Category Archives: Events

September’s Sex & Censorship Events

September looks to be a busy month for me, in part because of the recent publication of Porn Panic!

I’ll be taking part in events in London, Birmingham and Exeter, as well as online. This schedule is liable to change. To stay up to date, please follow on Twitter, Like the Facebook page, or join the mailing list.

Tuesday 6th September London (Greenwich)

I’ll be signing my book, and reading from it, between 17:30 and 19:30, at Waterstones in Greenwich. Waterstones will be kindly providing wine, and we’ll likely migrate to a pub afterward (the Duke is an easy 10 minute walk). Click here for the Facebook event page.

Monday 12th September Fubar Radio, Online

I will be interviewed on Fubar Radio at 3pm.

Friday 16th September Exeter

I will take part in a debate at Exeter University titled “This house believes porn is a harmful industry”. I’m told this will be a very popular event, so come early if you want a seat. The debate will start at 7pm at: The Amory Moot Room, University of Exeter Amory Building, Rennes Drive, Exeter EX4 4RJ

Thursday 22nd September Birmingham

From 19:30, I will participate in a debate, to be held by Birmingham Salon, on the subject “Can Pornography Ever be Liberating?” The event will take place at The Victoria, John Bright Street, Birmingham B1 1BN. Full details at the Birmingham Salon website.

Tuesday 27th September London

Screening of the documentary film Respectable: The Mary Millington story. I’ll be taking part in the panel discussion.

TBC: Fiona Patten of the Australian Sex Party

I’m hoping to arrange a short event in late-September with the wonderful campaigner Fiona Patten, the leader of the Australian Sex Party and MP, when she visits London. Further information to be posted soon.

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Mary Millington

London Event: Respectable – The Mary Millington Story

The Naked Truth Film Club, which hosts controversial film screenings and discussions related to sexual themes, will run its third event in London on 27th September.

The film selected for the screening is Respectable – The Mary Millington Story, a documentary about one of Britain’s earliest, and best-known, pornstars. As with previous events, the screening will take place at the Prince Charles Cinema, Leicester Square.

Following the screening, a panel will discuss film, and take questions from the audience. The panel will include:

  • Simon Sheridan, the documentary’s director
  • Jerry Barnett (me), author of Porn Panic!
  • Pandora Blake, pornographer and activist
  • Linsey Dawn McKenzie, glamour model

Click here for tickets

Cam Girlz Movie Showing in London Next Week

The Naked Truth Film Club, which premiered in March with a screening of UnSlut, is back! Next Thursday, 16th June, Naked Truth will be showing Cam Girlz, a documentary about… well, cam girls. The screening will be followed by a discussion session, featuring a top-notch panel:

Don’t forget to follow @NakedTruthGuy on Twitter for more event updates. Click here for tickets and more info for next week’s viewing.

Cam Girlz
Cam Girlz, the Movie

Film Screening in London: The Unslut Project

Screening at the Prince Charles cinema in central London on 24th March, The Unslut Project takes a deep look at slut-shaming: stigmatising women for being proudly sexual, or merely for enjoying casual sex.

The screening will be followed by a panel discussion, on which I will feature, alongside other leading sexual freedom campaigners.

Proceeds will go to sexual freedom causes: please attend if you can, and let your friends know about the event.

For further details and tickets, visit ItsAdult.com.

Frankie Mullin on sex work and gentrification – 30th January

Frankie Mullin is one of the most informed and prolific journalists writing about sexuality in the UK today. In her work for Vice, the Independent, and the Guardian, she has challenged media myths around porn addiction and casual sex, and given a voice to sex workers and victims of sexual violence. She has defended the right to family life of asylum seekers and dicussed the lack of qualified psychological support for LGBT people. She was instrumental in raising awareness of the recently defunct ATVOD’s damaging crusade against independent porn producers.

On 30th January 4pm, Mullin will speak at a panel discussion hosted by the Camden People’s Theatre on gentrification and the crowding out of safe working spaces for sex workers for which she has written a number of cutting-edge reports. The event is highly recommended for those who are in or able to reach London that afternoon.

Cross-posted from Backlash

London Porn Protest This Saturday

It’s a whole year since the London face-sitting porn protest, organised by sex worker activist Charlotte Rose, made global news. The protest was held in response to a new law, AVMS 2014, which heavily restricted which porn could be legally sold by UK businesses. I explained the implications on this blog,

This Saturday at midday, we will gather outside Parliament again to protest. Last year’s law was the last straw for many of the remnants of the British porn industry, and many people have closed their businesses.

But it was just the beginning. The significant law isn’t the last one, but the next one. The bans introduced last year didn’t prevent providers outside the UK streaming their content to British consumers. The ultimate aim of the censorship machine is to create a mechanism for blocking non-UK sites that breach UK standards of ‘decency’. This won’t just apply to porn, but to many categories of content – as we discovered when the ‘porn filters’ were introduced two years ago.

