Small Town USA -- An Inviting Target for Porn-Pushing Capitalists
by Rusty Pugh
December 9, 2003
(AgapePress) - A Cincinnati-based pro-family advocate known for his work in the battle against pornography says the illicit sex business is increasing in small towns across America -- primarily because of lax zoning laws.Increasingly, adult video stores and strip clubs are choosing to locate near out-of-the-way exit ramps in small towns across the United States. Phil Burress, president of Citizens for Community Values, says such adult businesses are locating in places assumed to be "family-friendly" mainly because it is easy for them to do so. He says when those who deal in hard-core pornography and X-rated videotapes are looking for locations for new ventures, among the first places they seek out are communities where obscenity laws are not enforced.
"If they find those places, then they open up strip bars nearby ... to try to create a red-light district. It is a serious, serious problem," the anti-porn advocate says.
Burress contends that pornographers know that small towns have lax zoning regulations that are rarely enforced. He says that fact, when coupled with a huge demand for porn, has resulted in an increasing number of "sex shops" springing up along Interstate highways in places like Newton, Iowa, and Buckhorn, Missouri.
But Burress says small towns can keep sexually-oriented businesses out of their communities -- if they are vigilant.
"When we talk about sexually-oriented businesses, we need to remember that there are two different categories," he explains. "If we're talking about adult bookstores, that is a prosecutor's problem -- obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment, and those laws need to be enforced. If we're talking about strip bars, you cannot eliminate them -- but you can zone, license, and regulate them to the fullest extent of the law."
But just as with big cities, the concept of supply-and-demand plays a role in this issue. Burress says that even in small towns, there is a problem with adults who will frequent these establishments. He says if there was not a huge demand for the products and services offered, sexually-oriented businesses would not put down roots in the smaller venues.
