Hustler's Larry Flynt defends First Amendment in UNC speech

Larry Flynt loves women, loves pornography and loves his job.

Flynt, free speech activist and publisher of Hustler — a hardcore pornographic magazine — was witty and opinionated when he spoke Thursday night to a packed Great Hall in the Student Union on the value of the First Amendment. He was invited for the UNC First Amendment Law Review’s two-day symposium.

But Flynt said he didn’t even know the First Amendment applied to him when he began working in adult entertainment. That has definitely changed.

Flynt’s history with the First Amendment includes the famed U.S. Supreme Court case, Hustler Magazine, Inc. v. Falwell, in which Baptist minister Jerry Falwell sued Flynt for libel after Hustler published fake quotes insinuating Falwell had engaged in drunken sexual relations with his mother in an outhouse.

Flynt won the case, and since then he said he has sought to expand the parameters of free speech.

“Everybody seems to have to qualify their feeling about speech,” Flynt said. People want free speech, he said, until someone mentions something offensive like flag burning or pornography.

As part of a muted protest, members of Feminist Students United distributed fake programs before the event that included a list of his movies and a transcript of an explicit scene from the film “Gag Factor.”

Flynt ended his half-hour, politically charged speech with one thought.

“The greatest right that any nation can afford its people is the right to be left alone,” Flynt said.

While some might have expected Flynt’s speech to be derogatory toward women, his comments primarily targeted the government.

When a mediator referenced one of Flynt’s latest videos titled “Obama Is Nailin’ Palin,” he responded, “Yeah, no one’s sacred.”

Flynt dismissed accusations that his products exploit women.

“That’s like saying ‘Sports Illustrated’ exploits sports,” he said.

The majority of the audience laughed and applauded in response to Flynt’s remarks.

“He paid a high price for your freedom and mine,” said Diane Duke, executive director of the Free Speech Coalition, a trade association for the adult entertainment industry.

But not everyone thought the speech was fulfilling.

UNC alumnus Tim Halpin said he thought the speech and Flynt’s answers to questions were shallow.

“They were trying to keep it too civil,” he said.



Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.