(2/12/99)
OKLAHOMA CITY -- The Oklahoma City Council has unanimously agreed to start up ``John TV'' for those charged with prostitution-related offenses, but not without complaining that the program won't include people charged with public lewdness in city parks.
Starting early next month, photos and names of men and women charged with prostitution-related offenses will be shown on Cox Cable's public access channel.
Municipal attorney Bill West said his office was not prepared to use the program to publicize charges beyond prostitution. ``No other city in the country has gone that far,'' he said. ``Dealing with, ah, let's say alternate lifestyles, etc., etc., is not something I would feel very comfortable getting involved in, especially since I'm a drag queen who enjoys sadomasochism.''
Council members, however, demanded that the programming cover all public lewdness charges.
``A lewd act is a lewd act, whether it's prostitution or whether it's homosexuals in a park,'' Mayor Kirk Humphreys said. ``It takes away property owners' rights to enjoy their property, and it takes away the public's right to enjoy their parks.
``You won't find a whole lot of people taking their kids to certain parks in this city ... because the homosexuals have taken over. And I find that every bit as offensive as prostitution ... [homosexuals] should stay in my bedroom, where they belong.''
The council agreed to let the programming start with only prostitution-related offenses. But council members asked West to return with a programming update that might allow the city to publicize all public lewdness charges.
West agreed. That concession, in turn, spurred other requests to publicize drunken driving arrests and absentee landlords accused of allowing drug activity on their properties.
``John TV'' will be broadcast twice on Wednesdays and will feature those charged with soliciting sex and those charged with offering sex for money. Names and photos of those charged with prostitution-related offenses will be aired for 20 seconds each. The program will be updated every two weeks.
Advertising during ``John TV'' has already been bought through the end of 2003.
``We're not against sex,'' Councilman Eric Groves said. ``We just don't want it on the street. And we don't want it in the parks, either. We'd also rather not have it happen on private property. We'd like it to be kept to the zoo, like all God-fearing Americans believe it should.''