Dallas, Texas — Exxxotica “does Dallas,” the weekend of August 7 through 9. The triple-X rated sexpo, open to anyone aged 18 and up, bills itself as the “largest adult event in the USA dedicated to love & sex.” But not everyone agrees that the upcoming three-day sextravaganza belongs in the “Big D.”
The weekend-long lustfest offers seminars on sex, fetish performances, question-and-answer sessions about the commercial sex industry, and meet-and-greets with dozens of porn stars. It has been held 26 times in six cities previously, according to KDFW-4. This year, the event tours Chicago, Dallas, and Edison, NJ.
Women’s rights advocates, Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings, and other residents are “deeply concerned” that Exxxotica is coming to the Kay Bailey Hutchison Center at the Dallas Convention Center, a city- owned facility named for the female Republican former US Senator from Texas.
Dallas Women’s Foundation President Roslyn Dawson Thompson called the use of city property almost “a tacit affirmation of what we know is an exploitative and often abusive industry,” to the Dallas Morning News.
She co-authored a letter to Rawlings which acknowledges that it is “too late for the city to cancel” the event, although she urged him, the Convention and Visitors Bureau, and all those associated convention recruiting not to solicit this event again, or others like it.
She wrote, “We do not want our City providing a cover of respectability for conventions that glorify and further the exploitation of and violence against women and girls.”
Rawling responded that he understood their “disgust” and he wrote: “I am particularly worried about the message that our playing host to this convention might send regarding our city’s position on the sexual exploitation of women.”
He also confirmed there was not much he could do about the event. Rawlings stated: “Use of the convention center is subject to the first amendment. Our city attorneys advise us that the city therefore cannot deny its use strictly based on the content of a planned event.”
The mayor noted that “the only thing worse” than hosting the expo would be getting sued by the organizers and having to pay them. However, his letter implied he intends to do what he can to prevent Exxxotica’s return.
Ron King, executive director of the convention center, told the Dallas Morning News that the convention center has hosted other adult-themed events, including the Adult Video News Awards Show, which dubs itself “the Oscars of porn.”
Thompson sent copies of the Rawling’s letter onto local female elected leaders, the Dallas Convention & Visitors Bureau, and the Dallas Regional Chamber and she told several area news outlets that Exxxotica will feature numerous “enterprises that contribute to the sex trade industry” and that sanctioning such events undermines efforts to combat human trafficking.
WFAA-8 lists Dallas among the worst in the nation for sex trafficking and Dallas police estimate more estimate more than 400 women a night may be part of the city’s sex trafficking trade.
Breitbart Texas reports on this tragic situation statewide regularly. It is so pronounced that the 84th Legislature passed anti-human trafficking legislation, House Bill 10. Gov. Greg Abbott signed the legislation into law on June 9.
KDFW-4 spoke to expo producer, J. Handy, who said that Exxxotica has been the recipient of protests before. He claimed this event was “an opportunity for open-minded, like-minded adults to celebrate and embrace something that’s been going on since the beginning of time.”
Already, billboards are popping up in Dallas. They call the event “Sexy. Fun. Different.” Exxxotica boasts many “satisfied customers” in its promotional video.
Follow Merrill Hope on Twitter @OutOfTheBoxMom.
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