. Reports also indicated that windows of the building housing Aylo’s Montréal headquarters were struck by gunfire.

Video of the exchange was captured and widely shared on social media. During the incident, bystander Michael Moshe Mizrahi was killed, a death later confirmed by the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and the Israeli consulate in Montréal. The city’s police force, the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM), confirmed that the fallen officer was Constable Mohamed Lamine Benredouane.

Benredouane’s death marks the first on-duty fatality suffered by the SPVM in approximately 24 years, according to police chief Fady Dagher.

“I can tell you he was excellent — he was an excellent police officer,” Dagher said during a press conference Monday. “When you become a police officer, you know the risks. But you never expect something like this to happen.”

A second officer was injured during the confrontation with Hatfield. Local reports indicated the officer was transported to a nearby hospital and was listed in stable condition.

Hatfield was killed during the police response. Following the attack, a 104-page manifesto attributed to the Alberta man surfaced publicly, offering insight into what investigators believe may have influenced his actions.

Throughout the document, Hatfield outlines a mix of political views that blend elements from both the left and the right while also expressing antisemitic, anti-pornography and misogynistic beliefs. Although he never explicitly identifies with the term “incel,” or involuntary celibate, several of his arguments closely resemble themes commonly associated with that movement and with prior acts of misogynistic violence.

One of the most notable examples occurred during a 2018 attack in Toronto that investigators linked to incel ideology. According to the McCain Institute, a Washington-based organization affiliated with Arizona State University, the movement itself traces its origins back to Canada.

“While incel violence is a relatively new phenomenon, the label of ‘incel’ has been around since the 1990s, when a Canadian college student created a website titled the ‘Involuntary Celibacy Project’ to help those struggling with dating and intimate relations with others,” states a McCain Institute briefing published in October 2021. The briefing describes incels as an extreme and reactionary segment of the broader online “manosphere.”

Hatfield’s manifesto also focuses heavily on Jews and what he describes as “Zionist” corporations. In the document, he attempts to connect Jews and capitalism to social conditions affecting men, particularly those he claims have been deprived of romantic relationships.

The document further calls for attacks on what Hatfield described as “valid potential Class A targets.” Among the examples he listed were major pornography industry conferences, the headquarters of international adult entertainment companies and wealthy adult performers whom he accused of promoting pornography. References to pornography appear dozens of times throughout the manifesto.

“I call on all of you now, and I ask you to join me,” Hatfield wrote. “Let us be the initiators of a new bloodletting, one in which the blood will flood out from the lacerated bodies of our opponents; all those culpable people, be they bourgeois or lumpen, who hitherto have remained unpunished. … Be unflinching, go forth, and KILL THEM ALL!”

The manifesto also reflects longstanding antisemitic conspiracy theories claiming that a small group of Jewish individuals secretly controls the adult entertainment industry, including Pornhub. Similar claims circulated in some right-wing circles after attorney and rabbi Solomon Friedman became part of the leadership group overseeing Aylo following its acquisition and rebranding from MindGeek.

A spokesperson for Aylo’s ownership company, Ottawa-based Ethical Capital Partners, declined to comment on details of the incident, citing the active police investigation. The spokesperson did confirm that company personnel were safe.

A representative for Aylo also declined to speculate on the circumstances surrounding the attack but expressed appreciation for the police response and concern for those affected.

“We want to express our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones of Const. Mohamed Lamine Benredouane and Michael Moshe Mizrahi, as well as the Montreal Police Service (SPVM) and everyone affected by this horrific tragedy,” the spokesperson said. “The safety of our community is our highest priority, whether that be our dedicated employees, our online community, or the city of Montreal, which a large part of our team proudly calls home. Though our city was struck by tragedy, we want to express gratitude to the first responders who bravely protected us and ensured that none of our employees were physically harmed by yesterday’s events.”

Investigators have not yet determined whether Aylo’s offices or employees were specifically targeted. The company said it would defer to law enforcement as the investigation continues. “The investigation remains ongoing, and we will not speculate on motive or share unconfirmed information,” the spokesperson added.

