Minnesota County declares war on hotel porn movies

WASHINGTON - The Winona County Commissioners, Minnesota, has banned any of its workers from staying at hotels that offer adult movies in its new “clean hotel” policy.

The commissioners said pornography leads to sexual and domestic violence and that they hope to pressure hotels to drop these services.

“I think it just sends a message that no this it’s OK,” ABC News quoted Commissioner Mena R. Kaehler as saying.

“The way you send a message to businesses is through their bottom dollar,” Kaehler stated.

Kaehler said hotels often offer violent porn that can lead to sexual assaults, as it desensitises people.

“This new rule is just a small step in getting the conversation started,” she said.

Winona County employs 334 people but officials were unable to say how many nights those workers spent in hotels last year.

The new policy would not apply to hotels hosting conferences or cases when porn-free hotels cost at least 15 percent more than alternative hotels that offer adult programming.

The county’s move follows an unsuccessful push in the Minnesota legislature to pass a similar law for all state workers, also sold as an effort at “reducing sexual violence in our society”.

“I think this is a little overreaching,” Joe McInerney, president and CEO of the American Hotel and Lodging Association, said of the Winona County policy.

“If they don’t want to see adult movies they can ask the hotel to switch those off. It’s a choice of the guest,” he stated. (ANI)