Kat Sunlove: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 16:17, 20 March 2024

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Kat Sunlove

Free Speech Coalition

The FSC's lobbyist in Sacramento is Kilgore Rangerette aka pornographer Kat Sunlove, publisher of the politically correct Spectator, a sex weekly out of San Francisco.

In 1992, California legislators banned vending machines for pornographic publications, because they allowed anyone, including children, access to explicit material. Sunlove jumped into bed with her fellow smut peddlers and fought the case all the way to the US Supreme Court. The pornographers lost. The PTA crowd won.

"I'm delighted when people tell me they jack-off to the material in the paper," Sunlove told WIRED. "But, in all honesty, I think to myself: For a couple of more bucks, I'd probably buy a Penthouse… It's in full color, it's grand, majestic photography of these gorgeous women. We can't compete with that level of pornography."

Kilgore Rangerette starred in the Scene section of the 3-3-98 Sacramento Bee, one of California's three best newspapers. Reporter Darragh Johnson, however, was too lazy to find out her real name.

He writes:

"Kat Sunlove is mainstreaming sex. Known as the "Dear Abby of S&M," she's come to Sacramento to put a fresh face on the sex industry, complete with a wardrobe of tailored blazers and conservative earrings. A porn star turned policy wonk, she is the new Capitol lobbyist for the adult entertainment industry. This promises to be a rocky journey. Legislators are leery. Some have compared her plight with ex-convicts who agitate for their rights."

"They deserve to have a voice, but they make people uncomfortable," said Assemblyman Kevin Murray, D-Los Angeles. "No one wants a story in The Sacramento Bee that says they hung out with the porno people."

Kat Sunlove
with Dave Cummings

Johnson: "In January, Sunlove kicked off the legislative session with a reception for the legislature's power brokers. She chose the basement of Brannan's, a watering hole across L Street from the Capitol. The wood-lined walls sport vintage posters -- Reagan, Goldwater, Muskie, Nixon/Agnew. It's a cozy place. "We all go there," Murray says.

"Sunlove planned the party for a Tuesday night. She fretted over the hors d'oeuvres and got so nervous that she couldn't shake a head cold.

"In the end, it didn't matter. No one came but some staffers and a corps of family values protesters who picketed. At one point during the evening, Sunlove walked up to the bar and noticed state Sen. Steve Peace, D-El Cajon. She invited him over, but he refused."

"Not in this political lifetime," he told her. Later, he distanced himself even further.

"I think they're wrong," he says from his Capitol office. "They are so far out of the mainstream in their views. I believe legislators are driven more by personal experiences than by lobbyists or money or anything else... And this is an issue where legislators have very strong views, and they ain't gonna change them based on who's lobbying them."

Sac Bee: "The industry consists of video producers, actors, manufacturers and distributors, the exotic dancers, Internet providers, owners of juice bars and adult bookstores, and everyone in between. Sunlove thinks there is strength in those numbers. Because sex sells, she believes she's on the brink of a powerful and well-funded grass-roots pornography movement.

"She plans to start registering everyone involved in the California sex industry to vote. She talks about allying herself with the Motion Picture Association of America and cable TV and, for example, any business worried about restricted access and discriminatory taxation."

EroticaSF@oranj.com posted on RAME in mid March 1998: "…Kat Sunlove…is bright, charming and articulate and appears mainstream enough that she would not instantly intimidate the sexually phobic. In the San Francisco Bay Area sex community Spectator Magazine and Kat are greatly respected and they have helped unite and educate the community about political issues and safe sex. Because of the work of Kat and her allies, (and, of course, the well-organized and politically active gay community) politicians do not routinely tread on the rights of sexual minorities in the SF Bay Area.

"Spectator magazine and Kat have a long history of quickly responding to negative political situations, at least occasionally with significantly positive results.

