Pornography Issues Focus of Conference

Pornography and the 1st Amendment will be explored at a four-day conference beginning Thursday.

Hosted by Cal State Northridge’s Center for Sex Research and the Free Speech Coalition, a trade association of the adult entertainment industry, the World Pornography Conference will feature 18 panel discussions and workshops on pornography- and 1st Amendment-related issues.

Topics will include obscenity and court cases that shaped decency laws in the U.S., sex on the Internet, the role of women in pornography, gay porn, the history of erotic films and adult magazines and comic books, said James Elias, conference chairman and director of the CSUN center.

Participants include adult-film actors, directors and producers, 1st Amendment lawyers and researchers, Elias said.

“It has been a major undertaking to bring these people together under one roof,” Elias said. “The interaction [between participants and those attending] can be beneficial to all parties in that issues will be openly discussed, providing insights to all.”

Registration for the conference, which is open to the public, will be held from noon to 7 p.m. Thursday at the upper lobby of the Sheraton Universal Hotel, 333 Universal Terrace Parkway, Universal City. A reception will be held from 7 to 9:30 p.m. Thursday in the hotel’s Grand Ballroom.

Conference sessions will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday and 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. Sunday, with a closing ceremony from 10:30 a.m. to noon Sunday.

Registration fees are $175 for the general public and $100 for University of California and Cal State University students.

For more information, call the CSUN Center for Sex Research at (818) 677-3844.