The adult industry trade association Free Speech Coalition also issued a statement expressing concern over the attack. Executive Director Alison Boden said, “We’re shocked and outraged by the attack, and mourn those killed, even as we are grateful that members of our community are safe.

“Our hearts and support go out to our friends and colleagues at Aylo,” Boden added. “Unfortunately, calls for violence against our community are not new. They have been fueled by rhetoric that treats sex work and sexual expression as a societal threat. We call on the media to call this what it is and condemn the twisted arguments behind it.

“In the meantime, in the face of fear, we reaffirm our commitment to fighting censorship and repression,” she concluded.

WASHINGTON — A familiar accusation in American politics has landed back in the spotlight, this time with subpoenas attached.

Former Fox News anchor and federal prosecutor Jeanine Pirro, now serving as U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, issued broad subpoenas this week to several major financial institutions as part of an investigation into whether customers were unlawfully denied banking services because of their political beliefs, ideological affiliations or professions.

The inquiries center on allegations that banks discriminated against people because they identified as politically conservative or were connected to organizations such as conservative Christian groups or activities that some civil society organizations have classified as right-wing extremism.

According to multiple reports, institutions including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Wells Fargo received subpoenas. Pirro and federal prosecutors are reportedly exploring potential sanctions and charges under the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989, a law that gained prominence during efforts to hold banks accountable following the 2008 mortgage crisis.

Given the legal approach being taken, the investigation is drawing attention within the adult industry, where concerns about debanking and unequal access to financial services have persisted for years. For many in that space, the issue isn’t theoretical. It’s part of doing business.

The Free Speech Coalition, a trade organization representing the adult industry, has spent years urging Congress and federal officials to adopt fairer banking policies, particularly for people engaged in legal, consensual sex work or occupations connected to the adult sector. The group has also highlighted areas of overlap with conservative activists who have raised similar complaints involving firearm retailers, check-cashing businesses, pawn shops, religious organizations and other industries they say have faced restrictions from financial institutions.

The coalition is also pursuing plans to establish a federally chartered credit union dedicated to serving the adult industry. The goal is to provide an alternative to major banks and reduce the effects of debanking. The broader issue remains contentious and heavily debated. Still, investigations conducted by news organizations and advocacy groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union, have prompted calls for reforms from federal regulators and self-regulatory bodies overseeing banking and payment processing.

It is important to note that Pirro’s subpoenas could only be issued on behalf of preferred groups and individuals.

The New York Post cited allegations connected to a lawsuit brought by President Donald J. Trump against JPMorgan Chase. According to those claims, a former bank executive informed Trump and members of his family that certain accounts would be closed following the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Pirro has also been outspoken in her criticism of what she characterizes as institutional bias against conservatives and right-wing figures within the financial sector.

Even so, federal law requires banks to provide equitable access to financial products and services. Previous reporting noted that the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which operates within the Treasury Department, found that nine of the nation’s largest banks had limited services to some clients operating in industries considered controversial.

Early in his administration, President Trump signed an executive order directing the OCC to examine allegations of debanking. Preliminary findings from that review indicated that institutions including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citibank, Wells Fargo, U.S. Bank, Capital One, PNC Bank, TD Bank and BMO Bank had engaged in debanking practices.

While it’s probably not what the man is most remembered for, Charles Humprey Keating Jr. was a seminal figure in the early days of the War on Porn in the United States. A staunch proponent of censorship, Keating was one of the founders of Citizens for Decent Literature (“CDL”), a group established in 1958 in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Over the years, CDL rebranded several times, including as “Citizens for Decency through Law,” but the mission remained the same: To advocate for reading ‘the classics,’ as opposed to “smut” – and to vigorously enforce the nation’s obscenity laws, of course.

CDL would grow into an organization with over 300 chapters across the country, claiming membership of over 100,000 people. Over the years, the group would go on to mail tens of millions of letters advancing its agenda and submit amicus curiae (“friend of the court”) briefs in numerous cases that went before the Supreme Court. The group also counseled municipalities on prosecuting retailers who sold pornographic material and lobbied legislatures around the country on how to amend and strengthen their obscenity laws.

