'We're Giving Our Kids Porn For Free,' Says Detroiter About Entertainment Publication

DETROIT (WWJ) -  Is the Metro Times publication on the same level as Playboy and Penthouse?

Ads for topless bars, marijuana hook-ups and an alternative sex advice column called 'Savage Love' have some, in at least one metro Detroit community, saying it's time for the Metro Times to be banned.

WWJ's Charlie Langton spoke with Monique of Detroit about the issue and she applauds the efforts of Grosse Pointe residents who want the rag banned:

"We're giving our kids porn for free, that's unacceptable," she said, "That's like them looking at porn - for free! Take it off the market - get it out of the stores - now."

One man Langton spoke with was unaware of the publication but after hearing salacious details wanted to know where to find it.

The Ferndale publication questioned whether their product is so offensive it needs to be hidden behind the counters of Grosse Pointe libraries.

"They are moving them behind the counter, where citizens will be required to ask the Librarian for an issue," notes the News Blawg.

The Detroit Free Press writes that the residents' concerns went beyond typical complaints about obscenity when some charged the alternative weekly tabloid's advertisers with promoting human trafficking — a term used to describe coerced prostitution and forced labor, usually of women — through sexually explicit advertisements.

Metro Times Editor-In-Chief Valerie Vande Panne said the allegations of sex trafficking are very serious.

"If they have evidence of that, the place to take it is the state police, not their local library council," Vande Panne  told WWJ's Zahra Huber.

As far as the "racy" ads:  "Certainly there are dozens of strip clubs in Detroit. I don't know how many there are, but there are many — and they're going to advertise," Vande Panne said. "And strip clubs, at this time, are legal...and it's legal for them to advertise."

Meantime, the Grosse Pointe Farms library confirmed that the publication is now behind the counter and that you have to be 18 years old to get a copy.

"It's a difficult decision; you are trying to balance the benefits of journalism ... but you can't ignore the graphic nature of the ads in back," said Library Board President Brian Garves.

"No one wants to ban the Metro Times from the library ... and we compromised by putting it behind the counter."