Los Angeles, United States:
Donald Trump may have gotten involved with a porn star, but if he is elected president, he could try to shut down the entire industry. Adult film stars are warning in an effort to get young men to vote against Republicans next month.
The #HandsOffMyPorn campaign has spent $200,000 so far on ads for adult websites, warning viewers that prominent Trump allies want to ban pornography and lock up the stars who bring it to vivid, graphic life.
And they want Americans to fight back at the ballot box.
“If you care about adult entertainment, if you consume or create adult entertainment, you should vote on November 5,” porn actress Siouxsie Q told AFP. “There are no two ways about it.”
The initiative comes in response to Project 2025, a blueprint for reforming the federal government if Trump, the Republican candidate, wins the election.
Page five of the foreword to the 900-page book reads: “Pornography must be banned. The people who produce and distribute it must be imprisoned.”
Trump has tried to distance himself from Project 2025. But dozens of his allies and former administration members co-wrote the document, and Democrats have argued that many of its policies align with his own views.
The #HandsOffMyPorn campaign is mainly aimed at men, who are four times more likely to watch porn than women, according to the Institute for Family Studies.
Just a few weeks before the extremely tense American elections between Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris, pollsters report a huge gender split among voters.
Trump has a strong lead among male voters and regularly delivers his machismo-infused pitch to young men on right-wing podcasts.
Now, #HandsOffMyPorn’s “public service announcements” are playing to users in battleground states like Pennsylvania, Arizona and Georgia, often right before they watch adult videos.
Stars like Siouxsie Q show up and say, “Hey, I know you’re busy. I know you’re doing something. Hang on. If you want to keep doing this, you should really vote on November 5th… Enjoy!” “
Harris is in no way affiliated with the #HandsOffMyPorn campaign, which is funded by the independent Artists United for Change committee, Siouxsie Q noted.
“Hopefully she secretly likes what we do,” she added.
‘lightning rod’
The crackdown on pornography is nothing new for the United States.
But Holly Randall, a 26-year veteran of the adult industry, said she has never seen such a potentially devastating threat to the industry.
That even included when her parents, who worked in porn during Ronald Reagan’s crackdown in the 1980s, had to secretly film hardcore scenes.
“I’ve seen these attacks come and go. Project 2025 is the most explicit attempt to completely ban porn,” she said.
“Absolutely, I’m concerned about jail time,” added Siouxsie Q, who made a name for herself appearing in feminist, queer and bondage films before moving into production.
Porn stars also warn that the fallout could extend far beyond their wildly popular industry.
According to Siouxsie Q, pornography is the “canary in the coal mine” for the freedom of speech guaranteed by the First Amendment. She also pointed to the Republican-led ban on sex education books from school libraries.
And Randall said adult entertainment is a “lightning rod” for broader issues such as trans rights, gay marriage and even reproductive rights.
“It’s always the easiest to attack because it represents people’s uncertainty and fear about the changing mores of sexuality and gender fluidity,” she said.
‘Forbidden’
Trump has repeatedly claimed he had nothing to do with Project 2025.
However, a New York Times investigation this week found that “well over half” of the document’s authors were part of Trump’s previous administration or part of his campaign or transition teams.
Randall noted the irony of Trump — convicted of fraud over “hush money” payments to porn star Stormy Daniels — becoming embroiled in the movement, even though she suspects he personally “doesn’t care whether it’s banned or not.” .
“But it’s the people around him, like (Trump running mate) JD Vance, these ultra-right conservatives, who want to ban porn,” she said.
Vance wrote the foreword to a forthcoming book by Kevin D. Roberts – the author of the Project 2025 section calling for a ban on porn.
“I think Trump will easily step aside and let that happen,” Randall said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)