"Fighting for sexual freedom is an uphill battle. It is important for everyone who believes in the rights of consenting adults to enjoy their sexuality to work together. Our enemies would love to see us get mired in interpersonal conflicts and turf battles. Let's move forward and support her efforts. Instead of debating the personal merits of Kat Sunlove, write your state senators (if you are in California) to oppose the Juice Bar Bill. The members of the Free Speech Coalition can and should consider the merits of Kat's work after she has had an opportunity to get established and prove herself."

Kat was "dismissed" as a lobbyist from FSC in Jan 2007 due to "belt tightening"

7/30/00

Yank Magazine

Free Speech Coalition Rep Accused Of Smashing Competitor's Newsracks

Kat Sunlove serves as the Free Speech Coalition's lobbyist in Sacramento, succeeding Mike Ross. She also operates "The Spectator," a long running San Francisco Bay Area sex newspaper that once employed David Aaron Clark.

According to Yank.com, a competitor to the Spectator, Sunlove and company have been vandalizing their newsracks. They've got several sources backing up their claims.

This could be another nail in the coffin for the stumbling FSC, which recently invested $13,000 in a redesigned website but any visitor to http://www.freespeechcoalition.com can tell they did not get their money's worth.

Sunlove emphatically denies the Yank.com story. Here are some excerpts from the stories on Yank.com:

See the article that caused Spectator Newspaper reps. to steal 1000’s of Yank Magazines from our newsracks. Not only were papers stolen, but a massive vandalism spree of painted out windows & sledge hammered racks ensued... Spectator Newspaper is published by a corporation whose president, Kat Sunlove, is a Free Speech lobbyist in Californias state capitol of Sacramento.

Spectator Magazine and its parent corporation Bold Type Inc. has profited mightily from the First Amendment. B.T.I. has even set up a legislative fund for it’s front person Kat Sunlove to lobby for free speech in California’s state capitol of Sacramento, yet at the very same time behind the scenes,

B.T.I. has also waged a nonstop war against Yanks 1st amendment rights. Here now is the sordid story of publisher Kat Sunlove’s Spectator newspaper and the men that hide behind her skirts, and how they have turned a blind eye to the massive assault by their representatives on Yank. Also covered, is how they have used innuendo and slander to inflame a core group of confidants with one purpose in mind, the destruction of Yank Magazine and the Bod-Father...

Yank’s expose in issue 268, on the five+ years of vandalism to our newsracks and massive theft of our newspapers by representatives of Spectator Magazine triggered an attempt by Spectator thugs to quash the story. Vandals smashed vending machines, painted out machine windows and stole 1,000’s of copies of Yank magazine all across the Bay Area. The sickening irony is that all this comes from a magazine whose publisher, Kat Sunlove, acts as a representative & lobbyist for free speech on behalf of the adult industry. The height of arrogance and hypocrisy that has been exhibited by B.T.I.’s publishing organization and it’s Executive Board makes one wonder if persons within their corporation are unhinged. WHY WOULD THE SPECTATOR - A SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA ICON OF FREE SPEECH - DO THESE ANTI FREE SPEECH ACTIONS?

Jay Moyes writes:

Dear Luke, While it's hard for me to take your site seriously, I had to take notice of this morning's article on The Spectator and Yank magazine. As a former employee of Kat Sunlove and one that assisted in repairing and installing some of the racks, I may have some input for the case.

First off, it's no secret that the sex racks are the target of constant vandilism. The Spectator itself has a reward for anyone caught attacking it's newsracks. Vandals have damaged, and even stolen entire newsracks belonging to The Spectator for over 10 years.

Second, it's also no secret that paper carriers moonlight. While my work was only for The Spectator, there was another carrier that also delivered The Sun, and other sex trade newspapers. If it's one individual responsible, that person may be trying to protect their territory. I'd speculate that a feud may be occuring, completely oblivious to Kat and the Spectator crew.

This just doesn't seem like something Kat, or Layne would do, or ask of their staff.

Luke: I've talked to people who've worked there (at The Spectator) who do believe that it is the kind of thing that Kat and company would do. And other people close to her say absolutely not. It would be totally out of character.

