Taxpayers foot bill for porn movie workshop

A PORN star has been handed cash to present a seminar on making sleazy films in Scotland.

Erotica producer Vex Ashley will host the X-rated movie workshop at a publicly funded arts festival later this month.

The event, which takes place at the Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA) in Glasgow, is part of the Scottish Queer International Film Festival.

But campaigners and politicians have reacted angrily to the show and said the project should not be paid for by the public purse, after it was reported the festival was being funded with £31,512 by the National Lottery through the Creative Scotland Open Funding Project.

Labour MSP Rhoda Grant, who has backed calls for tighter controls on pornography, said: ‘There are very clear lines about what is pornography and what can be artistic.

‘I’m a little puzzled as to why Creative Scotland is funding this. If the Government is clear that sexual exploitation and pornography are linked to violence against women, why is the public purse funding it?

‘People are really concerned about pornography. We need to create an equal society where people learn about maintaining normal relationships respectfully.

‘If this was something being done commercially, there would still be something wrong about it. But there is something very wrong about the public purse funding something like this.’

Miss Ashley, 26, from Leeds, who set up her own porn film-making company three years ago, finances herself through crowd-funding and claims to give her actors ‘total freedom’ in their scenes. She once claimed there was little difference between porn stars and ballet dancers.

The Scottish Coalition Against Sexual Exploitation said it had concerns about pornography being normalised. A spokesman said: ‘There is also a need to look at discussing the boundaries between erotica, which is acceptable, and pornography, which is not.

‘The main concern is making sure that young people or vulnerable people are properly informed about the nature of pornography and that it’s not seen as something that is harmless, because in our experience it’s not. It’s a form of violence against women and contributes to it.’

Creative Scotland said it backed the festival but did not choose the content. A spokesman said: ‘Creative Scotland supports the festival’s purpose and ethos and, as with every organisation we fund, we do not get involved in programming decisions.’

A spokesman for the Scottish Queer International Film Festival said: ‘Vex is part of the new wave of young women who are making fun, empowering and accessible erotic films for female audiences, far removed from the potentially exploitative practices of the mainstream porn industry.’

‘There is something very wrong’