I live in the West — the actual West, which, before developers began bulldozing every open acre, was still home to open range, cattle grazing, and snapshots of history.
I used to live in a region largely untouched by modern developers, at least outside the city limits. The ruins of old settlers’ cabins were visible from the road. You don’t have to travel far to find petroglyphs and the remains of Fremont structures or what is left of old mining towns. You can drive out to Dinosaur National Monument and visit the home of Josie Bassett who entertained Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch at her homestead. History is everywhere.
I was once talking with a man who was tearing down an old cabin on his property. As he ripped up the porch, he found an old box. In the box was a collection of faded, water-damaged pictures from the 1800s of women in various stages of undress. The man had stumbled upon a cache of Old West porn.
Porn has been with us since man learned how to draw, and it likely will always be. However, if Utah Sen. Mike Lee has anything to say about it, it will be harder to distribute, and such cases will be easier to prosecute.
Lee has introduced the Interstate Obscenity Definition Act. In a press release, Lee commented:
Obscenity isn’t protected by the First Amendment, but hazy and unenforceable legal definitions have allowed extreme pornography to saturate American society and reach countless children. Our bill updates the legal definition of obscenity for the internet age so this content can be taken down and its peddlers prosecuted.
Lee notes that because definitions of obscenity differ from state to state, pornographers can avoid arrest and prosecution. Lee contends that this bill would codify the definition of pornography and eliminate the loopholes. And what would be the new definition?
From the bill’s text:
The term ‘obscene’ or ‘obscenity’, when used in a manner or context that explicitly refers to, or could apply to, a picture, image, graphic image file, film, videotape, or other visual depiction, includes a picture, image, graphic image file, film, videotape, or other visual depiction that
‘‘(i) taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest in nudity, sex, or excretion;
‘‘(ii) depicts, describes, or represents an actual or simulated sexual act or sexual contact, actual or simulated normal or perverted sexual acts, or lewd exhibition of the genitals, with the objective intent to arouse, titillate, or gratify the sexual desires of a person; and
“(iii) taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.
Of course, the howls went up. Would you expect anything else? Some of the reactions are, frankly, unsuitable to repeat here. But assorted responses included:
That is ridiculous, you can never get rid of porn it would be impossible, what a clown this guy is.
— Johan Nilson Nagel (@NagelNilson) May 14, 2025
All of the things happening in our country and the world… today’s Republican Party is choosing to focus on porn? Uh, good luck with that.
— Colton Stiell 🇺🇸 (@ColtonStiell) May 13, 2025
This is why no grownup can take the Christofascists who have wrecked the GOP seriously. This is bad performance art masquerading as governing.
— A. Jamie Saris (@jamie_saris) May 14, 2025
Here are some samples of other replies:
Your bill bans and criminalizes the possession and sharing of “simulated sex acts… with intent to titillate.” That description would include something as common as Game of Thrones episodes. You can’t cut spending or stop an immigration horde, but you can do this?
Why vote R?
Your bill is an obscenity.
Part of this is an animus toward all things conservative and, in particular, Mike Lee. Lee’s haters are rabid, not just in the Beehive State but across the nation. Lee could introduce a bill mandating free miniature golf and a $50 gift card to Chili’s for every BIPOC and non-binary person in the country and still get fiery blowback from the Left.
Those people will do everything possible to ensure Lee’s bill fails. It could be said that we outlawed drugs and, prior to that, booze, and people will find a workaround. And yes, they will. But I think there is something larger at work here.
One of the most egregious responses was this:
Dr. Nicole Prause
@NicoleRPrause
This is a call to ban legal adult pornography, Project 2025.
As a scientist who studies the health effects or pornography, they remain primarily positive, then neutral. Most people enjoy legal content responsibly. This is simple infringement on speech.
Oh, really? And how do we tell the legal content from the illegal? How do we tell the willing participants from the victims?
Porn users may be under the impression that everyone they are watching onscreen is of the age of legal consent, have agreed to perform the acts, are enjoying them, and are fairly compensated for their time. The user gets his rocks off and a dopamine hit, the “performers” enjoyed themselves and got paid, so no harm, no foul. No one got hurt. Right?
But that is the problem. This is why Lee’s bill is likely to fail. It is not just because of wild-eyed progressives who want to fundamentally transform the nation on every level. It is not just because there is big money in porn. It is not just because there are people in power with skeletons in their closets. It is also because we have too many people who want what they want, no matter who else may have to pay the cost.
Back in my reporter days, I was sitting in the office of the county undersheriff. We were discussing a CSAM case his deputies were working on involving a man trading pictures of his teenage daughter. In a rare moment of naivete, I asked why a girl would willingly submit to that kind of treatment from her father.
The response? “Maybe because he’ll beat her if she doesn’t.”
Older readers have heard me mention this before, so my apologies if this is a rehash for some of you.
Years ago, my wife and I traveled to Cambodia with a church group on a human trafficking awareness mission. We visited one of the centers where rescued girls are given medical care and counseling. Off in the corner were two girls who were five, maybe six years old. I asked one of our guides if they had been trafficked for labor, since who in their right mind would even consider having sex with a six-year-old? The guide responded that they had been sold into the sex trade.
And then there is this:
According to the website Unbound Now:
The line drawn between consensual and non-consensual acts in pornography is extremely blurred, and viewers often cannot distinguish between the two. Sex trafficking occurs anytime a victim is sexually exploited by way of force, fraud, or coercion. While it may appear that actors have given consent to be filmed, it’s possible that they were coerced into agreeing with the terms, or not even told what they were expected to do until after consenting. Consent gained by manipulation is never true consent. Another problem that arises is the continued exploitation of victims online even after they leave the industry. If they were trafficked, their exploitation continues to make a profit through repeated views.
More awareness needs to be spread about the ways in which pornography perpetuates sex trafficking since the connection often remains invisible. The best way to help stop the demand for sex trafficking is to stop the demand for pornography, which ultimately decreases its supply.
What is truly horrifying is that these people, who will fight tooth and nail against Lee’s bill, or at the very least, complain about it on X, would not for a nanosecond entertain the idea that their hobby, addiction, or obsession is contributing to the degradation, enslavement and death of real human beings. They would rather ignore that and continue to stare into their screens until they are satiated than so much as tap the brakes on their perversion under the auspices of the First Amendment.
They will continue to enjoy porn, no matter the collateral damage. They will point, click, tap, and then… do whatever, willfully oblivious to the fact that they are propping up evil, even in a “slight” way.
“But sex work is work!”
Tell that to the woman in the video.
Tell that to the girl who has been abused and who knows the images of her will never completely go away.
Tell that to the people who are beaten and forced to take drugs until they are addicted, so that they have no choice but to work.
Tell that to the women who are forced to humiliate themselves.
Tell that to the women who have STDs from the “johns.”
Tell that to the people with shattered childhoods.
Tell that to the women who are blackmailed or held hostage.
Tell that to the six-year-olds in Cambodia, you SOBs.
