A Republican state representative in Michigan has introduced a bill that would ban all online pornography in the state, including material that depicts “a disconnection between biology and gender,” therefore aiming at transgender people and drag artists.
Josh Schriver, who bills himself as “Michigan’s most conservative state representative,” introduced House Bill 4938, titled the Anticorruption of Public Morals Act, last Thursday, Detroit’s CBS affiliate reports. It has been referred to the House Judiciary Committee.
It would ban distribution of material depicting various sexual acts as well as the “depiction, description, or simulation, whether real, animated, digitally generated, written, or auditory, that includes a disconnection between biology and gender by an individual of 1 biological sex imitating, depicting, or representing himself or herself to be of the other biological sex by means of a combination of attire, cosmetology, or prosthetics, or as having a reproductive nature contrary to the individual’s biological sex,” the bill’s text reads.
There would be exceptions for “material to be used for scientific and medical research or instruction” and peer-reviewed academic content.”
Schriver told Detroit’s Fox affiliate that makers and distributors of pornography are subjecting minors to sex trafficking through their phones. Porn is “plummeting our society down the hole, it’s suicidal, it’s a cancer, and it has to be eradicated immediately,” he added.
“Right now we have a situation where you have over 90 percent of youth under the age of 18 who have seen pornography,” he continued. “It’s killing our drive, it’s killing our morality, and it’s something that has no place in Western civilization.” He said existing obscenity laws are rarely enforced.
The bill would prohibit internet platforms, other businesses, public institutions, or private citizens from distributing the banned material or making it available otherwise, and violation would be a felony, with the penalty being up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $100,000, or both. If violation involves more than 100 pieces of the banned material, the penalties would go up to 25 years, $125,000, or both. Internet providers and other commercial businesses would be subject to a civil penalty as well, consisting of a $500,000 fine.
It also would require internet service providers to block access to pornography within Michigan and update their content moderation policies and tools to prevent access to this material. And the Michigan attorney general would have to establish a special division to enforce the law.
Schriver, the bill’s lead sponsor, has five cosponsors, all Republicans: Joseph Pavlov, Matt Maddock, James DeSana, Joseph Fox, and Jennifer Wortz.
Michigan’s House has a Republican majority, but the Senate is controlled by Democrats, and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is a Democrat, so the bill’s chances of becoming law are likely slim.
Schriver can call himself “most conservative” with good reason.
In February, he was promoting a resolution calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges marriage equality decision. Jeremy Moss, Michigan’s first out gay state senator, took over Schriver’s press conference when Schriver refused to take questions, and Moss denounced the resolution.
“I think that people respect their LGBTQ neighbors, their LGBTQ family members. These marriages have been the law of the land for 10 years,” Moss said, according to Michigan Advance. “This is just another hateful and harmful attack against the LGBTQ community, and I don’t think people in Michigan are going to stand for it.” The resolution stalled in committee, and it would have been nonbinding anyway.
In July, he introduced a bill, unlikely to pass, that would allow women who receive elective abortions to be charged with homicide. In 2022, Michigan residents approved a ballot measure putting the right to reproductive health care, including abortion, into the state constitution, so if this bill became law, it would be unconstitutional.
Last year, he drew condemnation from colleagues for retweeting a graphic promoting the great replacement theory, the idea that people of color are “invading” heavily white areas and “replacing” whites. Schriver responded that he was merely showing concern about illegal immigration and that his views “are widely held by mainstream conservatives and are far from fringe or racist,” said a statement from the Michigan House Republicans. “Mainstream conservatives” cited included far-right talking head Tucker Carlson and now-Vice President JD Vance.
This article originally appeared on Advocate: Some Michigan GOPers want to outlaw online porn — plus depictions of trans people or drag