Keating believed pornography was the root of many societal ills, including a variety of criminal behaviors. In testimony he gave before the House Judiciary Committee on mail-order porn in 1958, Keating asserted that pornography was “capable of poisoning any mind at any age and of perverting our entire younger generation.” Seeking to tie porn to another animating fear prevalent in the late 50s, Keating also quoted a Senate Committee report which claimed that “part of the Communist conspiracy was to print” pornographic material.

In 1969, Keating was appointed to the President’s Commission on Obscenity and Pornography, which had launched under Nixon’s predecessor in the Oval Office, Lyndon Johnson. (The Commission also included members of Operation Yorkville, subject of another Origins of the War on Porn article.)

When the Commission eventually published a report holding that porn isn’t degrading the morals of adults or causing crime – and recommending that existing obscenity laws that prohibited adults from obtaining and possessing obscene materials be repealed – Keating was incensed. He went so far as to obtain a temporary restraining order on publication of the report until he could prepare a rebuttal. Keating was granted the TRO and two weeks to craft his response.

“At a time when the spread of pornography has reached epidemic proportions in our country and when the moral fiber of our nation seems to be rapidly unravelling, the desperate need is for enlightenment and intelligent control of the poisons which threaten us – not the declaration of moral bankruptcy inherent in the repeal of the laws which have been the defense of decent people against the pornographer for profit,” Keating wrote. “One can consult all the experts he chooses, can write reports, make studies, etc., but the fact that obscenity corrupts lies within the common sense, the reason, and the logic of every man.”

Keating’s participation in the Commission boosted his standing and gave him a platform for continuing to push for censorship and prosecution of obscenity crimes. He and CDL would go on to lead efforts to block the screening of Russ Meyer films, prevent the performance of theatrical releases like Oh! Calcutta! and push for the censorship of publications like Playboy and other softcore adult magazines.

Keating’s name would come to resonate in the public consciousness quite differently as the decades wore on. While he maintained his fight against “indecency,” what he became better known for, arguably at least, was his role in the country’s nationwide “savings and loan crisis,” in which Keating’s company, the Lincoln Savings and Loan Association, played a central role.

The facts surrounding Lincoln Savings and Loan scandal and the eventual prosecution related to it are complicated and well beyond the scope of this article. But to make a long story somewhat shorter, the savings and loan crises eventually metastasized into fiasco with an impact of over $500 billion and even a summarized version of the tale presents a winding road.

In September 1989, Regulators filed a $1.1 billion action against Keating and his associates for fraud and racketeering. Keating was later indicted on 42 counts in California, accusing Lincoln of fooling customers of ‘junk bonds’ pertaining to the American Continental Corporation, which had gone bankrupt in April,1989. Keating was sentenced to 10 years in prison by Judge Lance Ito, the same jurist who presided over the infamous O.J. Simpson double-homicide case.

In January 1993, a federal conviction followed his state crime conviction and Keating was found guilty on 73 counts of fraud, conspiracy and racketeering. He was given a 12.5-year sentence and ordered to pay restitution of $122 million.

Keating’s convictions were later overturned on appeal, but he also entered into a plea agreement in a federal case in which he admitted to four counts of wire fraud and bankruptcy fraud. Prosecutors dropped the other charges against Keating and his son, and Keating was sentenced to time served.

Charles Keating died in Phoenix, Arizona, in 2014 at the age of 90. Until the end, he maintained his innocence in the savings and loan fiasco (a claim that didn’t square particularly well with his admission of guilt in the plea bargain) – and continued to rail against sexually explicit expression.

In the end, it appears Keating’s definition of “decency” didn’t include a need to stick to fair dealing in business, or to take accountability when his reckless actions harmed tens of thousands of his customers.

In the first article in this Origins series, we looked at the role of the Comstock Act in the American anti-porn effort. Today, we consider “Operation Yorkville,” the socially conservative activist group that later changed its named to “Morality in Media” and finally the “National Center on Sexual Exploitation,” the group’s current moniker.

