Organization:National Center on Sexual Exploitation

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National Center on Sexual Exploitation
Founded1962
TypePolitical, media watchdog, anti-pornography
13-2608326
Location
Website{{{1}}}
Formerly called
Operation Yorkville (1962-1968)
Morality In Media (1968–2015)

The National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE), formerly known as Morality in Media, is an American conservative non-profit known for its anti-pornography advocacy.[1][2] The group has also campaigned against same-sex marriage, sex shops and sex toys, decriminalization of sex work, comprehensive sex education, and various works of literature or visual arts the organization has deemed obscene, profane or indecent. Part of the religious right, the group is primarily Catholic and its current president is Patrick A. Trueman. The organization describes its goal as "exposing the links between all forms of sexual exploitation".[3][4]

The organization began as an interfaith group of three New York clergymen concerned about pornography and "salacious" magazines. The group became involved in several landmark court battles regarding obscenity laws and freedom of speech in the United States. The group's influence later declined due to the decreasing interest in the anti-obscenity cause among prosecutors, politicians and religious leaders. After modernizing its message from morality to exploitation, the group has stated that pornography constitutes a public health crisis, but this is not backed by any global health agency. The organization has been criticized for advancing medical claims that are false, misleading or unsupported.

History

The organization was founded by an interfaith group of three New York clergymen under the name Operation Yorkville (OY) in 1962.[5] Father Morton A. Hill of St. Ignatius Loyola Roman Catholic Church, dubbed the "smut priest" by the press, became the public face of the group.[6] The group connected exposure to different types of "salacious" magazines and pornography to atheism, homosexuality, juvenile delinquency, masturbation, murder, sexually transmitted diseases and "high school sex clubs", but did not provide evidence for its claims.[7] Although the group's actions emphasized the protection of minors, First Amendment Law Review wrote that "at times the organization seemed to be using children as a pretext for a society-wide ban".[8] The group maintained that they were fighting obscenities and not advocating censorship.[9] In 1963, the organization began a long-running effort to ban John Cleland's erotic novel Fanny Hill, which ended with the 1966 Supreme Court decision Memoirs v. Massachusetts.[10]

Operation Yorkville was renamed to Morality in Media (MIM) in 1968.[11] Hill, president of MIM until his death in 1985, was appointed to serve on the 18-member President's Commission on Obscenity and Pornography by President Lyndon B. Johnson.[12] A report was submitted in 1970 that said all "adult" obscenity laws should be repealed.[12] Hill called the Commission's report a "magna carta for the pornographers".[13] After the four justices nominated by President Richard Nixon reshaped the Supreme Court, the Burger Court disregarded the Commission's report and upheld obscenity laws in 1973, citing the dissenting reports by Hill, minister Winfrey Link and Charles Keating, the leader of the Citizens for Decent Literature.[14] In 1973, a member of the group complained to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) about George Carlin's anti-censorship routine "Seven Dirty Words", leading to the 1978 decision FCC v. Pacifica Foundation.[15] In 1980, the organization launched an unsuccessful lawsuit over the New York premiere of the film Caligula.[16] The group also condemned the Monty Python film Life of Brian as a "direct, aggressive, deliberate violation of the rights of believing persons".[17] In 1983, MIM asked for federal action against pornography in a White House meeting with President Ronald Reagan.[18]

In the 1990s, the organization attacked the National Endowment for the Arts for funding what it deemed as obscene and profane art.[1] The group also pressured adult stores by picketing them, contacting landlords and prosecutors and by lobbying for changes in zoning laws.[19] In 1992, the group called for a boycott of all Time Warner products due to the publication of Madonna's book Sex.[20] In the mid-1990s, MIM was part of a religious boycott campaign against The Walt Disney Company.[21] The organization was an active supporter of the 1996 Communications Decency Act, although the group stated that many of its proposals were not implemented.[22] After the Supreme Court struck down the law as unconstitutional in Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union, MIM began advocating for internet filters.[22] Primarily Catholic,[23] the organization joined other groups in the religious right to criticize the Waxman report, which found that abstinence-only sex education programs were unscientific and contained false information.[24] MIM has argued that safer-sex information is indecent.[25]

