I planned to do up a post today about the fabulous Fem Domme Tea I attended last Sunday, but alas, this bit of local political douchery has stolen my focus and burned up all my happy thoughts.
This issue was brought to my attention on SLOG yesterday and I’m fairly disturbed that it hasn’t gotten more chatter since, so I felt the need to try and stir some up.
Representative Mark Miloscia has put forward a Bill(2103) that would add an 18.5% tax(and that’s plus all other existing sales taxes) to “adult entertainment materials and services”. He and his close-minded cronies are looking to add an amendment to existing legislation mostly related to selling and renting cars.
You can read the entire legislation here and I strongly encourage you to do so. The changes are conveniently underlined:
http://apps.leg.wa.gov/documents/billdocs/2009-10/Pdf/Bills/House%20Bills/2103.pdf
There is so much about this which is offensive I hardly know where to begin. As appealing as it is to soap box regarding how many women require battery-operated sex-related objects to get off or that it might mean the demise of beloved local institutions like Babeland, Wild at Heart and the Crypt or even that, as written, this tax could affect safe sex tools like condoms, dams and lube.
But I think my biggest issue, and what is also easiest to attack, is the argument they use to justify the tax:
“The legislature finds that the sale and use of adult entertainment materials and services result in increased costs to the state through the provision of increased governmental services, including human services and criminal justice services. It is the legislature’s intention that the activities that result in these increased services bear more of the costs of these services. The legislature intends to dedicate the revenues from a tax on the sale and use of adult entertainment materials and services to crime victims’ compensation, with an emphasis towards providing services, support, or therapy to those children who are victims of sexual abuse.”
Its the old porn = violence argument. The tired old chestnut of sex-negative conservative thought no matter HOW MANY times it is disproved.
Please take the time to share this news with your other porn, toy and sex loving pals. And I encourage you to call or email the backers of this bill and tell them, since they clearly don’t believe in butt plugs, they can shove this legislation up their ass…
feel free to use your own words, of course.
You can find the phone numbers, and direct links to email, the bill sponsors on the same site as the bill link.
And here’s the original SLOG post:
http://slog.thestranger.com/slog/archives/2009/02/10/the_taxman_cometh
****UPDATE**** There’s an article over at the Seattle Times that focuses almost entirely on the effect this bill would have on strip clubs and Playboy magazine with NO mention of the affect on toys and sex aides. Even with the Times bias its still pretty clear that the backers are seeing this legislation as some sort of sin tax, with a clear moral agenda to force “adult industries and products” out of our state. Lawyers with a clear first amendment case are already gearing up. Which begs the question, how many freakin times does this state have to bear the expense of a court case when they know going in they will lose.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008731079_porntax11m0.html
