By Anthony Wade
The towns of Alabaster and Helena in Shelby County are two of the latest municipalities in Alabama to stand against obscenity violations.
Mark May, American Family Association of Alabama (AFAA) state director, met with city officials in February after complaints surfaced about Movie Gallery, Inc. stores illegally displaying pornographic videos.
After the meeting and after a TV news team covered the issue, the Alabaster store fully complied with the state’s public display law regarding obscenity. The store covered the video jackets and placed them 5 1/2 feet or higher above ground level.
The Helena store partly complied by covering the video jackets, but they left them lower than 5 1/2 feet from the floor. The law is designed to protect people under the age of 18 from seeing obscene materials.
“Our hope was for the videos to be pulled from the shelves completely, but we are glad to see at least the compliance with state law,” said May, a member of Hunter Street Baptist Church, Hoover.
There are similar problems in Movie Gallery stores in Bessemer and likely violations across the state, he noted.
As Movie Gallery opens 250–300 new stores in the United States during 2004 the job of bringing violations to light broadens.
New store coming
An upcoming grand opening of a Movie Gallery store in the Birmingham area could bring an anti-porn campaign such as billboards, boycotts or lawful protests, May said.
Dan Ireland, executive director of Alabama Citizens Action Program (ALCAP), said, “We want to get the word out to appeal to people in the state to stand up, be counted and make a difference where they live.
“This [pornography] is detrimental to businesses and families, and I am supportive of the American Family Association and others who are active against it,” Ireland said. “It is the law in Alabama that such things are not to be easily available where young people can pick them up or easily see them.”
Ireland said a grassroots, interdenominational effort among churches in the communities of Alabama is one of the most effective ways to combat pornography.
People must be heard in a united way, he explained. Forcing stores to comply with the law by limiting the display of pornography or convincing stores to remove it from their stores benefits society and is conducive to healthier communities and family environments, Ireland said.
May said, “Movie Gallery has so many stores in the state it’s hard for us to know what’s in all the stores, but that’s the goal of our chapter — to monitor every store in the state.”
“At least four of the chain’s stores in [Tuscaloosa] rent XXX-rated and hard-core porn videos in back rooms,” said Randy Sharp, director of special programs with AFA. He said 400 of the chain’s more than 2,000 stores in the United States have “back rooms.”
Chilton Baptist Association was successful in shutting down a XXX back room at the oldest Movie Gallery in Clanton in 2000, but problems resurfaced, said Larry Felkins, Chilton Association director of missions.
Jimmy Simpler, who headed the Christian ethics and issues team in 2000, threatened a boycott within 90 days, if Movie Gallery did not close the back room and remove the videos from its store.
“They shut that room down, and everything was fine for a year or so,” Felkins said.
But some of the pornographic videos from the room began showing up again, uncovered and below the 5 1/2 foot high state obscenity display law requirement.
Felkins launched new complaints when a child looking for Barbie videos found them in a “Children’s Movies” section next to pornographic videos, including one about bunnies — Playboy Bunnies.
“That was the final straw,” Felkins said. “Nearly half the population in this county is Baptist. I will make known to them what the practices and actions of Movie Gallery are.”
Within children’s reach
In 2002 the company moved the children’s section to a different place in the store and placed covers over the pornographic tapes. Yet the pornographic tapes were still displayed below the state’s requirement of at least 5 1/2 feet high.
For several years the Dothan-based video rental chain has faced opposition to its practices regarding pornography.
Though some of what Movie Gallery rents is “pornography” it is the term “obscenity” that the law has guidelines to define and prosecute.
Because the video chain plants its stores primarily in towns of about 3,000 people its illegal practices are often obscured to limited local law enforcement. So it is up to local citizens to press law enforcement for action, May said.
Also, smaller towns and unincorporated areas are less likely to have zoning restrictions for pornography, according to Family News in Focus, a Web site of Focus on the Family.
For more information about fighting pornography in Alabama communities or to communicate local violations visit the resources section of www.thealabamabaptist.org.
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