Affiliated with the Christian Coalition, MIM has stated that it "strongly upholds traditional family values and Judeo-Christian precepts".[26] The organization was part of the Coalition for Marriage, a religious right collective that sought a ban on the partner recognition of gay couples and opposed the anti-discrimination laws protecting LGBT people.[26] After the 2009 Binghamton shootings happened on the same day as Iowa's Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage, the organization released a statement titled "Connecting the Dots: The Line Between Gay Marriage and Mass Murders".[27] The group's president Bob Peters said that the sexual revolution and the "decline of morality" were the underlying cause of mass murders.[27] In 2010, MIM hoped that government officials would take action against adult stores and sex toys, which Peters likened to "a cancer, a slow-moving cancer".[28] The organization's influence had declined due to the decreasing interest in the anti-obscenity cause among prosecutors, politicians and religious leaders.[29] Peters conceded that "the war is over and we have lost".[30]

The group's current CEO and president is Patrick A. Trueman, an attorney and a registered lobbyist.[31] He served as Chief of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, a United States Department of Justice Criminal Division, when the George H. W. Bush administration aggressively prosecuted obscenity cases against adult pornography.[32] Morality in Media changed its name to the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (NCOSE) in 2015.[33] Sexuality Research and Social Policy writes that the name change reflects the group's modernization "from morality to exploitation".[34] NCOSE's current campaigns include the White Ribbon Against Pornography week and the Dirty Dozen, an annual list of "leading porn facilitators".[35][36][37] In 2015, the organization successfully pressured Walmart to remove Cosmopolitan from its checkout aisles.[38] In 2016, NCOSE criticized Amnesty International after the human rights group joined Human Rights Watch and the World Health Organization in supporting the decriminalization of sex work.[39] NCOSE said the policy was irresponsible and that decriminalization would encourage human trafficking.[39] The group has also opposed the legalized prostitution in Nevada.[40] In 2017, the organization was one of the principal supporters of the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA).[41]

Elizabeth Nolan Brown of Reason has criticized the group for promoting claims about sexuality and pornography that contradict the findings of peer-reviewed studies.[33] Anti-Trafficking Review writes that NCOSE "uses misleading ‘research reports’ to fabricate a false medical consensus about the harms of pornography".[41] Since the 2010s, the group has stated that pornography constitutes a public health crisis.[34] NCOSE drafted much of the language when Utah passed a resolution labeling pornography, without evidence, a "public health hazard leading to a broad spectrum of individual and public health impacts and societal harms".[34][42] The resolution called for action against "the pornography epidemic that is harming the citizens of Utah and the nation".[34] The claims are not backed by any global health agency,[34] and outside experts criticized the language for its unproven assertions.[42] 15 other states replicated the resolution, using mostly identical language and also lacking evidence.[34]

EBSCO controversy

In 2017, NCOSE placed EBSCO on its Dirty Dozen List because its databases, widely used in schools in the United States, "could be used to search for information about sexual terms."[43] The group said that some articles from Men's Health and other publications indexed by EBSCO included articles with sexual (but not pornographic) content, and that other articles in the database linked to websites that included pornography.[43] EBSCO responded by saying that it took the complaint seriously, but was unaware of any case "of students using its databases to access pornography or other explicit materials" and that "the searches NCOSE was concerned about had been conducted by adults actively searching for graphic materials, often on home computers that don't have the kinds of controls and filters common on school computers."[43]

James LaRue, the director of the American Library Association's Office for Intellectual Freedom, said that students have a right to receive information, even about topics that some groups deem inappropriate. He said that NCOSE's goal seems to be to get rid of any content "that will offend any parent in America."[43] "NCOSE has the right to advocate for greater restrictions on access to sexual content", said LaRue, "but they often do this by suppressing content. When they try to impose their standards on other families, the American Library Association would call that censorship."[43] NCOSE also put the American Library Association on their Dirty Dozen List, along with Amazon.com.[43]