Sunlove told GeneRoss.com: "There is no way. We have never vandalized his racks despite his claims. Everything he says is in fact true of him. We have him on videotape almost usable in court. We took it to the police who rousted him. We have spent a lot of money trying to prove this. You have to understand that news rack distribution is a very different world. And the folks who do that work are street people. He has racks all over the Bay area as we do."

WFF

The Woodhull Freedom Foundation writes:

"Since the early 1980's Kat Sunlove has been involved in the adult entertainment industry as a journalist, educator, publisher of an adult newsmagazine, stage performer and frequent media spokesperson. Kat was featured as an "outlaw feminist" in the March 1995 issue of Penthouse Magazine. Since 1997, she has served as the Legislative Affairs Director for the Free Speech Coalition, trade association of the adult entertainment industry, lobbying both in California and in the nation’s Capital.

She writes a monthly column on political issues affecting adult entertainment for Penthouse Forum."

http://www.woodhullfoundation.org/

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Header|Kat Sunlove 03/22}}
+{{Legends | Kat Sunlove| March 2007 }}
 {{Header}}
-'''Kat Sunlove''' and '''Layne Winklebleck''' both have masters degrees, professional backgrounds and had successful careers in public service prior to entering what has become their life’s work together as advocates and activists for sexual freedom. They began their unlikely odyssey together in 1979. In the throes of a hot romance, Layne introduced Kat to the wonders and mysteries of erotic power-play, which for them brought intense sexual magic into an already magical love affair.
+;Kat Sunlove
+==Free Speech Coalition==
+The FSC's lobbyist in Sacramento is Kilgore Rangerette aka pornographer Kat Sunlove, publisher of the politically correct [[Berkeley Barb|Spectator]], a sex weekly out of San Francisco.
-At that time, Kat had just started an executive position in a San Francisco agency after leaving her position as Executive Director of a social agency in Tacoma, Washington, the last in a series of successful chapters in a career that had included political campaign work, union organizing, and a year of law school after earning her M.A. in Political Science from the University of Hawaii.
+In 1992, California legislators banned vending machines for pornographic publications, because they allowed anyone, including children, access to explicit material. Sunlove jumped into bed with her fellow smut peddlers and fought the case all the way to the US Supreme Court. The pornographers lost. The PTA crowd won.
-Layne was a Social Work educator, teaching practicum for graduate students as a member of the clinical faculty of the University of Washington School of Social Work, and teaching classroom courses as an instructor for Pacific Lutheran University. Prior to earning his M.S.W. in 1968, Layne was, for several years, a parole officer for the Oregon State Board of Parole and Probation.
+"I'm delighted when people tell me they jack-off to the material in the paper," Sunlove told WIRED. "But, in all honesty, I think to myself: For a couple of more bucks, I'd probably buy a Penthouse… It's in full color, it's grand, majestic photography of these gorgeous women. We can't compete with that level of pornography."
-Kat and Layne burned professional career bridges when they chose new directions as sex revolutionaries, and they also paid some costs with friends and relations. However, they believed and continue to believe, simply, that the creation of a more loving world requires erotic freedom.
+Kilgore Rangerette starred in the Scene section of the 3-3-98 Sacramento Bee, one of California's three best newspapers. Reporter Darragh Johnson, however, was too lazy to find out her real name.
-In the meantime, they were also having a lot of fun. The couple conducted workshops called “S/M for Loving Couples�?; Kat, in her alter-ego as Mistress Kat, wrote a popular advice column for Spectator Magazine called the Kat Box; they volunteered for TV talk shows; they partied and played and in general raised quite a ruckus by being open and available around a previously taboo subject. Living on savings, they made a serious effort to mount a mainstream theatrical production on erotic female dominance, which in the end, despite much support, was a little too risky for investors so that it never made it to the stage.
+He writes:
