Note, Mayor Mike Rawlings is a Democrat, Gates is a Republican..
Today, the Dallas City Council will vote on Mayor Mike Rawlings’ resolution to ban Exxxotica, the traveling porn expo, from returning for a second year to the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center. In the event that fails, council member Jennifer Gates is prepared with an alternate resolution that says the council at least condemns the event.
“Elements of the adult entertainment industry [have] a detrimental effect on the community [and] promote and encourage the objectification of women,” says the alternative sent to the council Monday night. As such, it continues, the council “believes this event contributes to the degradation and victimization of women” and “does not condone or support the adult entertainment industry.”
Gates, chair of the city’s Domestic Violence Taskforce, told The Dallas Morning News late last week she might support Rawlings’ resolution because “I don’t like them being here” — them being porn stars selling DVDs and autographs, for starters. But she also said at the time she would likely present an alternative that would “acknowledge the council’s displeasure” at having Exxxotica on city-owned property. This is that resolution.
Rawlings said Friday he would consider Gates’ resolution if his fails, but “I put the resolution [to ban] on the agenda, and will support that” first and foremost. And he will do so with the backing of one of downtown’s largest property owners, billionaire oilman Ray Hunt, whose holdings include the 1,120-room Hyatt Regency Dallas a few blocks from the convention center and the city-owned Omni Hotel.
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