Utah Gov. Gary Herbert to sign resolution calling porn a 'health hazard'

[GMDino]

Even odds he get found with kiddie/gay porn.

Quote:(CNN)A state with a national reputation for wholesomeness is taking aim at a medium with quite a different reputation: the pornography industry.

Utah Gov. Gary R. Herbert is planning to sign two pieces of legislation on Tuesday that aim to combat what's called "a sexually toxic environment" caused by porn.

One is a resolution and one is a bill:
-- S.C.R. 9 Concurrent Resolution on the Public Health Crisis.

This resolution declares that pornography is "a public health hazard leading to a broad spectrum of individual and public health impacts and societal harms."

The resolution claims Utah would be the first state in the nation to make such a declaration.
It cites what is says are numerous detrimental effects of porn, including the treatment of "women as objects and commodities for the viewer's use."

Read the resolution here

It also says pornography "equates violence toward women and children with sex and pain with pleasure, which increases the demand for sex trafficking, prostitution, child sexual abuse images, and child pornography."

The resolution has no punishing powers; it doesn't specifically ban pornography in the state.

Jon Cox, spokesman for the Republican governor, said the point of the resolution is to raise awareness and education. "We want Utah youths to understand the addictive habits" of porn that are "harmful to our society."

-- H.B. 155 Reporting of Child Pornography.

This bill is more specific, and has enforcement muscle.

It requires that computer technicians who find child pornography during their work should report it to law enforcement officials. The bill further stipulates that "the willful failure to report the child pornography" would be a class B misdemeanor.

Read the reporting bill here

H.B. 155 also specifies that Internet service providers are not liable if the provider "reports child pornography in compliance with specified federal law."

Herbert is expected to sign the bills at the Utah State Capitol at 10 a.m. Tuesday.

The pros and cons of porn: It just isn't what it used to be

Claims of addiction

The Utah Coalition Against Pornography hailed the move on its Facebook page Monday. It encourages people to head to the Capitol and "celebrate and recognize this historic moment!"

The bills have the support of people such as Dawn Hawkins, the executive director of National Center on Sexual Exploitation in Washington, who is scheduled to appear at the signing.

In an interview in 2015, she said, "Pornography encourages viewers to view their sexual partners in a dehumanized way, and it increases the acceptance and enjoyment of sexual violence and harmful beliefs about women, sex and rape."

In a video interview on the Salt Lake Tribune website in February, State Sen. Todd Weiler, chief sponsor of both pieces of legislation, said, "Pornography today is like tobacco was 70 years ago," comparing the addictive effects.

Actor: Porn addiction 'messed up my life'

An interesting backdrop to this legislation: In 2009, Harvard Business School study found that residents of Utah were the highest per capita purchasers of online adult entertainment in the United States.

Not everyone agrees porn is necessarily and automatically a problem.

Dan Savage, author of a nationally syndicated sex advice column, said porn can be a tool when dealing with discrepant desires or libidos, such as in the case of new fathers, who can turn to porn for variety or stimulation.

"We have a hard-wired desire for variety. Porn allows you to scratch that itch without physically cheating on your partner," he told CNN in 2015.

[fredtoast]

This Bill is crap, but there are issues that need to be addressed.

I am as liberal as anyone here, but we have to do something to limit the access of internet porn to children. This is no joke. There are a large group of young boys who watched so much porn during puberty that they were not able to have normal sex lives when they became adults. They literally can not function normally when they have to combine affection or feelings of love with sex.

[GMDino]

(04-19-2016, 11:06 AM)fredtoast Wrote: This Bill is crap, but there are issues that need to be addressed.

I am as liberal as anyone here, but we have to do something to limit the access of internet porn to children.  This is no joke.  There are a large group of young boys who watched so much porn during puberty that they were not able to have normal sex lives when they became adults.  They literally can not function normally when they have to combine affection or feelings of love with sex.

Well that's on the parents...right?

[Devils Advocate]

(04-19-2016, 11:06 AM)fredtoast Wrote: This Bill is crap, but there are issues that need to be addressed.

I am as liberal as anyone here, but we have to do something to limit the access of internet porn to children.  This is no joke.  There are a large group of young boys who watched so much porn during puberty that they were not able to have normal sex lives when they became adults.  They literally can not function normally when they have to combine affection or feelings of love with sex.

What's a 'normal sex life'?

Wait til porn sites restrict access to these states attempting to pass crazy ass bills. Oh that's right, one popular site has already done so in NC I think. VCR's were invent in large part so people could have porn in the privacy of their own homes. People want their porn like they want their guns. 


As soon as it's not so taboo, the porn industry will become a powerful lobby. 

[Belsnickel]

(04-19-2016, 11:34 AM)Devils Advocate Wrote: What's a 'normal sex life'?