-Eventually, they got jobs working for Spectator Magazine, where Layne became Distribution Manager and Kat became Display Ads Manager. Together they helped grow the magazine, until, in 1987, the then employees of the magazine had a chance to buy ownership of it, which they did. Kat and Layne moved into positions of leadership as Board Directors of the new corporation, with Kat, in due time, taking on the position of CEO and Layne gradually delegating his responsibilities in distribution (stores and newsracks) in order to become Editor in Chief. In its heyday in the mid-Nineties, Spectator, a weekly magazine, had 12 full-time employees, numerous part-time route drivers, and grosses of over a million dollars.
+"Kat Sunlove is mainstreaming sex. Known as the "Dear Abby of S&M," she's come to Sacramento to put a fresh face on the sex industry, complete with a wardrobe of tailored blazers and conservative earrings. A porn star turned policy wonk, she is the new Capitol lobbyist for the adult entertainment industry. This promises to be a rocky journey. Legislators are leery. Some have compared her plight with ex-convicts who agitate for their rights."
-Looking back, Kat and Layne can see that they did indeed help the cause of sexual freedom as they shepherded Spectator Magazine through the Eighties and Nineties.  Spectator was for many years the primary interface between sex communities and the mainstream public in the Bay Area. The magazine earned the respect of many of the sexual communities, helped provide a voice for sexual minorities, played a part in the empowerment of sexworkers and participated in the often vibrant discourses of the radical sex communities.
+"They [[deserve]] to have a voice, but they make people uncomfortable," said Assemblyman Kevin Murray, D-Los Angeles. "No one wants a story in The Sacramento Bee that says they hung out with the porno people."
+[[Image:Kat-01.jpg|right|thumb|{{C|Kat Sunlove<br>with [[Dave Cummings]]}}]]
+Johnson: "In January, Sunlove kicked off the legislative session with a reception for the legislature's power brokers. She chose the basement of Brannan's, a watering hole across L Street from the Capitol. The wood-lined walls sport vintage posters -- Reagan, Goldwater, Muskie, Nixon/Agnew. It's a cozy place. "We all go there," Murray says.
-In short, the magazine was a player in the evolution of the wonderful tolerance for sexual diversity that exists today in San Francisco.  Best of all, because the world looks to that famed Babylon by the Bay city for models of sexual freedom, Kat and Layne, along with other Spectator staff and all the magazine’s contributors and supporters can rightly claim to have helped carry an important message to the world.
+"Sunlove planned the party for a Tuesday night. She fretted over the hors d'oeuvres and got so nervous that she couldn't shake a head cold.
-Spectator Magazine had a good run for many years but competition from the Internet and legal issues made the magazine increasingly less economically viable. Kat and Layne sold their interest in the magazine in 2001, at which point Kat had already been working for several years as lobbyist for the Free Speech Coalition, a role that grew naturally out of her work spearheading legal battles and advocating in the California Legislature on behalf of issues championed by Spectator Magazine. She was initially a contract lobbyist, but in time, Kat joined the staff of the Free Speech Coalition (FSC) and later became the Legislative Affairs Director for FSC.
+"In the end, it didn't matter. No one came but some staffers and a corps of family values protesters who picketed. At one point during the evening, Sunlove walked up to the bar and noticed state Sen. Steve Peace, D-El Cajon. She invited him over, but he refused."
-Kat flourished in the world of politics. She successfully forged excellent relationships in the California Legislature for the politically risky adult entertainment industry. She helped defeat numerous censorious bills, including a “porn tax," as well as an overly broad re-definition of obscenity and certain content-based regulatory schemes. She frequently educated legislators and staff on the distinctions between obscenity and child pornography. She got introduced and passed into law a small business bill in 2004 (AB1894 – Longville), with support from the CA Chamber of Commerce, among others -- a previously unheard of accomplishment for a bill promoted by the adult industry.
+"Not in this political lifetime," he told her. Later, he distanced himself even further.
