There was a very interesting book published in the early 90's by Susan Faludi called Backlash. The premise is that women had made so much progress towards the end of the twentieth century that there was a strong backlash from anti-feminist conservative forces in a last ditch effort to overturn all of the progress made. I think there is some truth in her conjecture. The progress was made, though, perceptions about women and their role in society have changed, and there is no turning back. Even so, those on the losing side continued, according to Faludi, to fight an "undeclared war against American women." It was a war they were bound to lose, but as always in war, a lot of people wind up getting hurt in the scrimmages. 

I believe there is a new backlash, this one against the progress we have made on issues of sexuality. The anti-sex forces are extraordinarily dedicated. They are driven be dark forces they don't understand. As with the 90's backlash against women, which was not organized but rather a social phenomena, so to is this backlash against sex.

Social conservatives were horrified by the fact that the country did not care that the President of the United States had an affair. They are shocked by the ready availability of everything from pornography to birth control. They are shocked by the casual way sex is portrayed on television.

Despite their shock, attitudes about sex have changed in the populace at large. They have yet to change with those in power though, which is why we who promote a more positive and open sexuality have won the war, but are currently losing the battles.

These battles take place every day, and they have many targets. Primetime decided to go after the porn industry by portraying rich corporations who make money off of porn as feeding off of poor innocent women. The Los Angeles Times does the same thing. The stories are full of inaccuracies and misrepresentations, but that does not matter. A part of the backlash, they feel a need to do something about the acceptance of pornography. 

Newspapers and the media did the same thing to women in the 80's, with articles on the decreased likelihood of older women finding husbands unless they married early, the plunge in economic status of women who dared to divorce, the depression and burnout amongst women who chose careers over staying at home, and the crises revolving around day care centers that turned out not to be the hotbeds of child molesting that they were made out to be (actually, the real molesters turned out to be the local priests). All of these stories were reported in the mainstream media, all turned out to be very much exaggerated and distorted, and all had the intended effect of encouraging women to turn back to traditional roles. 

The backlash has won completely in the schools, where sex education is a joke and kids wind up more ignorant than when they started. They are taught lies to make them fearful of sex as part of an abstinence only agenda, but denied basic information on things such as birth control and condom usage that could actually make them safer.

The backlash is also winning in the courts. Conservatives have been packing the courts with conservative extremists for years. The current Bush continues the pattern, with some of the most extreme nominations we have seen for the courts. One more conservative Supreme Court Justice, along with the already packed courts, and there will be little hope for  the freedoms we think we have or should have regarding sex and reproductive rights.

A good example of the power of a single judge to do mischief is represented by the recent suit against the Los Angeles Police Department by sex educator Dr. Susan Block. Her home was raided by 20 police officers with guns drawn under an obviously false pretext and without a warrant. They spent hours in her home and completely searched the premises.  It was as they were preparing to do a live show, and officers ordered them not to tape the proceedings. They blockaded the street and interrogated the guests.  

We all understand that the police should not be allowed warrantless searches without probable cause or exigent circumstances. In this case, it was clear that they had no probable cause and lied to gain entry. It was a slam dunk case. It even went before a jury, and they appeared to be swayed by the arguments against the police officer's actions.

The problem was the judge, an anti-sex conservative of the first order who referred to a large stuffed penis shaped pillow as "pornography", inferring that it and the erotic art in the building were illegal (despite the fact that the laws on obscenity only apply to selling, not private posession). Instead of allowing the case to go to the jury after they had already heard all of the evidence, he simply decided to rule against the plaintiff, Dr. Block. Why did the judge do this? Most likely, because he could, and he feared that the jury would rule in favor of the plaintiff. Judges have far more power than most people realize, and can vacate a jury's verdict if they desire. While you may think that it is all about what a jury decides, it is really about what the judge decides.

Certainly people have the right to appeal in cases that are so obviously wrongly and unfairly decided as this one, but keep in mind that a great deal of effort has been put into stacking the higher courts with right wing conservative judges. The likelihood of getting a reversal on these types of cases is extremely low.

Clearly, the police broke the law to a significant extent. When the courts no longer look after the rights of citizens, though, the law becomes meaningless.  Whether Dr. Block will win her appeal is uncertain, but you can read it for yourself at Appeal to the Ninth District Court.

The problem is that the law recognizes almost nothing in the way of rights regarding sexuality. A good friend recently lost her job because she appeared on a television show and discussed her sexuality. Under the law, you have no protection and although they can not discriminate on the basis of age, race, or gender, in most places they can discriminate against you because of who you sleep with and how you do it.

We have won the war for the hearts and minds of people who are loosening up on their rigid Victorian ideals about sex. Now we have to stand together, as the women's movement did, as the gay movement did, as the civil rights movement did, to demand that our basic rights to freedom of sexual expression be preserved by the courts. It may be the last Civil Rights battle as yet unwaged.

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