When meeting with legislative staff at the state or local levels, looks of disappointment are not unfamiliar to Diane Duke. After all, the staff is meeting with a representative of the adult entertainment industry and they are expecting on-screen talent to show up. Instead they get Duke, who conceded that she looks like someone’s mother. In their defense, the staff people are well aware of the industry Duke speaks on behalf of as the executive director of the Free Speech Coalition and are helpful as far as the bureaucratic process goes. “We always have respectful conversations,” Duke said. As the main trade organization for adult businesses, the Free Speech Coalition represents production companies, retail outlets, distributors and webmasters throughout the world from its offices in Canoga Park. Duke oversees a staff of five plus contract lobbyists in Sacramento and Washington, D.C. An outsider to the industry when she was hired in November 2006, Duke brings to the position 25 years of experience with non-profits and a passion for protecting individual rights from government intrusion. Duke compares the FSC to a chamber of commerce and her role to that of industry watchdog. They also provide resources for members to help them make sound business decisions about on-set safety, insurance coverage and dealing with government regulations. Of late, Duke had led the opposition to proposed legislation from Assemblyman Charles Calderon to impose a 25 percent tax on adult products and services. Q: What is the status of the tax bill (AB2914)? A: It’s still in the [revenue and taxation] committee and it’s in suspense. The next place it would go is the appropriations committee. Our goal is to keep it from getting out of that committee. It is not really a viable alternative. It is unconstitutional; it is not going to be effective. Q: Is that because the bill is limited just to your industry? A: It’s the one industry and it’s about speech, too. There are a number of frustrations that I have. As a taxpayer there is good work to be done out there and the committee is wasting our time to propose laws we know are unconstitutional. I am frustrated because (Calderon) is making allegations and telling lies about our industry. We work hard to be good citizens and are not recognized for that and it’s frustrating. Q: You have been with the coalition for over a year now. Have there been challenges that you were not expecting? A: All of them. What’s true is there is a group of people working actively against our industry. We are the trade association so we are really the business side of the industry. As a trade association we work on the legislative side. When I came in everyone said you cannot organize this industry. One person will not ever be able to organize this industry but they are solid business people and they understand the challenges to their business. We’ve been able to provide them with access to workers comp. We’ve been working to provide them with medical benefits. OSHA is interested in our industry so we are working to make sure that every producer is able to have a worker safety program for every production. Piracy is an issue we are dealing with. Technology is moving us ahead, moving the way people access information and entertainment on the computer. It challenges our whole system. What we are working on is providing as much information as possible. We are providing educational opportunities for our members. We are teaching them how to copyright their content. We are teaching people how to find out if their material is being pirated. Q: Before joining the FSC what was your impressions of the adult industry? A: In my undergraduate work I did a term paper on lesbian pornography for a feminist theory class and it introduced me to pornography from a different angle. Especially the idea that instead of exploiting women how it empowered them. So I had a little bit of that beforehand but I still had preconceived ideas as well. I had my list of questions so when I came in for the interview I said, ‘Talk to me about all the accusations about child pornography. I have two children and to me that is completely unacceptable.’ What I came to understand very quickly is it is unacceptable to the adult entertainment industry. We are the best at keeping kids out of our movies. We are also very, very good at working to keep kids from accessing our movies as well. It’s been a real learning experience for me. Now I see my role as telling the truth about the industry. Q: Hedge fund AdultVest has gotten press of late for investing in adult entertainment. Do you think the industry will change with outside investors. A: They [AdultVest] are not the only one but they are doing more. The industry has already changed. We are much more sophisticated. We have employee benefits; we have living wage jobs. Topco is a great company. They are right down on DeSoto [in Chatsworth] and they manufacture adult novelties. They have a wonderful lunch room for [their employees]. We had a board meeting at Wicked [Pictures] and they have an incredible set-up for their employees there. It is a really supportive environment for people; it’s family friendly. People with kids have a lot more flexible schedules. You are not going to see as much of the corporate mindset. But as the industry gets more diversified as far as who owns I think we are seeing mergers happening. A lot of the smaller companies are being bought out by the larger companies. Because of outside investors and what is happening with technology our industry is changing drastically. Change is always hard for any industry but ours has always been the best one to adapt and change. Q: Hasn’t adult been ahead of the curve in some ways when adapting to change? A: In a lot of areas we definitely are. In piracy I think we held back; we haven’t been as aggressive with piracy as the record industry and motion picture industry although some of our members have gone aggressively after pirates. We are at the table now. Q: Is there a typical day as executive director? A: There really isn’t. I talk to members quite a bit. I talk to the media quite a bit. I do a lot more writing in this job than I did in the past. I write articles for different industry publications. Again, any time I can tell the truth about the industry I try to figure out ways to do that. I work with our lobbyists quite a bit. Q: Can you describe the industry ‘best practices’ document the coalition is working on? A: I also work with the [FSC] board quite a bit and this is a board-generated document. But it is a document we will bring to our members and then to the industry for feedback. Basically it is a code of ethics, similar to any other business code of ethics. It deals with how to treat employees; to how to make sure you to prevent kids from accessing materials. Q: This is something you hope the members will abide by? A: This is something that we will ask the members to buy into, to provide input for before we draft the final version. Then it will be something that we as an organization will encourage our members to follow. SNAPSHOT: Diane Duke Title: Executive Director, Free Speech Coalition Age: 47 Education: MBA, University of Oregon; B.A., Sociology, University of Oregon Most Admired People: I have always been an admirer of Jefferson, Madison and our forefathers who authored the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, documents that have provided the foundation for protecting our rights and freedom for generations. Career Turning Point: Each step in my career has brought significant change–from the YMCA to the Heart Association to Planned Parenthood. But, accepting my position at Free Speech Coalition has been the most significant. Not only did I move from working regionally to nationally, but I am also leading an organization that is on the front lines of protecting civil liberties. Personal: I live with my partner in Woodland Hills; I have two grown sons and two dogs.
