C_A_A_N's profile . C_A_A_N's homepage . C_A_A_N group posts
 |
| C_A_A_N |
Bound, gagged – and getting angry
Campaigners fed up with the Government's increasingly puritanical attitudes toward sex, will be out in force next week, as fashion photographer, Ben Westwood, takes a chain of slaves for a walk in central London.
The “chain gang” will include models and activists from the Consenting Adult Action Network (CAAN) and all, apart from Ben, will be bound and gagged in a visual protest against recent government legislation restricting adults' sexual choices.
Ben Westwood believes the time for action is long overdue. He said: “Government gets away with murder when it comes to “legislating about our sexual behaviour, because we are a strait-laced nation and far too many of us are embarrassed talking about sex.
A spokesperson for CAAN added: “Our campaign is not just about individual sexuality: it is also about people's livelihoods. Over the last ten years, government has been intruding ever more actively into what adults may or may not do with other consenting adults in the privacy of their own bedrooms.
“Recent legislation on extreme porn is just one instance of that. Far more serious are new laws that mean half the workforce could be fired simply for having sexual tastes that are unacceptable to the prudes in power.
“We say: enough is enough. The fact that Harriet Harman finds something uncomfortable or “icky” is no reason for clamping down on personal freedom.”
If you would like to follow this demonstration, you are invited to join it at its assembly point at 12.40, Tueesday 21 October at Westminster Tube Station.
Who we are - Why we're fighting
CAAN - Consenting Adult Action Network - is a loose-knit network of groups and individuals who believe in the right of adults to express themselves sexually with other adults, without interference from government.
We run campaigns on issues as they arise. Not every supporter of CAAN agrees with every campaign we run. We ask only that supporters sign up to a simple statement of principle:
"We believe in the right of consenting adults to make their own sexual choices, in respect of what they do, see and enjoy alone or with other consenting adults, unhindered and unfettered by government."
"We believe that it is not the business of government to intrude into the sex lives of consenting adults."
We are aware that no matter how we draft such a statement, there will be dissent: for example, we believe there is debate to be had on the issue of "harm"; but equally, a society that tolerates two grown men beating each other up in the confines of a boxing ring is not well placed to lecture adults on a shared interest in sado-masochistic sex.
Outwardly, the UK is more open, more sexually liberated than ever before. Behind the headlines lies another story: ten years of government progressively clamping down and criminalising behaviour that harms no-one, but offends the sensibilities of Ministers who are still uncomfortable talking about real sexual activity.
Our aim is to create a counterbalance to the current "moral majority" in government.
The Issues
Over the past ten years, Government has been passing more and more laws. One consistent theme to this non-stop stream of law-making has been an obsession with tightening up rules that are intended to micro-manage our sexual activity.
These include:
- criminalising the possession of images depicting perfectly legal sexual activity;
- putting in place a "Committee of Public Safety" whose job it will be to vet nearly half the workforce - and remove them from their jobs if they possess any porn that is "sexual and violent in nature"
- proposing to make it a criminal offence for an adult to pay for sex
- clamping down on lap-dancing and other erotic displays
Each of these proposals, in isolation, represents a serious erosion of personal liberty for no better reason than the government are uncomfortable with the activity involved. Taken together, and in combination with a great deal more government tinkering in this area, they begin to look like a serious attempt to return the UK to a "Golden Era" of sex-free purity.
Edited Sat 25 Oct 08, 12:06 PM by C_A_A_N
| 15 Oct 08, 4:55 PM C_A_A_N UK, 4 yrs |
details of the stunt we are supporting have just been released to the press - something a lot like the above was released this afternoon. Please note the time and meeting point mentioned is for us to collect any press, CAAN are meeting at 12:00 and the location is to be announced, so let us know if you are coming with CAAN and keep your eye on our action notice threads for the final details when they are available. Better still, get in touch and let us know you are coming. Sign up to our statement of principles for the freedom of consenting adults to express themselves!
http://www.caan.org.uk/sign.php |
| 15 Oct 08, 4:56 PM LadyRed UK, 9 yrs |
But can he get his mum on board to help too? sorry I am a big Viv W fan  Honestly, if I wanted your opinion, I would remove the duct tape |
