The porn industry has become more accessible in recent years thanks to sites like OnlyFans but with rising prominence, the industry has also come under attack from some religious and conservative leaders.
Porn star Cherie DeVille joined the conversation in an op-ed published by the Daily Beast, sharing her concern over possible porn prohibition following the November midterms which saw anti-porn Republican J.D. Vance get elected to the U.S. Senate in Ohio.
On the campaign trail, Vance expressed that he would advocate for a nationwide porn ban, telling Crisis Magazine in 2021, “I think the combination of porn, abortion have basically created a really lonely, isolated generation that isn’t getting married. They’re not having families, and they’re actually not even totally sure how to interact with each other.”
DeVille noted that Vance isn’t the only Congressional Republican that holds anti-porn views. She pointed to Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri) and West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice who have spoken openly about their beliefs that porn is bad for society. Justice even brought up porn in the aftermath of the tragic Uvalde, Texas, school shooting earlier this year as the conversation surrounded a possible assault weapons ban.
In the op-ed, DeVille argued that a ban on porn would be an infringement on free speech. She pointed to an instance in which religious leader Laila Michelwait partnered with billionaire Bill Ackman to pressure credit card companies to stop processing PornHub payments to protect children. Their plan worked, though DeVille claimed that MindGeek, PornHub’s parent company, never sold child porn.
“It’s unlikely that Vance could actually pass a law banning porn (good luck getting Congress to pass anything), and if he successfully pushed legislation, the Supreme Court would likely overturn it,” DeVille wrote before adding, “But politicians’ and fringe voices’ agendas can nonetheless create a mood that stifles speech.”
