Poll: Is This Adultcon Billboard Appropriate?

An AdultCon billboard has created a public backlash among residents of Glendora.

The billboard, advertising a porn convention at the LA Convention Center, sits above the train tracks off Route 66 near Compromise Line.

The convention was held July 29 to July 31, but by Monday morning the advertisement was still there.

“I just don’t think this kind of billboard has a place in our community,” said Glendora resident Erica Landmann-Johnsey, who addressed the billboard at a recent city council meeting. “I just can’t imagine that many residents in Glendora interested in going to a porn convention.”

According to David Chantarangsu, planner for the city of Glendora, billboards in Glendora are protected by free speech laws.

“The Supreme Court has had a latitude of certain kinds of free speech,” said Chantarangsu. “These billboards are nowhere near what the Supreme Court deems as obscene.”

Obscenity, according to Congress guidelines, is determined when:

• “An average person, applying contemporary community standards, must find that the material, as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest;
• The material must depict or describe, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by applicable law; and
• The material, taken as a whole, must lack serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value. “

Chantarangsu said the city council prohibited the building of new billboards in the city in the 80s, and only a few remain.

He said the advertising agency responsible for the AdultCon advertisement has purchased space on city billboards before, much to the dismay of residents who have called the city planning department with their concerns.

“We have placed calls to the advertising agency to be a little more discreet about the types of ads they place on these billboards,” said Chantarangsu. “They have been fairly cooperative, but they don’t always listen to our requests.

“They have a vested right to place their ads, but we’re keeping an eye on them.”

Should these types of billboards be allowed in Glendora?

Take our Facebook poll on the issue!