Funding

The organization has received funding from Philip Anschutz and the Coors Brewing Company family.[44][45] Joseph Coors was also a member of the organization's board of directors.[45] U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) grants of $150,000 in the 2005 and 2006 federal budgets funded Morality in Media's review of citizen-generated obscenity complaints submitted to the group's ObscenityCrimes.org website. MIM deemed 67,000 complaints legitimate by August 2007 and referred them to the DOJ,[46] but the program never resulted in a prosecution.[47] The grants were created by Congressional earmarks by U.S. Representative Frank Wolf of Virginia.[46]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lewis, Andrew R. (2017). The Rights Turn in Conservative Christian Politics: How Abortion Transformed the Culture Wars. Cambridge University Press. p. 54. 
  2. ↑ Gold, Michael (March 28, 2018). "Walmart Pulls Cosmo From Checkout. Plus! Guess Who’s Claiming Victory.". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/28/business/media/walmart-cosmo.html. Retrieved April 25, 2020. 
  3. ↑ "About - National Center on Sexual Exploitation" (in en-US). National Center on Sexual Exploitation. https://endsexualexploitation.org/about/. 
  4. ↑ "About" (in en). https://endsexualexploitation.org/about/. 
  5. ↑ Bates 2010, pp. 218-222.
  6. ↑ Bates 2010, p. 221.
  7. ↑ Bates 2010, pp. 238-240.
  8. ↑ Bates 2010, pp. 235-236.
  9. ↑ Bates 2010, pp. 233-234.
  10. ↑ Bates 2010, pp. 217-219.
  11. ↑ Bates 2010, p. 219.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Rev. Morton Hill, 68, pornography opponent". Chicago Tribune. November 7, 1985. https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1985-11-07-8503160906-story.html. Retrieved May 16, 2020. 
  13. ↑ "Members Hit Pornography Conclusions". Sarasota Herald-Tribune. 24 September 1970. https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=_X0fAAAAIBAJ&sjid=KmYEAAAAIBAJ&pg=6659%2C2570838. Retrieved 5 March 2012. 
  14. ↑ Strub, Whitney (2013). Perversion for Profit: The Politics of Pornography and the Rise of the New Right. Columbia University Press. pp. 152, 169, 256. 
  15. ↑ Sanburn, Josh (June 25, 2012). "You Can't Say That on Television: 40 Years of Debating Dirty Words". Time (magazine). http://content.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2117988,00.html. Retrieved April 25, 2020. 
  16. ↑ Vaughn, Stephen (2006). Freedom and Entertainment: Rating the Movies in an Age of New Media. Cambridge University Press. pp. 73-74. 
  17. ↑ "'Life of Brian' Film Attacked by Clergymen". The Washington Post. September 7, 1979. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1979/09/07/life-of-brian-film-attacked-by-clergymen/e96fd9de-7e2b-4194-8f20-e0f0ca0d580d/. Retrieved May 28, 2020. 
  18. ↑ Hoffman, David (March 29, 1983). "Reagan Hears Pleas to Battle Pornography". The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1983/03/29/reagan-hears-pleas-to-battle-pornography/9e4f1a29-92d8-4827-b583-56d9f1094fae/. Retrieved May 16, 2020. 
  19. ↑ Chicurel, Judy (June 17, 1990). "Morality in Media Takes On Adult Stores". The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/1990/06/17/nyregion/morality-in-media-takes-on-adult-stores.html. Retrieved May 27, 2020. 
  20. ↑ "Morality in Media backs Time Warner boycott". Tampa Bay Times. October 31, 1992. https://www.tampabay.com/archive/1992/10/31/seminar-a-response-to-new-age-movement/. Retrieved May 18, 2020. 
  21. ↑ Lyon, David (2013). "Signs of the Times". Jesus in Disneyland: Religion in Postmodern Times. John Wiley & Sons. https://books.google.com/books?id=wfQdAAAAQBAJ&q=%22morality+in+media%22. Retrieved May 27, 2020. 
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Lane, Frederick S. (2001). Obscene Profits: Entrepreneurs of Pornography in the Cyber Age. Routledge. p. 100. 
  23. ↑ Brint, Steven; Reith Schroedel, Jean (2011). Evangelicals and Democracy in America: Religion and Society, Volume 1. Russell Sage Foundation. p. 311. 
  24. ↑ Klein, Marty (2006). America's War on Sex: The Attack on Law, Lust and Liberty. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 18-19. 
  25. ↑ Heins, Marjorie (2007). Not in Front of the Children: 'Indecency,' Censorship, and the Innocence of Youth. Rutgers University Press. p. 176. 
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 Cahill, Sean; Tobias, Sarah (2007). Policy Issues Affecting Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Families. University of Michigan Press. pp. 102, 104, 121. 
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 Corn, David (April 9, 2009). "Gay Marriage Leads To Mass Murder?". Mother Jones. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2009/04/gay-marriage-leads-mass-murder/. Retrieved April 25, 2020. 