I expect an attempt to introduce Internet censorship in 2016. In fact, one attempt is currently in the House of Lords: the Online Safety Bill.

This is the year to join the protest – please come along on Saturday if you can.

And please consider making a Xmas donation, big or small, to Sex & Censorship.

Thanks,
Jerry

Stripper

Appeal: Art of Stripping

Stripper and activist Edie Lamort appeals for funds to support the East London Strippers Collective’s upcoming London exhibition. Please support!

Go on, Put a Pound in the Jug!

Let me introduce the East London Strippers Collective (ELSC), that’s if you haven’t already heard of us, and tell you about our next wildly ambitious but amazing project. We have been together for about a year and a half, putting on talks and parties and generally self-organising. We are part event production team and part political organisation, with a social media following and press interest.

What are we doing? As we are all creative types, we are putting on an exhibition called the Art of Stripping, at the Red Gallery in Shoreditch, from 22nd October to Halloween. We are holding this event to celebrate the art that has been generated by the East London strip scene. The costume, the dance and the visual arts that have been created by dancers from their experiences. There will be photography, film, installations, costume and performances along with events, workshops and a closing party. Artists will include:

Millie Robson, a dancer who decided to specialise in pole dance photography and has built a flourishing business, travelling all over the world. She also won her category at this year’s Pole Theatre

Bronwen Parker-Rhodes, a photographer and film-maker who will be showing two films and prints from her At Home project.

Vera Rodriguez, a photographer and sex worker activist who is also curating the event. She will be premiering her Performers photography project, bringing it to life with a cabaret on the opening night.

There will also be a program of events during the time we are at the gallery to educate people about our world and celebrate the talents of the dancers. These will include a fashion show, as costume is very important part of our experience, an academic symposium as we are frequently studied, a film night, the life drawing class, an opening night with the artists and pole workshops, a Stripper-wear Fair and a closing party

Why are we doing this? For several reasons; we are visual artists, who also happen to be strippers, and want to show our art, we are creative performers who want a platform to do our thing and we wish to challenge stigma. The striptease industry that we all know and love is unfortunately in a sorry state now. This is for several reasons including recession and a very badly written and punitive law that came about in 2009. This was designed to wreck the industry and is doing exactly that, but was drawn up with no thought given to those working as dancers, our rights and working conditions were ignored. Ultimately we’d like to see this law reviewed however the first thing we have to do is combat the negative narrative around us, a tough call I’m sure you’ll agree! But what better way to do it than to run our own event celebrating our art and performance?

People talk about things being ’empowering’ and the ELSC is exactly that. We have all stepped up to the mark as producers, filmmakers, marketers, photographers, costume designers and all round businesswomen

What can you do to help? In short, donate to our Indiegogo fund and then share it far and wide. We have 1780 plus Facebook followers and if they put a pound in the jug we’d be laughing however they don’t all get to see our posts. We are on the Facebook naughty step after having been reported for side-boob and banned twice therefore we are not allowed to advertise as we have been classified as ‘adult’. In reality our photos and shows are no more risqué than burlesque but misinformation and prejudice abounds.

You may have just read this with interest, you may click on the links (I hope you do, click away!) but whatever you do don’t just ‘like’. If you think this is a good idea contribute some money, we have a pound in the jug option if you are skint or a £1000 option if you are a fancy pants high roller, and share all over to help us beat our advertising ban.

Thank you darlings! X 

 

Vid: The London Porn Protest

Here is a 20 minute video covering the highlights of last Friday’s porn protest outside the UK Parliament. With thanks to Terry Stephens (aka The Naked Truth Guy), who shot and edited it (follow him on Twitter).

The video includes my speech on behalf of Sex & Censorship, along with speeches by organiser Charlotte Rose, lawyer Myles Jackman and CAAN representative Jane Fae.

Coming Soon: The UK Sexual Freedom Awards 2014

If you are a sexual freedom activist, or a supporter of sexual freedom, the place to be is west London on Monday 17th November, for this year’s Sexual Freedom Awards. Coming at a time of increased conservatism and attacks on sexual liberty, these awards are more important than ever.

Come and mingle with the cream of sexual society and witness the naughtiest live acts you can see anywhere!

The awards will celebrate the best in striptease, sex work, and sexual activism. Attractions will include:

… performances by Charlotte Rose, Empress Stah, the Sex Workers Opera, Miss Carios as Jessica Rabbit, with a finale live on stage by international Hip Hop artist and BBC3 TV reality star from “Boom Town” Cream, pole dancing, a wild sexy area for networking and chatting with side shows including a striptease on a piano, erotic strip auction with Kaz B and Charlotte Rose, dj by Chris Tofu, a huge bar, a restaurant, and not forgetting visual displays of our nominees and much, much more! .

For more information, join the Facebook event page, or order your tickets here.