Established in New York back in 1962, Operation Yorkville was the brainchild of three New York-area clergymen who worried about the deleterious effect of pornography and magazines the group had determined to be “salacious.” 

The group was initially fronted by Father Morton A. Hill, who was appointed to President Lyndon B. Johnson’s “President’s Commission on Obscenity and Pornography” in 1969, shortly after Operation Yorkville renamed itself “Morality in Media.”

The appointment and opportunity to chime in on obscenity policy at the highest level didn’t dull Hill’s censorial zeal one bit. In fact, Hill eventually became convinced the commission was packed with people who supported loosening obscenity laws, a view that was vindicated somewhat when the Commission issued a report recommending the repeal of “adult” obscenity laws.

Incensed, Hill crafted and published the “Hill-Link Minority Report,” which was developed in concert with Dr. Winfrey C. Link, another member of the clergy who sat on the commission, as well as Charles Keating, a truly lovely character who will likely rear his head again in a future post in this series.

While ostensibly dedicated to fighting pornography, Morality in Media certainly didn’t limit their efforts to the realm of porn. Among their other quixotic efforts was encouraging the Federal Communications Commission to bring the hammer down on the Pacifica Foundation in the “Seven Dirty Words” kerfuffle surrounding a radio broadcast of the famous (and fucking hilarious) George Carlin standup comedy bit.

Morality in Media also took aim at the Monty Python film Life of Brian, asserting that the movie was a “direct, aggressive, deliberate violation of the rights of believing persons.” How on earth a satirical comedy could violate someone’s rights is beyond me – and appeared to be beyond any prosecutors at the time, as well, since the only thing that came of Morality in Media’s campaign was an increase in the number of theaters screening Life of Brian. (A more delicious slice of irony is difficult to find, IMO.)

It’s probably fair to say Morality in Media reached its zenith of political influence in the 1980s, when the group found it had a particularly receptive ear from the Reagan Administration. In 1983, Hill led a group of anti-porn crusaders who met with Reagan at the White House. Hill and company recommended that Reagan appoint an “anti-pornography czar” to lead the federal crackdown on porn. A White House Working Group on Pornography was formed in June of that year, and in December, Reagan called for U.S. Attorneys around the country to begin more strictly enforcing federal obscenity law.

Through both terms of the Reagan Administration and George H.W. Bush’s single term in office, obscenity prosecutions took place at a fast clip and the group once known as Operation Yorkville appeared to have gained a foothold in its decency crusade. The group’s influence waned during the two terms Bill Clinton was in office, however, a fact that aided the rise of the online adult industry considerably, at least on American soil.

The group is still very active today under its National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) moniker, celebrating each perceived victory. Of course, the modern NCOSE goes to great lengths to couch its efforts in terms of stamping out “sexual exploitation,” but make no mistake, the core of the group’s mission is still best captured by their second name, Morality in Media. Far from distancing themselves from their organization’s censorial roots, NCOSE celebrates those roots, albeit in terms that fit better with their current brand.

What’s next for the group once known as Operation Yorkville? One glance at their website yields an answer: They are going after “mainstream contributors to sexual exploitation,” a list that includes the likes of Amazon, Android, Apple, Alphabet (Google) – and we haven’t even advanced past the letter A yet.

One thing of which we can be sure: So long as a War on Porn is there to be fought, Operation Yorkville/Morality in Media/National Center on Sexual Exploitation will be there, fighting for “decency” – as they define the term, naturally.

The only real question is what they’ll be calling themselves when they unfurl their sigil.

The phrase “porn in schools” hit like a fire alarm a few years ago. Loud, emotional, impossible to ignore. In 2021, the conservative group Florida Citizens Alliance released its “Porn in Schools Report,” a publication later amplified by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. The report claimed sexually inappropriate material was being made available to students in schools. But the books at the center of the controversy weren’t explicit websites or illicit images. They were books written for children and teenagers.

