Penthouse Battles Defense Department Over Ban On Adult Magazines In Military Stores; Publisher Bob Guccione Says It Is "Outrageous and Unconstitutional" That Defense Secretary Must Clear Shelves of Sexually Explicit Material

Business Wire, Oct 1, 1996

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 1, 1996--Penthouse magazine publisher Bob Guccione is going to court this week to overturn an act that orders the Secretary of Defense to bar the sale on military bases of periodicals or videos that depict nudity or describe sex in a "lascivious way."

Guccione's company, General Media International, will file the complaint against Defense Secretary William Perry and the Defense Department in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York later this week and will demand both a preliminary and a permanent injunction against implementation of the Military Honor and Decency Act.

"It is absolutely outrageous and totally unconstitutional and they are not going to get away with it," Guccione said. "How do you put a man in uniform, teach him to kill, expose him to images of war and all sorts of inhumanity, and in the same breath tell him he is not sanctioned to buy a magazine that shows people making love?"

The Military Honor and Decency Act was included in the general defense authorization bill that was signed by President Clinton on September 23. A provision that goes into effect December 22, 1996 says "the Secretary of Defense may not permit the sale or rental of sexually explicit material on property under the jurisdiction of the Department of Defense," including post exchanges, commissaries and ship stores.

The act defines sexually explicit material as any "audio recording, film or video recording, or a periodical with visual depictions...the dominant theme of which depicts or describes nudity, including sexual or excretory activities or organs, in a lascivious way."

"What qualifies William Perry or any Secretary of Defense to define what is lascivious anyway?" Guccione added. "The dictionary says it is 'characterized by or expressing lust' and only the most repressed zealot would ever try to prevent us from having lustful thoughts or even being lusty."

Attorney Michael Bamberger of the New York office of Sonnenschein Nath and Rosenthal, who is litigating the case, said that "under the banner of honor and decency the act takes the position that soldiers and sailors, like children, must be protected from the danger of non-obscene materials that are clearly protected by the First Amendment. This is both foolish and unconstitutional and we expect the court will so find."

One of the reasons offered by Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett (R.- Md.) when he introduced the Military Honor and Decency Act was that the armed forces should not spend public funds on material that demeans women and could compromise defense readiness.

"Far from costing the tax payers any money, these magazines are a profitable line for the military stores, so the argument that taxpayers are subsidizing them is bogus," Guccione said. "This statute was rammed through by right wing groups who have a different view of sex and sexual mores than the great majority of men and women in our military and society in general."

"As for compromising defense readiness, I would ask the congressman to offer one scintilla of evidence that any readiness has ever been compromised in any way by a person reading a magazine or watching an erotic video," Guccione added. "This is just one more example of how two-faced politicians talk about protecting our freedoms and then pass ever-more repressive laws."

For More Information or Interviews with Bob Guccione or Attorney Michael Bamberger, contact: Jackie Markham or Robin E. Gold -- 212-687-1765

CONTACT: Jackie Markham or Robin E. Gold

212-687-1765