Wait til porn sites restrict access to these states attempting to pass crazy ass bills. Oh that's right, one popular site has already done so in NC I think. VCR's were invent in large part so people could have porn in the privacy of their own homes. People want their porn like they want their guns. 


As soon as it's not so taboo, the porn industry will become a powerful lobby. 

Isn't that why VHS won out over Betamax? Because the porn industry embraced VHS?

[GMDino]

(04-19-2016, 11:36 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: Isn't that why VHS won out over Betamax? Because the porn industry embraced VHS?

Yep.

Sex (porn) has driven many advancements in technology.

[GMDino]

(04-19-2016, 11:34 AM)Devils Advocate Wrote: What's a 'normal sex life'?

Wait til porn sites restrict access to these states attempting to pass crazy ass bills. Oh that's right, one popular site has already done so in NC I think. VCR's were invent in large part so people could have porn in the privacy of their own homes. People want their porn like they want their guns. 


As soon as it's not so taboo, the porn industry will become a powerful lobby. 

While I understand some people have an addiction problem, and for some it may directly harm their lives, I agree this bill does nothing.

[Devils Advocate]

(04-19-2016, 11:36 AM)Belsnickel Wrote: Isn't that why VHS won out over Betamax? Because the porn industry embraced VHS?

That's what they say. 

[Au165]

Utah leads the country in online porn subscriptions....Just going to throw that out there and let it sink in a bit haha

[fredtoast]

(04-19-2016, 11:30 AM)GMDino Wrote: Well that's on the parents...right?

I don't know how to keep my children from seeing porn on the internet.

What can I do?

[fredtoast]

(04-19-2016, 11:34 AM)Devils Advocate Wrote: What's a 'normal sex life'?

Being able to have sex with a person you love and respect.


I don't care what adults do to get off.  But it is damaging to children who no nothing about having sex.

[GMDino]

(04-19-2016, 12:32 PM)fredtoast Wrote: I don't know how to keep my children from seeing porn on the internet.

What can I do?

Try and teach them what a loving relationship looks like.  Try to explain that anything in excess is bad for them.

(04-19-2016, 12:34 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Being able to have sex with a person you love and respect.


I don't care what adults do to get off.  But it is damaging to children who no nothing about having sex.

It's already illegal for kids to watch porn.  

[fredtoast]

(04-19-2016, 12:43 PM)GMDino Wrote: Try and teach them what a loving relationship looks like.  Try to explain that anything in excess is bad for them.

Here is the problem.  Every parent could tell his son what normal loving sexual relationships are like, but they are not going to be convinced when 100% of the sex they see in person involves degrading women. 

And telling a 13 year old boy that too much porn is bad for him is like giving a coke addict unlimited access to cocaine but telling him just to use a little.  The brains of boys going through puberty do not work like adult brains.

[fredtoast]

(04-19-2016, 12:43 PM)GMDino Wrote: It's already illegal for kids to watch porn.  

But here is no enforcement mechanism in place.

Porn sites should require some form of identification verification instead of just asking if the user is older than 18. 

[GMDino]

(04-19-2016, 01:08 PM)fredtoast Wrote: Here is the problem.  Every parent could tell his son what normal loving sexual relationships are like, but they are not going to be convinced when 100% of the sex they see in person involves degrading women. 

And telling a 13 year old boy that too much porn is bad for him is like giving a coke addict unlimited access to cocaine but telling him just to use a little.  The brains of boys going through puberty do not work like adult brains.

And thus the cycle continues.

Access is easier but kids are also savier.  From Sears Catalogs to pornhub....little boys fap and grow up to be big boys who probably still fap while married.

[*Nately120*]

If we outlaw porn only outlaws will have porn.

[fredtoast]

(04-19-2016, 01:16 PM)GMDino Wrote: Access is easier but kids are also savier.  From Sears Catalogs to pornhub....little boys fap and grow up to be big boys who probably still fap while married.

Except Sears catalogs don't demean women and portray sex as an act of dominance.

[*PhilHos*]

(04-19-2016, 01:10 PM)fredtoast Wrote: But here is no enforcement mechanism in place.

Porn sites should require some form of identification verification instead of just asking if the user is older than 18. 

In addition to that, how about requiring all porn sites to have a dot XXX (.XXX) ending? It'll be easier to block them.

[fredtoast]

(04-19-2016, 01:17 PM)Nately120 Wrote: If we outlaw porn only outlaws will have porn.

I am not even suggesting that porn should be illegal.  I am just saying that it is bad for kids and we need to do something to control their access to it.

I like porn and alcohol, but I don't think it is for kids.

[fredtoast]

(04-19-2016, 01:22 PM)PhilHos Wrote: In addition to that, how about requiring all porn sites to have a dot XXX (.XXX) ending? It'll be easier to block them.

Rep.

Don't make it illegal.  Just keep it away from kids.