Now, lawmakers in Congress are revisiting that same debate through the proposed Stop the Sexualization of Children Act. The bill would withhold federal funding from schools and libraries that provide access to what its sponsors describe as “sexually oriented material.”

Over five years of tracking book removals nationwide, PEN America says it has not identified a single banned school library book that legally qualifies as pornography. Distributing pornography in schools is already a felony offense carrying potential prison time. Despite repeated allegations surrounding “pornographic” books, the organization says none of the thousands of challenged titles it reviewed meet either a legal or commonly accepted definition of pornography.

According to PEN America, many of the books challenged or removed instead contain LGBTQ+ characters and themes, discussions of race and racism, sexual experiences, or difficult subject matter such as gun violence and sexual abuse.

Supporters of removing the books argue the effort is about protecting children from harmful material. Opponents counter that literature and storytelling remain essential parts of public education and argue students should have access to a wide range of perspectives, identities, histories and experiences through books.

Laney Hawes, co-founder of the Texas Freedom to Read Project, once remarked that “Fear is effective.” That sentiment has become central to the broader debate over book restrictions in schools. Concerns initially framed around pornography, critics argue, expanded into broader disputes involving diversity, equity and inclusion programs, educators, librarians, and discussions surrounding gender identity. In response, states and local governments across the country adopted policies and laws regulating material considered “harmful to minors” or “sexually explicit.”

PEN America says vague language in those policies has often led schools and districts to remove books more broadly than intended. Critics of the congressional proposal question how schools would interpret the measure if it became law. They point to books such as In the Night Kitchen, which includes illustrations of childhood nudity, or Red: A Crayon’s Story, a title frequently associated with themes of identity and acceptance.

The legislation also contains exemptions for certain literary classics identified by Compass Classroom, a homeschooling educational program built around a Bible-based curriculum. However, modern works including The Kite Runner and The Bluest Eye are not specifically exempted. Critics say those books could face restrictions because they contain depictions of sexual violence. They also point to books involving transgender characters, including Gracefully Grayson, as examples of titles that could be affected under the proposal.

If enacted, the bill would place school districts nationwide — including those that have resisted book removals — into the center of the growing debate over educational content. This week, more than 100 organizations urged voters to contact members of Congress and oppose the legislation.

Critics of the proposal argue that claims involving pornography, dangerous books, or harmful educators have shaped public debates in communities across the country despite little evidence supporting many of the accusations. They say the controversy has increasingly blurred distinctions between explicit material and books that simply address difficult or controversial subjects.

Some opponents also argue the effort connects to a broader political movement supporting school vouchers and expanded private education options, themes associated with Project 2025. Others point to parents who encounter isolated excerpts from books online and later campaign for their removal, despite ongoing disagreement among researchers and educators about whether exposure to such literature causes harm.

At the same time, students, parents, teachers, librarians and authors continue pushing back against book removals in schools. Supporters of broader access to literature argue books can strengthen critical thinking, improve academic performance, encourage empathy and reduce stress. Multiple studies examining reading habits have found positive educational and emotional outcomes tied to recreational reading.

Some educators and advocates also argue that books discussing sexuality or relationships can provide students with information about consent and healthy relationships rather than encouraging harmful behavior.

Polling and advocacy efforts around the country suggest many students and parents support maintaining broad access to books, even when certain content may be uncomfortable or controversial. Critics of book bans argue that disagreement with a book’s themes should not result in restricting access for all students or eliminating discussions involving certain identities or perspectives.

Meanwhile, reading for pleasure among children has continued to decline over the past two decades. For many educators and literacy advocates, that trend may be one of the larger concerns quietly sitting beneath the noise of the current debate.

Over the course of the nearly 30 years, I’ve worked in the adult entertainment industry; I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve written about and discussed the nature of American obscenity laws. In this new series of articles, “Origins of the War on Porn,” we’ll examine some of the roots of the long-running effort by elements of American society to stamp out pornography, including key pieces of legislation dating back to the late 19^th Century.

