Larry Flynt: The Right to be Left Alone

[gonzo]

ANN ARBOR - He's best known as a publisher of pornography. But Larry Flynt also knows a thing or two about freedom of speech.

Flynt, who made his name publishing Hustler magazine, spoke to a crowd of about 100 people last Saturday at the University of Michigan Law School. He was in town for the Ann Arbor Film Festival screening of a new documentary about his life, "Larry Flynt: The Right to be Left Alone."

Flynt, who uses a wheelchair because he was shot and partially paralyzed in 1978, opened his speech decrying the "dismantling" of the Constitution by the Bush administration after the Sept. 11 attacks, including through domestic surveillance and asserting the right to ignore habeas corpus - the need to show evidence to keep someone in jail - in certain cases.

"In the wake of 9/11, government (did) what they always do, they try to scare you..." said Flynt, who also gained notoriety through several well-publicized prosecutions and lawsuits.

Speaking more directly about First Amendment issues, Flynt said everyone has their own idea of what free speech does or doesn't include. He said hate speech, pornography and flag burning are examples of where many people draw the line.

"My position is, you can scream 'fire' in a crowded theater," Flynt said. "If someone gets hurt because of that, that's what you'll get prosecuted for."

Flynt also said that in American society, it's permissible to print a photo of a decapitated, mutilated body, but not of two people having sex.

"It says we condone violence and condemn sex," Flynt said.

Flynt blamed "radical feminists" for the failure to ratify the Equal Rights Amendment in the 1970s.

"I just have a problem with the feminist movement, and I wanted to ventilate a few minutes," Flynt said.

Alluding to the title of the new documentary about his life, Flynt said: "The greatest right any nation can afford its people is the right to be left alone."

In response to questions from the audience, Flynt said:

• He "abhors" hate speech but doesn't think it should be banned.

• The age of consent for having sex should be standardized, probably at 16 or 17 years old.

• His purpose in offering money for information about sexual indiscretions of politicians is to expose their hypocrisy, not their sex lives.

• There's no evidence that pornography harms anyone.

• Prostitution should be legalized.

Joan Brooker-Marks, who made the new documentary about Flynt and accompanied him to the speech, said afterward that she made the movie because of Flynt's significance to First Amendment issues.

"What a wonderful opportunity to explore the issue with such a visible and important man," Brooker-Marks said.

Law student Troy Flake said he came to the speech because of his interest in freedom of speech issues. But he questioned Flynt's assertion that there's no evidence pornography hurts anyone.

"My personal belief is that pornography is destructive," Flake said. He cited a 2005 Congressional report on Internet pornography as evidence.

Anya Pavlov-Shapiro, co-chair of the Law School Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, said the organization invited Flynt to speak in part because he raises free speech issues that aren't easy.

"Free speech (isn't) about the things which make everybody happy," Pavlov-Shapiro said. "You talk about free speech for the things that (make) people unhappy."