Where did the porn go?

The reasons were many, and what I'm about to tell you is an over-simplification, but it'll give you an idea.

In the 50's and through the early-70's, the Baptist Bookstore was located just off Peachtree Street, just a little south of 14th street, and maybe three miles south of the First Baptist Church of Atlanta, the largest Baptist Church in the southeast.

But during the 60's, the hippie days, the 10th street/14th street area became the hippie district - an area in which drug dealers stood on street corners openly holding up bottles of illegal drugs and baggies of marijuana. This area became known as "Tight Squeeze", and was no longer an area that Mrs. Whitebread Middle America was willing to visit. So the Baptist Bookstore pulled out and moved to suburbia, just off the Atlanta Baptist College (now known as Mercer University) campus.

Problem was that the Southern Baptist Convention owned the building in which the Bookstore had been located. What to do? Put the building up for sale, but meanwhile, lease the space back out. The space was leased, but the Baptists discovered much to their horror that their new tenant was an adult bookstore, replete with peep shows (8mm loops), adult magazines, dildos, you name it. Their first action was to try to void the lease, but to no avail. They put up a plea for legislative/law enforcement action, but their pleas went unheeded.

Then disaster struck. The local disc jockeys discovered the Baptists' predicament, and began ridiculing the Baptists on the air. "Praise the Lord, and pass the peepshow! Yuk, yuk, yuk." That kind of stuff.

Baptists don't like being laughed at on a good day, and this was not a good day. Now they had incentive. They formed a coalition of several churches and denominations and went looking for a weak spot in Atlanta's government. They found one.

They found one Henson McAuliffe, Fulton county solicitor. It's worth pointing out that whereas the District attorney prosecutes felonies, the solicitor prosecutes misdemeanors. Atlanta rests primarily in Fulton County. Plus, Mr. McAuliffe had a past record of some high- visibility porn busts, and best of all, Mr. McAuliffe was a Baptist. So this coalition leaned on Mr. McAuliffe pretty hard. As a coalition, they formed a sizable voting bloc, and they could support either McAuliffe or his opponent come next election time. McAuliffe did what any elected official fond of his sinecure would do. He knuckled under.

What Henson had done before was to bust "I am Curious (Yellow)" and "Oh, Calcutta" at assorted theatres in Atlanta. In his first raid, the "I am Curious (Yellow)" raid, he even went so far as to have cops run to the front of the theatre and photograph the audience, so that "it could be determined whether known perverts were in the audience".

But these were high-visibility busts. These theatres were large theatres that had once played family fare. The press had been invited along. There just wasn't press coverage in busting tookie little mom-and-pop operations in a tiny little building that had once been a convenience store. The Baptists informed Mr. McAuliffe that THEY were watching, and Mr. McAuliffe did his job as dictated by the Baptists in a very scientific manner.

Like I said, the reasons were varied. These adult bookstores weren't confined to an "adult district". They were all over the place, and as gaudy, garish, and tacky as you could ever imagine. Take an average glass-fronted convenience store. On the inside of the glass, paint "XXX Adult Movies, Books, Magazines, and Novelties". Flank that with a stylized silhouette of a nude woman. Then cover it with yellow paint, then put yellow chase lights on the inside of the glass. Repeat this decor on a sign on top of a large pole in the parking lot. Put these EVERYWHERE. Shotgun 'em all over the midtown/intown area.

Then there was the matter of content. Something I personally saw in two different bookstores: On a 8mm loop - "She's only 14, and she's discovered her mother's toy box. Watch her try out all the toys." The subject matter did appear to be a young girl masturbating with assorted dildos.

And on another loop: "She's 12 years old, and she's fucking her uncle for the first time. No tits, and no hair. See the blood when he pops her cherry." The star here did in fact appear to be a 12-year-old girl.

This wasn't under the counter, know the secret handshake stuff. This was right out in the open.

Lastly was the organized crime connection. These places started out as independent small businesses. But certain alleged organized crime figures began buying them out. Mike Thevis was the porn kingpin of the southeast, headquartered in Atlanta. His competitors had a nasty habit of dying either of lead poisoning or in gasoline- fueled fires.

All the above incidental stuff had the net effect of reducing or eliminating any sympathy for the operators involved. If anyone opposed McAuliffe, they would be asked, "Do you support organized crime? Do you support the sexual exploitation of children? Do you want one of those garish yellow-fronted bookstores in YOUR neighborhood?"

McAuliffe managed to build a case against every single adult bookstore in Atlanta. Then he presented them with an option: Shut down, and I'll drop all charges. That's just what they did.