- E.S.
- State Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles
At a press conference this afternoon, State Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles (D-36) said she is joining Mayor Mike McGinn and others who have announced boycotts of the Seattle Weekly over what city officials say are lax advertising policies that make the paper's online escort ads a magnet for people marketing child prostitutes.
“I do not believe the Seattle Weekly is intentionally promoting child sexual exploitation," Kohl-Welles said, appearing with a group of leaders of the University of Washington Women's Center. "I’ve been a longtime reader of the Weekly, and I will resume reading it once this issue is resolved. I’m not reading it right now.”
In addition, Kohl-Welles said she's considering introducing legislation in Olympia next session that would broadly target "businesses that turn their eyes when they know, or should know, that there’s exploitation going on." Speaking of such businesses, she continued: "In a way they are participating, even if that’s not what their business is about.”
Kohl-Welles admitted passing such legislation won't be easy, and that "it's obviously more complex when we deal with media and the press" because of First Amendment rights that strictly limit how much the content of advertising can be policed by the government. She called herself "a strong civil libertarian."
But, Kohl-Welles added: "I think we owe it to the children and adults who are being exploited to pursue this proposal.”
