Cherie DeVille Pens Letter for The Daily Beast, Utah Lawmaker Responds

Los Angeles, CA — Cherie DeVille’s open letter in The Daily Beast rallying against Utah’s Porn Ban Bill only ran this past Saturday March 20, and it has already caused waves! Just hours after the article hit the web, The Salt Lake Tribune picked up on it, quoting DeVille several times and garnering a response from Rep. Susan Pulsipher, the Republican who sponsored the bill.

In “A Porn Star’s Open Letter To Utah Republicans On Their XXX Cellphone Ban,” DeVille articulates the pitfalls of HB72 as she sees them. The bill will require cellphone and tablet manufacturers to block explicit content on all new devices. DeVille argues that a measure of this extreme is a direct violation of free speech and will end up hurting those in the adult industry in the long run. As she points out, since the boom of the internet, parental filters and controls have existed and put the onus on parents to monitor their children’s online activities. DeVille also calls out the fact that porn will be available on other devices connected to the internet, as well as the hypocrisy of free speech proponents.

In response, The Salt Lake Tribune published “Adult Film Star Urges Utah Gov. Spencer Cox To Veto Porn-blocker Bill,” which includes several quotes from DeVille’s open letter, including this especially biting passage:

[D]eVille said the legislation will do nothing to shield Utah children and is actually an attempt to prevent the socially conservative state’s adults from viewing pornography. And she questioned why the legislation singles out sexually explicit content, when violent video games and television shows can also have a damaging effect on children.

“Stop using ‘protect the children’ when your real goal is to stop adults from watching porn,” she wrote.

In response, Rep. Pulsipher defended her bill, stating that her bill will help lessen the frustration of parents who cannot figure out how to use existing filters, especially those who aren’t tech-savvy. Per The Salt Lake Tribune, Pulsipher said that’s not true and that “nothing would prevent adults from deactivating the content blockers and viewing pornography if they chose.”

“[The bill] doesn’t take the place of good parenting. It doesn’t take the place of family rules or family discussions,” the Tribune quoted Rep. Pulsipher, who sponsored HB72, stating. “It’s just a tool to help good parents be good parents.”

Though there certainly won’t be much “real action” that comes from this op-ed, for her part, DeVille was grateful for the chance to share her insights.

“I would like to thank The Daily Beast once again for letting me speak my mind,” DeVille commented. “I also want to thank The Salt Lake Tribune for picking up on my letter. I hope this exposure will urge Gov. Cox to veto this bill and protect freedom of speech and the livelihoods of adult performers.”

Though it is doubtful that anyone in Utah’s state legislature (publicly) cares about protecting adult performers’ livelihoods and free speech capabilities, it is commendable that DeVille has tried — once again — to speak up on behalf of the community.

Come check out my open letter to Utah’s Governor for @thedailybeast on why Utah’s proposed ban on access to adult content on cell phones is not just taking away peoples right to watch porn but is creating a slippery slope for freedom of speech in general! https://t.co/2v9o9OMmVU

— Cherie DeVille (@CherieDeVille) March 21, 2021