One of the most significant of these laws is the Comstock Act of 1873, which criminalized the use of the United States Postal Service to transmit obscene materials. Bear in mind, this was long before the existence of the “Miller Test,” the modern definition of obscenity established by the Supreme Court; as such, much of the material which would constitute a violation of the Comstock Act would strike modern viewers as quite tame.

The Comstock Act was named for Anthony Comstock, a staunch Christian who was born in rural Connecticut, then moved to New York after serving in the Civil War. Comstock was shocked by the city, which seemed to him a place “teeming with prostitutes and pornography,” as PBS put it in profiling Comstock.

Determined to shape the city’s sexual mores to his liking, Comstock began supplying police information on local prostitution operations to assist in their anti-vice efforts. Comstock was also taken aback by ads for contraception devices, so he soon adopted the contraceptive industry as another source of societal ills.

In 1872, Comstock began lobbying in Washington for the passage of an anti-obscenity bill, which would include a ban on contraceptives, which the determined activist had penned himself. He succeeded in his lobbying, and the Comstock Act was attached as a rider to the Post Office Consolidation Act of 1872.

Codified largely at 18 USC §1461 and 1462, the Comstock Act has been amended many times over the decades – as has the legal definitions of terms like “obscene” and “indecent,” which are peppered throughout the statutes. Still, even after these amendments, the core principles of the Act remain in place.

18 USC §1461 still prohibits the use of the U.S. mail to send any “obscene, lewd, lascivious, or filthy book, pamphlet, picture, motion-picture film, paper, letter, writing, print, or other matter of indecent character; or any obscene, lewd, lascivious, or filthy phonograph recording, electrical transcription, or other article or thing capable of producing sound; or any drug, medicine, article, or thing designed, adapted, or intended for producing abortion.” (In 1958, the law was amended to replace “preventing conception” with “producing abortion” in the last line quoted above.)

Comstock himself might be gratified to learn that his namesake law still survives, but he’d likely be aghast at how watered down it has become in its application and definitions. Credit for that reduction in scope and efficacy goes in part to a very different American activist, Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood who successfully challenged the Comstock Act when she opened the first birth control clinic in the country.

Of course, you are familiar with Sanger, you know her legacy as an advocate for women’s rights is complicated by her beliefs on eugenics, which in recent years have been used as a means for social conservatives to attack the organization she founded. Planned Parenthood has disavowed Sanger’s stated beliefs, noting as they did so that “today, anti-reproductive rights activists continue to attack Sanger as a strategy to undermine the crucial services Planned Parenthood currently provides.”

As both Comstock and Sanger demonstrate, the battles that underpin the War on Porn (as well as what many people have termed the “War on Women”) have their roots in debates and disagreements far older than anyone reading this article. Over 150 years after the Comstock Act was established, the issues that animated it are as contentious as they were in Comstock’s time.

Proof of the continuing influence of the Comstock Act and the man for whom it is named can be found in articles like this one from the Kaiser Family Foundation, titled “The Comstock Act: Implications for Abortion Care Nationwide,” published in 2024. Among other things, the article notes the Comstock Act “could be used by a future presidential administration opposed to abortion rights to sharply restrict abortion nationwide.” (President Trump declining to do exactly that angered some of his supporters not long after the KFF article was published).

Echoes of the Comstock Act also can be found in the ongoing effort to restrict access to online porn, or in more extreme cases, ban porn altogether. As these efforts demonstrate, Anthony Comstock might be long gone, but there are many folks happy to walk in his footsteps – and to become the next foot soldiers for their side of the War on Porn.

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service on Monday issued final regulations implementing the “No Tax on Tips” provision of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” establishing new tax deductions for certain workers who receive tips while excluding income tied to “pornographic activity.”

The regulation, titled “Occupations That Customarily and Regularly Receive Tips; Definition of Qualified Tips,” states: “Amounts received for prostitution services and pornographic activity are not included in the definition of ‘qualified tips.’”