-Each year Kat conducted a popular and effective “Celebrate Free Speech Lobbying Days" event in which industry performers, academics and others learned to be citizen lobbyists on behalf of the adult entertainment industry at the same time that legislative staff and members learned about the industry and about the economic benefits brought to the state by the adult industry. In 2005, when the FSC Executive Director was fired for misusing funds, Kat stepped in as acting ED, commuting back and forth from L.A. to home near Sacramento for almost a year in order to salvage the situation.
+"I think they're wrong," he says from his Capitol office. "They are so far out of the mainstream in their views. I believe legislators are driven more by personal experiences than by lobbyists or money or anything else... And this is an issue where legislators have very strong views, and they ain't gonna change them based on who's lobbying them."
-In the meantime, Layne had also joined the FSC team as Kat’s associate and to research and edit a weekly newsletter as well as a quarterly “Free Speaker" magazine.
+Sac Bee: "The industry consists of video producers, actors, manufacturers and distributors, the exotic dancers, Internet providers, owners of juice bars and adult bookstores, and everyone in between. Sunlove thinks there is strength in those numbers. Because sex sells, she believes she's on the brink of a powerful and well-funded grass-roots pornography movement.
-Kat and Layne formed many strong and good relationships with friends throughout the sex communities and the adult entertainment industry during their many years at Spectator and Free Speech Coalition. They also learned that the adult entertainment world, like any other field of endeavor, has its share of fools, jokers, intrigue and infighting. They were laid-off from FSC in an unfriendly, surprise move that left them shaking their heads. However, they came away with honor intact and optimism for the future.
+"She plans to start registering everyone involved in the California sex industry to vote. She talks about allying herself with the Motion Picture Association of America and cable TV and, for example, any business worried about restricted access and discriminatory taxation."
-The couple currently lives in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains with their dogs Emmy and Whoopie, and their cats Vincent and Lucky.
+EroticaSF@oranj.com posted on RAME in mid March 1998: "…Kat Sunlove…is bright, charming and articulate and appears mainstream enough that she would not instantly intimidate the sexually phobic. In the San Francisco Bay Area sex community Spectator Magazine and Kat are greatly respected and they have helped unite and educate the community about political issues and safe sex. Because of the work of Kat and her allies, (and, of course, the well-organized and politically active gay community) politicians do not routinely tread on the rights of sexual minorities in the SF Bay Area.
-{{F0704}}
+"Spectator magazine and Kat have a long history of quickly responding to negative political situations, at least occasionally with significantly positive results.
+"Fighting for sexual freedom is an uphill battle. It is important for everyone who believes in the rights of consenting adults to enjoy their sexuality to work together. Our enemies would love to see us get mired in interpersonal conflicts and turf battles. Let's move forward and support her efforts. Instead of debating the personal merits of Kat Sunlove, write your state senators (if you are in California) to oppose the Juice Bar Bill. The members of the [[Free Speech Coalition]] can and should consider the merits of Kat's work after she has had an opportunity to get established and prove herself."
+Kat was [[YNOT-01|"dismissed"]] as a lobbyist from FSC in Jan 2007 due to "belt tightening"
+/30/00
+==Yank Magazine==
+;Free Speech Coalition Rep Accused Of Smashing Competitor's Newsracks
+Kat Sunlove serves as the Free Speech Coalition's lobbyist in Sacramento, succeeding Mike Ross. She also operates "[[Berkeley Barb|The Spectator]]," a long running San Francisco Bay Area sex newspaper that once employed David Aaron Clark.
+According to Yank.com, a competitor to the Spectator, Sunlove and company have been vandalizing their newsracks. They've got several sources backing up their claims.
+This could be another nail in the coffin for the stumbling FSC, which recently invested $13,000 in a redesigned website but any visitor to http://www.freespeechcoalition.com can tell they did not get their money's worth.
+Sunlove emphatically denies the Yank.com story. Here are some excerpts from the stories on Yank.com:
+See the article that caused Spectator Newspaper reps. to steal 1000’s of Yank Magazines from our newsracks. Not only were papers stolen, but a massive vandalism spree of painted out windows & sledge hammered racks ensued... Spectator Newspaper is published by a corporation whose president, Kat Sunlove, is a Free Speech lobbyist in Californias state capitol of Sacramento.
