2018 Annual Review

  • Dear Members of the Free Speech Coalition,

    Over the past year, we have worked hard to build Free Speech Coalition into a true resource for the industry, and create an organization that can not only defend our industry, but grow it. In 2018, I was proud to work with our member companies, our industry workers, and our allies to build out programs that made us a stronger, healthier, better educated and more responsible industry.

    As an industry, we are more diverse and more spread out than ever before in our history. While Free Speech Coalition represents adult producers in North America, our members operate across the globe. My goal as Executive Director has been to build an organization that, while based in Los Angeles, is aware of and responsive to risks and opportunities for our members in Europe, South America, Asia and beyond.

    Take the Digital Economy Act, the UK’s new age-verification regulation slated to take effect in less than a month. As our members know, these regulations in the UK no longer affect only those shooting or producing in the UK — they affect anyone whose site is accessed there, through agreements with global payment companies like Visa and Mastercard.

    Whether it’s a production hold in Europe, or increased censorship in China, or a morals campaign in the US, our businesses are more globally dependent than ever before. We can no longer afford to believe that something that happens in one country, or one state, or one county, is limited there.

    We spent 2018 not on defense, but demanding our rights and building a stronger organization. In the past year, we’ve fought in the courts and in the legislature — with SESTA/FOSTA, Digital Economy Act and 2257— while building infrastructure addressing mental health, medical benefits, and worker rights.

    And we’ve taken these battles public. On issue after issue — from age-verification to social media censorship to performer safety — Free Speech Coalition has led the conversation.

    The fight continues in 2019. #UnitedWeStand

    Best,
    Eric Paul Leue

  • 2257 Wins Pile Up
    Nine years after we first challenged them in federal court, major provisions of the regulations were declared 2018, regulations against secondary producers have now been struck entirely, and enforcement enjoined. Similar victories may loom for primary producers in 2019.

    NexGen Benefits Program
    We worked hard to find a way for adult businesses and workers get meaningful health benefits in a changing industry. The NexGen Program, launched last October, connects our members with a slate of low- or no-cost benefits, including nationwide access to doctors and nurses, medical advocacy, legal support, and identity protection — as well as discounts on testing, vision, and dental. Thanks to this innovative partnership, many of our members have extended those benefits to their employees and contractors.

    Improved Performer Health
    Faced with a string of significant losses in the winter of 20178, Free Speech Coalition worked with community partners, performers, mental health advocates and survivors to build concrete systems to better protect our most vulnerable performers. From developing stigma-free doctor lists, to improving press coverage, to educating public health organizations, to developing innovative platforms — the newly launched INSPIRE and Next Steps Programs — we are making sure that adult performers have better and more effective health resources than ever.

    Increased PASS Protection
    When the PASS Advisory Board meets this spring to further strengthen the PASS protocols, it will build on the hard work of doctors, performer and advocates who spent 2018 reviewing testing protocols, negotiating discounts, evaluating swabs and antibody tests.

    Organizational Growth
    Thanks to growth in membership, we’ve were able to bring aboard Lotus Lain as our newest team members. Lotus led the growth of the INSPIRE program which turned into a major success for our industry, and is now charged to grow that program towards various parts of the pleasure products industry, as well as additional adult entertainment industry roles.

  • Resources for Adult Business Growth
    For too long, our industry has run without the adequate resources for growth. In the coming year, FSC will build out the resource hubs launched this year to help adult businesses to thrive in a changing market. We will help our members navigate complex regulations; provide resources and professional help, from legal referrals to media strategy; and help connect members who can provide mutually beneficial relationships.

    Improve Health and Safety for Workers
    Our newly launched programs — like INSPIRE, which educates new performers, and Next Steps, which connects them to care — will provide the base for an expanding world of benefits, resources and tools for successful businesses.

    Fight Social Media Censorship
    With the passage of SESTA/FOSTA, even more online platforms have shut out adult businesses and workers, and social media censorship has become more dangerous. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr and other sites are increasingly important, not only to the survival of businesses, but to our ability to have our voices heard. In 2019, we will raise the stakes with major initiatives against social censorship.

    Bringing the Fight to Capitol Hill
    In 2018, we were able to work directly with the UK regulators government to limit the negative impact of the Digital Economy Act on adult performers and producers. In the US, we were able to work with legislators in Washington and Sacramento to stop bad legislation and make sure new laws didn’t harm legal businesses. In 2019, we will use that template and work aggressively with legislators and regulators shape laws before they hurt our members.

    Insurance Partnerships
    In 2018 FSC did a deep dive with a key industry members to asses the overall inflated insurance costs for adult industry businesses. Repeatedly members asked us for solutions to find less overpriced general liability insurance and other necessary insurance products for employers. In 2019 we are looking towards creating an industry focused captive insurance marketplace to solve for this problem.