Following the enactment of the legislation last year, the IRS developed rules to carry out the provision allowing taxpayers in occupations that “customarily and regularly” receive tips to deduct up to $25,000 annually in tip income. After a public comment period, the agency finalized both the list of eligible occupations and the criteria governing which tips qualify for the deduction.

The finalized “List of Occupations That Receive Tips” includes “digital content creators,” and the regulation offers additional clarification for that category. However, the rule specifies that tips connected to “pornographic activity” are not eligible for the deduction, without defining the term.

The IRS acknowledged that several commenters raised concerns about the exclusion and the lack of a clear definition.

“In addition to noting that certain pornography is legal, some commenters stated that pornography is protected First Amendment speech, that these businesses pay taxes, and that in fairness these businesses and their employees should have access to the deduction for qualified tips,” the regulation states. “One commenter suggested the prohibition be limited to activity that is unlawful under State or Federal law. Several commenters requested that the regulations define pornographic activity.”

A submission from the Free Speech Coalition argued that the exclusion of “pornographic activity” is the only categorical restriction in the rule not tied to unlawful conduct and noted that pornography is not formally defined as a category of speech under the law.

“This makes it impossible to determine whether a performance or work that generates tips is eligible for tax exemption,” the group wrote. “If content creators provide material or performances for which they can be tipped, how is it determined whether the content is ‘pornographic?’ If the material depicts genital stimulation, is it ‘pornography?’ If the material depicts no nudity, but the speaker is speaking about sex, is it ‘pornography?’ If the speaker is wearing translucent, or even transparent clothing, but speaks of investments and not sex, is it ‘pornography?’”

The group added that, without a precise definition, the rule creates “unconstitutional discretion” in determining which income qualifies for the deduction.

“Under the proposed rule, the regulations will create an environment where enforcement will inevitably be arbitrary; disputes regarding the categorization of income as having been generated by ‘pornographic activity’ will be constant; and litigation will be chronic,” the comment states. “Every taxpayer whose tip exclusion is rejected under this regulatory category will have a valid constitutional challenge to the rejection.”

The regulation notes that the Treasury Department and the IRS “will consider whether to provide additional guidance regarding these exclusions.” In the meantime, the agency stated that it “intends to interpret the occupations on the list in a fair and impartial manner consistent with their commonly understood meaning.”

The IRS said the exclusion for pornographic activity is “intended to address the potential for greater noncompliance and abuse with respect to these activities and services.”

The provision has drawn comparisons to broader federal policy discussions regarding access to financial services for certain industries. A 2025 executive order directed financial institutions not to restrict services based on lawful business activities, and subsequent reports and agency actions have addressed the use of “reputation risk” in regulatory oversight.

Federal agencies, including the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, have taken steps to eliminate “reputation risk” as a supervisory factor, while the Federal Trade Commission has cautioned payment processors against denying services based on lawful but higher-risk classifications.

It remains unclear how those policy positions may affect adult-oriented businesses and content creators under the new tax framework. Several agencies and financial institutions have not publicly addressed how the rule will be applied in practice.

The Free Speech Coalition also published an analysis of the regulation by Katherine Studley, a consultant who works with industry professionals on tax and business matters. The analysis attributes the exclusion to advocacy efforts by conservative and religious organizations.

“No acknowledgement that these are legal businesses operated by legal workers who have been paying their taxes,” Studley wrote. “The same businesses who are good enough to tax are apparently not entitled to the same tax relief as everyone else.”

Studley noted that the rule does not exclude individuals based on occupation alone and that eligibility may depend on the nature of the content associated with the tips.

“Adult creators are not banned as a category of person and the tip is tied to the content,” she wrote. “This is advantageous for creators operating across multiple platforms and producing mixed content.”

The “No Tax on Tips” provision is scheduled to remain in effect for four years and is set to expire on Dec. 31, 2028. Lawmakers may revisit or revise the measure before that date.

LOS ANGELES — A routine trip to an awards show turned into a life-altering moment for GayVN Award-winner Milo Miles, who was detained by U.S. Customs and Border Protection at a Canadian airport earlier this year and is now barred from entering the United States for at least a decade.

