Destructions author Steven Toushin shares his first-hand experiences with obscenity-law; corruption and immorality within the federal government; and the conservative religious agenda that threatens our constitutional guarantees of religious freedom and freedom of speech. Destruction is for anyone who values liberty, who loves America, who doesn’t want to be bullied by right-wing political and religious extremists. It is for people who are interested in individual sexual freedom, law, politics, morality, and a better America for all people.
Destruction of the Moral Fabric of America revolves around the first S/M-obscenity trial following the 1985 Meese Commission on Pornography which ignited a decade of pers… More >>
The Destruction of the Moral Fabric of America
October 20, 2005 – Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has announced that his office will specifically target “bestiality, urination, defecation, as well as sadistic and masochistic behavior” in pursuing new obscenity prosecutions. The Department of Justice began recruiting in late July for a new anti-obscenity squad to pursue obscenity prosecutions, and the FBI announced in September that it was forming an anti-obscenity task force to crack down on pornography. Any website that has content containing…these acts…should be forewarned that prosecution is possible. Additionally, Federal sentencing guidelines state that any obscenity- related punishment should be “enhanced for sadomasochistic material…” from The National Coalition for Sexual Freedom website.
As some may recall, President Ronald Reagan tossed his religious conservative base a prize in the form of Attorney General Edwin Meese in the late 80’s. Meese plunged headlong into controversy when he appointed the “Meese Commission” to investigate pornography in the United States; their report, released in July 1986, was highly critical of pornography and the effects it had on people. Essentially rewriting earlier government studies that pronounced that there were no harmful links between pornography and behavior to suit their conservative agenda, Meese gave the Reagan Administration license to attack the adult entertainment industry and they did so with zeal. Toushin became one of their primary targets.
In 1987, Toushin was arrested as part of “Operation PostPorn,” holding him and his staff for twelve hours as some 40-odd shotgun and handgun toting FBI agents searched and stripped his office (after some two weeks of covert surveillance on your tax-dollars.) Under Meese, the Department of Justice had made pornography crackdowns a priority, and had arranged for men in two states to order the hardest of hard-core SM videos. This forced the trials to meet the “community standards” of the locations the items were mailed to (Tennessee and Utah) and eventually laws were amended to include pornography under RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations).
What follows in “Moral Fabric” is a panorama of how the government turned all of its energies on Toushin using movies that were as far afeild or disgusting to a jury of vanilla citizens as the times probably had (including fisting and scat), and how the prosecution was perfectly willing to exaggerate their claims in order to make their case. (The Attorney General of Utah claiming that Toushin was selling child-porn and bestiality being the most flagrant.)
Toushin is more documentarian than judgmental (but not completely outside the realm of zinger-tossing). The bulk of the book deals with how Toushin winds through the court system and prison, yet is also willing to name names. “The Destruction Of The Moral Fabric Of America” is not a light read. In fact, it isn’t even an easy read. But frankly, Toushin made history and set precedent for those of us who may forget that battles were fought and at the cost of lives ruined and liberties compromised. While he may still be around to run a successful Theater in Chicago, his book is a reminder that not everyone walks through fire unscathed.
Rating: 5 / 5
By and large, Steven Toushin’s latest book is about legal problems revolving around four SM films made in the 1980s which accumulated in a trail in 1989. There are a lot of primary documents included in the book that should be of great value to anyone interested in the legal system and how it is used to try and regulate adult sexuality. It may also be interesting to anyone wanting to know more about SM’s history and legal standing. It is a massive book and not for a casual reader however. I have some problems with how sections are arranged but the overall excellent value for anyone doing research into these subjects outweights those concerns.
Rating: 4 / 5
Wow! The Destruction of the Moral Fabric of America has me speechless. Where to begin talking about this volume? You could say it’s about the history of gay porn, or BDSM, or it is a memoir of Steven Toushin’s colorful and intensely lived life, or an expose by someone dedicated to their principles no matter what morality police do. All are correct. It is about all these things, needless to say it is not a light read but it is an important one.
Steven is well-armed with historical facts, trial transcripts, and interviews. The reader is led circuitously through his first-hand experience with governmental repression and intimidation, his arrests, trials, jail time, his ruminations on pornography, BDSM, and the government. He covers a lot of territory. It is sobering! One cannot walk away from this book without feeling a little queasy about our government and its insistence on overseeing American’s sexuality and desires. Steven likes to let the actual correspondences, court documents, and interviews speak for themselves; not that he doesn’t express his opinions, there is plenty of that, but he backs up those opinions with cold hard facts. Be warned, nobody is off the hook in this book. Steven takes a cold hard look at the BDSM culture and lays out what he sees as the pitfalls and what his suggestions are for remedying these problems. Including what a certified Master/Mistress may look like and what the criteria for such a certification would entail.
