Type Corporation Website www.bijougaymovies.com | Founded 1969 | |
Industry Gay Pornographic Movie Studio Headquarters Chicago, Illinois, United States Key people Steven Toushin, President | ||
Established in 1969 by Steven Toushin, Bijou Video is a company specializing in the production of gay pornographic films, based in Chicago, Illinois, United States.
Contents
Filmography
Legal issues
Steven Toushin and Bijou Video have been the subject of 21 federal and local government obscenity arrests and trials. The first obscenity charge was brought against Toushin in 1969 for exhibiting the film Flaming Creatures, by Jack Smith, in Chicago, shortly followed by another arrest for obscenity in 1970 for exhibiting the film I Am Curious (Yellow) in Indianapolis and in 1973 Deep Throat in East Chicago, Indiana.
The most notable charges were the result of The Meese Commission in 1987 in the wave of federal obscenity arrests across the country in "Operation PostPorn". U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese spearheaded charges against Toushin and others involved in the Bijou Video organization claiming the pornographic films that Bijou Video sold, produced and distributed were obscene.
The Miller Test requires that obscenity be measured against community standards, which requires the trials to occur at a local level. The Meese Commission brought charges against Toushin in Tennessee, Washington, and Utah. After successfully defending these films, the United States government began negotiations with Toushin to settle the charges and drop further prosecution in Utah and Nebraska. He received a sentence of five years probation.