Miles, who ultimately won at the 2026 GayVN Awards, had been traveling to attend and present at the ceremony when he was stopped in January. Despite the win, he cannot return to the United States unless government authorities grant special permission.

The Toronto-based performer, originally from Medellín, Colombia, has built a strong presence in the industry, earning multiple nominations at the 2026 GayVNs and taking home Best Oral Scene as part of an ensemble cast in the Carnal+ Original production Deeper Deep Throat. He moved to Canada with his family as a child, leaving behind a country affected by cartel violence and political instability.

“I was detained in Toronto at preclearance,” Miles said in a phone interview. He had been scheduled to depart from Toronto Pearson International Airport, one of several Canadian hubs where U.S. agents screen travelers before departure.

The preclearance system allows U.S. officers to conduct inspections on foreign soil before passengers board flights bound for the United States, effectively shifting the border to the departure airport.

Miles said that process often involves armed officers and determines whether travelers are allowed entry before they ever leave Canada. Those cleared typically arrive in the United States as domestic passengers, bypassing customs lines. He added, “Being Latino, an adult content creator, I had heard that people had been banned in the past.

“So, I hired immigration lawyers,” he continued. “It was two or three years ago. … They all said the same thing: there’s not really a way” to legally work in the United States doing porn, “unless you marry someone and get a green card.

“It was explained to me like this: ’If a border agent found out that I did porn, that would fall under the category of sex work. And to them, sex work equals prostitution. After Trump got elected, the concern kind of started growing even more about this, I was told.”

Aware of those risks, Miles said he took steps he believed would reduce scrutiny, including enrolling in the NEXUS trusted traveler program, which is designed to speed up border crossings between Canada and the United States.

“I’ve had this for many years now,” Miles said. “It’s supposed to streamline the process of crossing the border because we have to pre-check with Canada, at least at the airport here in Toronto at Pearson. However, especially in the last year, I’ve noticed that whenever I cross, there seem to be more questions than usual being asked, even though it’s normally supposed to be a straightforward process because of the facial recognition software.”

Miles, who holds dual citizenship in Canada and Colombia, lives in Toronto and has frequently traveled to the United States for work, including film shoots and collaborations. He said he spent eight hours over two days at the preclearance station before being told he would be denied entry under allegations tied to unlawful activity.

According to documents issued by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Customs and Border Protection, Miles was found inadmissible based on claims that he had engaged in prostitution, a conclusion he disputes in the context of his work in adult film production.

The documents include a transcript of questioning in which an officer pressed him on whether his work constituted prostitution, despite distinctions commonly drawn between adult film production and escorting.

Miles acknowledged during questioning that he had previously worked as an escort, describing it as consensual arrangements between adults in which he was compensated for his time.

U.S. law grants border officials broad discretion to deny entry, regardless of a traveler’s history or intended duration of stay.

“You appear inadmissible to the United States … in that you are an alien who is coming to the United States to engage in prostitution or has engaged in prostitution within ten years of the date of application for a visa, admission, or adjustment of status,” the official notice states. “You are currently engaging in prostitution or were coming to the United States to engage in prostitution.”

Miles said his purpose for traveling was to attend the GayVN Awards, but the determination resulted in a ban that will remain in effect until 2036.

“The one thing that I think kept me grounded throughout the whole experience, even though I knew where things were headed, was knowing that I was very thankful that this was happening in Toronto,” he said. “Regardless of what happens at this airport, I’ll still be able to go home and sleep in my own bed and to know that I’ll still have that fundamental freedom that God gave to Canada.

“It’s a very unfortunate thing,” Miles said, referencing his partner, a U.S. citizen, and the disruption to his plans to build a career in the United States. Reflecting on the experience, he added, “It’s more of, like, a psychotic attack. Even though I was clearly dealing with agents who didn’t seem to care about equity, diversity or inclusion, and who came across as homophobic, it wasn’t just about those individuals.

“This appears to be a systemic bias and a broader issue within the department, though not necessarily across the entire federal government,” he concluded.