Town Is Torn Asunder by Porn War : Protests: Mormons from neighboring Utah bus in to harass customers of adult bookstore. Meanwhile, Mesquite ponders its zoning laws.

A sudden thunderstorm broke the midday desert heat as the semi turned off Interstate 15 and headed toward the Pure Pleasure Adult Book Store.

Waiting and watching were Rebecca Hartley and a handful of others, just as they’ve done day and night for nearly two years.

On this summer day, they were the front-line soldiers in a battle pitting the mostly Mormon residents of nearby southern Utah against a pornography shop operator in this booming casino stop.

“Truck, truck, we’ve got a truck,” Hartley yelled.

Ignoring the rain, the protesters sprang into action. Most ran after the truck, waving signs at the driver. One wrote down the truck’s license number on a thick log filled with the numbers of previous visitors.

“You’re sick,” one protester yelled as the man, head down, quickly strode into the adult bookstore.

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Casinos may be welcome in this former farming town 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas, where travelers on the interstate are lured in for a drink or to gamble.

But just up the street from the Virgin River casino, a group of protesters has drawn the line at the Pure Pleasure, where customers can rent X-rated videotapes, browse through adult magazines or choose from a variety of sexual aids.

“Everybody makes their choice, and this one is ours,” said Hartley, a protest organizer.

Almost from the day the store opened in October, 1993, it has been the scene of an ongoing battle of wills between the protesters and an equally determined owner who vows to keep his shop open on the fringe of this desert town.

In a state that prides itself on individual liberties, the battle is being waged mostly by residents of neighboring Utah, who sign up at their local Mormon wards, or churches, to man picket lines in four-hour shifts.

“Our ward is responsible for eight hours today so that’s why we’re out here,” said Kris Seely, who traveled from Santa Clara, Utah, to spend four hours protesting on a recent afternoon.

Seely, a mother of five and visibly pregnant, sat outside a small wood-frame shed next to the bookstore that serves as protest headquarters. She and several others had traveled 30 miles through three states in a van to take their turn on the line.

“I just felt like it was finally my turn,” she said. “It’s scary, being a mother and seeing how young some of the people are coming in here.”

The trucker appeared to be the only serious customer during Seely’s shift, however.

Inside the cream-colored brick building, burly store clerk David Miller read a book to pass the time.

“They might scare off a few people, but most of those who come here have got their minds made up,” said Miller, who added that no one under 18 is admitted to the store. “If we get those new video booths, that will liven it up a bit around here.”

Surrounded by the latest in porno paraphernalia, Miller--”everyone knows me as Bubba”--puffed on a cigarette as he kept a wary eye on the protesters through a small store window.

A few weeks earlier, Miller had Hartley cited for trespassing over a red line painted across the store’s parking lot entrance. One recent weekend, store owner Gary Enea was arrested after allegedly screaming obscenities at the protesters.

“They should stay in their own little state,” Miller said. “I guess they think they’re doing right.”

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As Miller rang up the sale of a magazine and sexual aids to the trucker, who had been browsing for about a half-hour, a van pulled up outside and unloaded another handful of protesters.

It was 3 p.m. and the relief shift had arrived for its four-hour stint. Those sitting in the shade got in another vehicle and drove off, their work done.

“We’ve had 6,000 people here since this began,” said Hartley, a Bunkerville retiree who founded the HOME--Help Our Moral Environment--committee. “Sometimes you have two people, sometimes we have 14 or 15. We never know how many are going to be here.”

Hartley, a non-Mormon, bristles at those who try to paint her mission as a church battle.

“At times, everyone here might be Mormon,” Hartley said. “But this isn’t a church issue. These people are making it that because they don’t want you talking about moral issues.”

Mormon officials in Salt Lake City also reject claims that the church is engaged in an organized effort to close down the bookstore. But church spokesman Don LeFevre said members are encouraged to oppose things the church considers wrong.

“The church’s position in opposition to pornography is very clear,” LeFevre said.

“The church encourages its members to do all they can to oppose pornography and other societal ills.”

Enea, who operates three other adult stores in the Las Vegas area, said he was prepared for protests when he opened the Mesquite shop, but admits he has been surprised at the breadth of the opposition.

“This type of business does not necessarily get immediate good will,” Enea said. “But I didn’t anticipate the viciousness.”

Enea has other problems to worry about, even without the protesters.

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His stores in Las Vegas have been under bankruptcy protection, and a federal judge is considering arguments from the city of Mesquite to force the store to move because of zoning regulations.

The standoff, meanwhile, shows no sign of abating.

“We’re just here until they’re not,” Hartley said of the group’s plans to keep the protest alive.

And how long does Enea plan to keep his store open?

“Until hell freezes over,” he said. “Longer if necessary.”