Toushin has waited over 30 years to spill the beans so there’s quite a mess of beans on the floor! What are we going to do with the mess? My suggestion, keep this book as a reference point for the long fight ahead…it is far from being over. Those that forget history are doomed to repeat it is the phrase that comes to mind. If we are to fight for our rights, to live our lives as we see fit then we have to build upon the blood, sweat, and tears of those who sacrificed and fought so hard because they had not other choice if they were going to lead life on their own terms. Sleep with one eye open America. As the government likes to keep parroting “freedom isn’t free”. Damn straight, we’ve got an internal war going on folks, right here in our bedrooms. Be prepared to fight! Don’t worry, there have been warriors that have gone before us. We are not alone…read and prepare yourselves.
Rating: 5 / 5
Steven Toushin has written a very important book, a must-read
for anyone interested in Freedom of Speech issues, sexuality
and alternate sexualities, particularly BDSM, and the legal
issues surrounding obscenity and pornography. His first hand
account of his arrest and trial for the distribution of
pornography is a fascinating and educational view of the
excesses of government’s attempts to control morality.
Toushin’s book may in fact be unique, in that it is a defendant’s
document of his obscenity trial, and includes transcripts of the
actual trial. It also includes transcripts of the development of
the legal defense, interviews with possible witnesses that run
the gamut from participants in the films seized, to mental
health experts and sociologists.
Prosecuted under an insidious plan developed by the Meese
Commission on Pornography, Toushin defended himself against
the full brunt of the Federal Government. Most of the other
businesses charged in this particular sweep of adult film
companies closed, paid fines, and kept a low profile. To his
lasting credit, Toushin fought to save his businesses, his
personal freedom, and First Amendment rights.
The government’s plan was brilliant, although it’s legality was
questioned by many, including the FBI. Smaller cities in
conservative states were chosen as a venue where it was felt
there would be a greater probability of conviction for obscenity.
Postmasters in the chosen cities ordered and bought catalogs
from adult businesses, then frequently purchased additional
“specialty” catalogs. They then ordered films depicting acts
that were determined most likely to offend a jury. It was
actually stated the outcome of the trial was not crucial to the
prosecution’s plan. The real intent was to charge the
defendants in as many states as possible at the same time and
to make legal defense impossible financially. The adult
companies would be bankrupted or closed even if it was later
determined by the court the material they sold was legal and
protected.
`Moral Fabric’ reads like a good thriller. The reader is lead
through the defense team’s discovery process and then the
trial, not knowing in advance what the outcome will be.
As the defense lawyers educate themselves on the BDSM
lifestyle and it’s wide variety of sexual practices, this reader was
also informed. There are brow raisers and chuckles.
The book’s true value is as a social document late 20th Century
sexual practices, ideas on morality and individual rights, and
legal precedent. It is fascinating now and surely will also be
equally so in 50 years.
We live in a society where every art form, every kind of media,
every kind of entertainment and even our advertising is directly
influenced by pornography. Our ideas about sex and sexuality
are in constant transition. If the financial numbers for the
pornography business are correct, the creation, sales and
consumption are a huge business that rivals or surpasses
Hollywood. Someone is enjoying a lot of erotica. The success of
“moralists” to shame some into submission and denial leaves a
conflicted populace that want to continue consuming porn with
pleasure, but must also punish…someone. It is telling that
“someone” is not the creator, the participants, or the
consumer, but it is the distributor.
Steven Toushin is to be commended for his insistence on
personal sexual freedom, free speech, and his willingness to
share his own life experience.
There are many memorable ideas and quotations. To
paraphrase and quote a few favorites:
“The right to view legal adult material in one’s own home is
meaningless if there is no way to purchase or otherwise obtain
it.”
-Judge
“It is not popular speech that needs protection, but unpopular
speech.”
“The Gothic idea that we were to look backwards instead of
forwards for the improvement of the human mind, and to recur
to the annals of our ancestors for what is most perfect in
government, in religion and in learning, is worthy of those
bigots in religion and government by whom it has been
recommended, and whose purpose it would answer. But it is
not an idea this country will endure.”
-Thomas Jefferson 1800
Rating: 5 / 5