  28. ↑ "Alabama Sex Toy Drive-Thru Business on the Rise". CBS News. December 30, 2010. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/alabama-sex-toy-drive-thru-business-on-the-rise/. Retrieved May 17, 2020. 
  29. ↑ Bates 2010, pp. 281-282.
  30. ↑ Stone, Geoffrey R. (2018). "Sexual Expression and Free Speech: How Our Values Have (D)evolved". Human Rights (American Bar Association) 43 (4): 24. https://www.americanbar.org/groups/crsj/publications/human_rights_magazine_home/the-ongoing-challenge-to-define-free-speech/sexual-expression-and-free-speech/. Retrieved May 18, 2020. 
  31. ↑ "U.S. Senate: Legislation & Records Home > Public Disclosure > client list index > client list T". Jcp.senate.gov. 2011-10-13. Archived from the original on 2011-08-06. https://web.archive.org/web/20110806083902/http://jcp.senate.gov/pagelayout/legislative/b_three_sections_with_teasers/clientlist_page_T.htm. Retrieved 2012-03-05. 
  32. ↑ Krause, Jason (February 1, 2008). "The End of the Net Porn Wars". ABA Journal 94 (2): 52-56. https://www.abajournal.com/magazine/article/the_end_of_the_net_porn_wars. Retrieved May 18, 2020. 
  33. ↑ 33.0 33.1 Brown EN (14 July 2015). "Anti-Porn Summit on Capitol Hill Mixes Moralist, Feminist, and Public Health Rhetoric With Insane Results". Reason.com. http://reason.com/blog/2015/07/14/congress-holds-anti-porn-summit. 
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 34.2 34.3 34.4 34.5 Weitzer, Ronald (2019). "The Campaign Against Sex Work in the United States: A Successful Moral Crusade". Sexuality Research and Social Policy (Springer Science+Business Media). doi:10.1007/s13178-019-00404-1. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/335749312_The_Campaign_Against_Sex_Work_in_the_United_States_A_Successful_Moral_Crusade_2019. Retrieved May 16, 2020. 
  35. ↑ Oui, Ann. "Morality in Media Names ‘Dirty Dozen’ Facilitators of Porn". Adult Video News. http://business.avn.com/articles/legal/Morality-in-Media-Names-Dirty-Dozen-Facilitators-of-Porn-511568.html. Retrieved 3 March 2014. 
  36. ↑ Staff. "MiM Releases 2014 ‘Dirty Dozen’ List of Leading Porn Facilitators". Adult Video News. http://business.avn.com/articles/video/MiM-Releases-2014-Dirty-Dozen-List-of-Leading-Porn-Facilitators-550834.html. Retrieved 3 March 2014. 
  37. ↑ "Full Article". 2011-12-13. http://www.moralityinmedia.org/full_article.php?article_no=137. 
  38. ↑ Wang, Amy B (March 28, 2018). "Walmart pulls Cosmopolitan from checkout aisles after pressure from anti-porn group". The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2018/03/28/walmart-pulls-cosmopolitan-from-checkout-aisles-after-pressure-from-anti-porn-group/. Retrieved April 25, 2020. 
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 Bassett, Laura (May 27, 2016). "Buying And Selling Sex Should Be Decriminalized, Human Rights Groups Say". The Huffington Post. https://www.huffingtonpost.com.au/entry/amnesty-international-sex-work_n_5747046ae4b055bb11714f81. Retrieved May 27, 2020. 
  40. ↑ "Nevada Sells Sex But Does That Make It Worse For Women?" (in en). https://knpr.org/knpr/2019-02/nevada-sells-sex-does-make-it-worse-women. 
  41. ↑ 41.0 41.1 Chapman-Schmidt, Ben (2019). "‘Sex Trafficking’ as Epistemic Violence". Anti-Trafficking Review (Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women) (12): 172-187. doi:10.14197/atr.2012191211. https://www.antitraffickingreview.org/index.php/atrjournal/article/view/384/325. Retrieved May 16, 2020. 
  42. ↑ 42.0 42.1 Alberta, Tim. "How the GOP Gave Up on Porn". Politico Magazine (November/December 2018). https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/11/11/republican-party-anti-pornography-politics-222096. Retrieved May 16, 2020. 
  43. ↑ 43.0 43.1 43.2 43.3 43.4 43.5 Jackie Zubrzycki, Do Online Databases Filter Out Enough Inappropriate Material? , Education Week (July 14, 2017).
  44. ↑ Barnett, Antony (June 16, 2002). "US probe into Dome's new owner". The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2002/jun/16/uk.dome. Retrieved May 18, 2020. 
  45. ↑ 45.0 45.1 Bellant, Russ (1991). The Coors Connection: How Coors Family Philanthropy Undermines Democratic Pluralism. South End Press. p. 63. 
  46. ↑ 46.0 46.1 Lewis, Neil A. Federal Effort on Web Obscenity Shows Few Results New York Times, via nytimes.com, 2007-08-10. Retrieved on 2007-08-11.
  47. ↑ Stone, Geoffrey R. (2017). "To Advance the Cause of Justice". Sex and the Constitution: Sex, Religion, and Law from America's Origins to the Twenty-First Century. Liveright Publishing. https://books.google.com/books?id=7DSFDQAAQBAJ&q=%22morality+in+media%22. Retrieved May 19, 2020. 

Bibliography

External links




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