PROPOSED MINNEAPOLIS PORNOGRAPHY ORDINANCE (MACKINNON-DWORKIN) _________________________________________________________________ From David_Austin@ncsu.edu Fri Feb 3 10:40 CST 1995 Excerpts from the MacKinnon/Dworkin Ordinance proposed for Minneapolis, MN: Pornography is a form of discrimination on the basis of sex. Pornography is the sexually explicit subordination of women, graphically depicted, whether in pictures or in words, that also includes one or more of the following: (i) women are presented as dehumanized sexual objects, things or commodities; or (ii) women are presented as sexual objects, who enjoy pain or humiliation; or (iii) women are presented as sexual objects, who experience sexual pleasure in being raped; or (iv) women are presented as sexual objects tied up or cut up or mutilated or bruised or physically hurt; or (v) women are presented in postures of sexual submission, or sexual servility, including by inviting penetration, or (vi) women's body parts - including but not limited to vaginas, breasts, and buttocks - are exhibited, such that women are reduced to those parts; or (vii) women are presented as whores by nature; or (viii) women are presented being penetrated by objects or animals; or (ix) women are presented in scenarios of degradation, injury, abasement, torture, shown as filthy or inferior, bleeding, bruised, or hurt in a context that makes these conditions sexual. The use of men, children, or transsexuals in the place of women ... is pornography for the purposes of ... this statute. Discrimination by trafficking in pornography. The production, sale, exhibition, or distribution of pornography is discrimination against women by means of trafficking in pornography: (1) City, State, and federally funded public libraries or private and public university libraries in which pornography is available for study, including on open shelves shall not be construed to be trafficking in pornography but special display presentations of pornography in said places is sex discrimination. (2) The formation of private clubs or associations for purposes of trafficking in pornography is illegal and shall be considered a conspiracy to violate the civil rights of women. (3) Any woman has a cause of action hereunder as a woman acting against the subordination of women. Any man or transsexual who alleges injury by pornography in the way women are injured by it shall also have a cause of action. Coercion into pornographic performances. Any person, including transsexual, who is coerced, intimidated, or fraudulently induced (hereafter, "coerced") into performing for pornography shall have a cause of action against the maker(s), seller(s), exhibitor(s) or distributor(s) of said pornography for damages and for the elimination of the products of the performance(s) from the public view. (1) Limitation of action. This claim shall not expire before five years have elapsed from the date of the coerced performance(s) or from the last appearance or sale of any product of the performance(s); whichever date is later; (2) Proof of one or more of the following facts or conditions shall not, without more, negate a finding of coercion: (a) that the person is a woman; or (b) that the person is or has been a prostitute; or (c) that the person has attained the age of majority; or (d) that the person is connected by blood or marriage to anyone involved in or related to the making of the pornography; or (e) that the person has previously had, or been thought to have had, sexual relations with anyone including anyone involved in or related to the making of the pornography; or (f) that the person has previously posed for sexually explicit pictures for or with anyone, including anyone involved in or related to the making of the pornography at issue; or (g) that anyone else, including a spouse or other relative, has given permission on the person's behalf; or (h) that the person actually consented to a use of the performance that is changed into pornography; or (i) that the person knew that the purpose of the acts or events in question was to make pornography; or (j) that the person showed no resistance or appeared to cooperate actively in the photographic sessions or in the sexual events that produced the pornography; or (k) that the person signed a contract, or made statements affirming a willingness to cooperate; or (l) that no physical force, threats or weapons were used in the making of the pornography; or (m) that the person was paid or otherwise compensated. Forcing pornography on a person. Any woman, man, child, or transsexual who has pornography forced on them in any place of employment, in education, in a home, or in any public place has a cause of action against the perpetrator and/or institution. Assault or physical attack due to pornography. Any woman, man, child, or transsexual who is assaulted, physically attacked or injured in a way that is caused by specific pornography has a claim for damages against the perpetrator, the maker(s), distributor(s), seller(s), and/or exhibitor(s), and for an injunction against the specific pornography's further exhibition, distribution, or sale. No damages shall be assessed (A) against maker(s) for pornography made, (B) against distributor(s) for pornography distributed, (C) against seller(s) for pornography sold, or (D) against exhibitors for pornography exhibited prior to the date of this act. Defenses. Where the materials which are the subject matter of a cause of action under subsections Pornography, Coercion, Forcing, or Assault of this section are pornography, it shall not be a defense that the defendant did not know or intend that the materials are pornography or sex discrimination.