+Spectator Magazine and its parent corporation Bold Type Inc. has profited mightily from the First Amendment. B.T.I. has even set up a legislative fund for it’s front person Kat Sunlove to lobby for free speech in California’s state capitol of Sacramento, yet at the very same time behind the scenes,
+B.T.I. has also waged a nonstop war against Yanks 1st amendment rights. Here now is the sordid story of publisher Kat Sunlove’s Spectator newspaper and the men that hide behind her skirts, and how they have turned a blind eye to the massive assault by their representatives on Yank. Also covered, is how they have used innuendo and slander to inflame a core group of confidants with one purpose in mind, the destruction of Yank Magazine and the Bod-Father...
+Yank’s expose in issue 268, on the five+ years of vandalism to our newsracks and massive theft of our newspapers by representatives of Spectator Magazine triggered an attempt by Spectator thugs to quash the story. Vandals smashed vending machines, painted out machine windows and stole 1,000’s of copies of Yank magazine all across the Bay Area. The sickening irony is that all this comes from a magazine whose publisher, Kat Sunlove, acts as a representative & lobbyist for free speech on behalf of the adult industry. The height of arrogance and hypocrisy that has been exhibited by B.T.I.’s publishing organization and it’s Executive Board makes one wonder if persons within their corporation are unhinged. WHY WOULD THE SPECTATOR - A SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA ICON OF FREE SPEECH - DO THESE ANTI FREE SPEECH ACTIONS?
+Jay Moyes writes:
+:Dear Luke, While it's hard for me to take your site seriously, I had to take notice of this morning's article on [[Berkeley Barb|The Spectator]] and Yank magazine. As a former employee of Kat Sunlove and one that assisted in repairing and installing some of the racks, I may have some input for the case.
+First off, it's no secret that the sex racks are the target of constant vandilism. The Spectator itself has a reward for anyone caught attacking it's newsracks. Vandals have damaged, and even stolen entire newsracks belonging to The Spectator for over 10 years.
+Second, it's also no secret that paper carriers moonlight. While my work was only for The Spectator, there was another carrier that also delivered The Sun, and other sex trade newspapers. If it's one individual responsible, that person may be trying to protect their territory. I'd speculate that a feud may be occuring, completely oblivious to Kat and the Spectator crew.
+This just doesn't seem like something Kat, or Layne would do, or ask of their staff.
+Luke: I've talked to people who've worked there (at The Spectator) who do believe that it is the kind of thing that Kat and company would do. And other people close to her say absolutely not. It would be totally out of character.
+Sunlove told GeneRoss.com: "There is no way. We have never vandalized his racks despite his claims. Everything he says is in fact true of him. We have him on videotape almost usable in court. We took it to the police who rousted him. We have spent a lot of money trying to prove this. You have to understand that news rack distribution is a very different world. And the folks who do that work are street people. He has racks all over the Bay area as we do."
+==WFF==
+;[[The Woodhull Freedom Foundation]] writes{{col}}
+"Since the early 1980's Kat Sunlove has been involved in the adult entertainment industry as a journalist, educator, publisher of an adult newsmagazine, stage performer and frequent media spokesperson. Kat was featured as an "outlaw feminist" in the March 1995 issue of [[Penthouse Magazine]]. Since 1997, she has served as the Legislative Affairs Director for the Free Speech Coalition, trade association of the adult entertainment industry, lobbying both in California and in the nation’s Capital.
+She writes a monthly column on political issues affecting adult entertainment for Penthouse Forum."
+http://www.woodhullfoundation.org/
+==See also==
+*[[Bad Kat comes to K Street]]
+*[[Fabulous at Fifty]]
+*[[Free Speech Coalition]]
+*[[FSC speaks out on Janet Jackson and the Superbowl]]
+*[[Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition]]
+*[[Kat and Layne]]
+{{footer}}{{Doms|Sunlove, Kat}}

Kat Sunlove: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 16:17, 20 March 2024

Free Speech Coalition

Yank Magazine

WFF

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