By Jonathan L. Katz

In Support of the Free Speech Coalition 

Silver Spring, MD, May 17, 2001 - With the recent pro and con discussion about the Free Speech Coalition, I humbly offer my view, as a First Amendment lawyer and as a co-founder of the new Free Speech Coalition chapters of the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. 

The adult entertainment industry is stronger and more successful because of the Free Speech Coalition. No other national coalition exists for all segments of the adult entertainment industry. There is truly strength in united numbers, particularly when so many government agencies, organizations, and individuals want to marginalize and destroy the industry. 

The FSC's recent accomplishments and continued progress confirm that the FSC is a vital part of the adult industry's success. The FSC won a stunning victory by convincing the Ninth federal Circuit Court to strike down the 1996 "virtual kiddie porn" addition to the federal child pornography law. The FSC needs continued financial support as it fights to uphold this victory in the Supreme Court. 

The FSC has convinced California legislators to kill numerous anti-adult bills, and now the FSC is starting state chapters around the country to do the same thing nationwide, and to get the word out locally that the FSC's members are legitimate businesses and workers who have the right to be protected by the Constitution.

In 2000, the FSC hired a full-time executive director, Bill Lyon, who actively works to build coalitions with the ACLU and other groups with overlapping goals, to present a positive public image of the adult industry, and to strengthen the FSC's leadership and finances while lobbying for FSC‚s interests before such groups as ICANN, the COPA committee, and, currently, the Congressionally-created committee to limit children's exposure to "harmful" Internet material. Bill Lyon and FSC legislative affairs director Kat Sunlove are diligently involved in establishing and training FSC state chapters, so that the adult entertainment industry can campaign from both the national and grassroots levels. 

The unified District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia FSC chapters soon will be training with Kat Sunlove for lobbying work, so that state and county lawmakers will have to take into account the interests of the adult industry and its economic contributions before even thinking of supporting anti-adult legislation. The leadership and membership of the DC, Maryland and Virginia FSC chapters include cabarets, retailers, distributors, and the Internet industry. 

In the best of all possible worlds, the FSC would be there for every adult industry member who is under attack by anti-adult forces. To do that would take millions of dollars. The FSC's annual budget of well under $1 million is not much to work with; and the budget would be even smaller if it were not for the FSC members who annually dig into their pockets to provide additional funding to make FSC's projects possible. 

I urge everyone to join the FSC for at least one year, to see the positive difference that your membership and contribution will make to the adult industry, to have a voting voice in the FSC, and to have a chance to fix any problems you perceive in the FSC. For membership information and questions, please visit www.freespeechcoalition.com. If you prefer, please contact me directly, at jon@markskatz.com, (301) 495-4300. 

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Appeared in Inside Adult and Luke Ford.com, May 17, 2001

Marks & Katz, LLC, vigorously fights for the rights of the adult entertainment industry. We provide broad-based service to the industry for criminal and obscenity defense, constitutional and civil litigation, First Amendment advice, and business advice. Partner Jon Katz is founding President of the Free Speech Coalition of the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia, Inc. The media frequently turns to Jon for opinions and analysis on vital issues facing the adult industry (click here). For further information on our experience serving the adult entertainment industry and Constitutional rights, click here. 

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