Language in pornography ban bill concerns some
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR) — A state lawmaker who is no stranger to controversy is now shifting his focus to pornography.
State Sen. Dusty Deevers (R-Elgin) wants to make it illegal in Oklahoma and calls it 'pure cancer to the soul.'
However, some people have an issue with the bill's wording.
As it stands now, this bill would ban anything with a sex scene, sexual action, or depiction in it, meaning even romance novels or boudoir photos.
Oklahoma revenue projected under $300 million due to tax breaks
This is why some Oklahomans are asking for the bill's author for some clarity.
'He's trying to be clever,' Lauren Smith, Lawyer and Romance Author said. 'He's trying to use child pornography as the red herring. No one wants child pornography to be legal. It's not legal already.'
Sen. Deevers filed SB593, which looks to 'create felony offenses and provide penalties' for obscenity and child sexual abuse material.
Wording inside the bill, such as, 'unlawful pornography of any medium,' has many concerned.
'Any medium can then expand everything,' Smith said. 'If you possess the movie Titanic or season one of Game of Thrones, those have sexual depictions in them. According to his own definitions, the bill's depictions of what he even says is normal sex are considered pornography.'
Smith has been writing romance novels for over a decade. She believes Deevers' bill would eliminate nearly every book, show, or movie created.
The measure also worries some photographers.
'I'm a pastor's kid,' said Whitney Stilwell, Owner of Red Stiletto in Norman. 'What I want to do with my photography is I want to show women, that no matter what your body looks like, no matter what you've been through, you are fearfully and wonderfully made.'
Stilwell has been doing photography for decades. She wasn't completely in on being a boudoir photographer until she realized the impact it can have on women.
She believes if everyone understood that, it wouldn't be grouped in with porn.
'When I first was looking into boudoir, I said, I don't want to take those kind of pictures, because that was my initial thought, is this is porn,' Stilwell said. 'I think it's important for the people who are making these bills to do a little bit more research and see that we're not all the same. We are providing a service for women to feel empowered.'
News 4 reached out to Senator Deevers' office multiple times, but he did not get back to us.
However, he addressed SB593 in a press release last week. He mainly stuck to the point that banning porn would not violate free speech and the first amendment.
He added that his bill outlines the definition of porn.
Modern pornography appeals to the prurient interest and lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value… There is no excuse to continue exposing Oklahomans to obscene pornography. We must aspire to become a state free from this plague.
Sen. Dusty Deevers
If the bill passes without any changes, Smith and Stilwell worry that all of their work will be erased.
'I have attorneys, I have teachers, principals, I have pastors wives, I have pastors,' Stilwell said. 'I have women from who are Democrat, Republican. I have all kinds of women who come into my studio, and I hate for them to feel ashamed of doing a session like this.'
'My whole purpose of my career is to show young women growing up, that men need to treat you better,' Smith said. 'Men owe us better because we should not have to be second-class citizens in this country.'
If the bill were to pass, those who are caught with anything under Sen. Deevers' definition of porn could spend up to 10 years in prison and face hefty fines.
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