Cameron Henderson.
Tony Diver
US Editor
27 September 2024 7:34pm
A university professor has been sacked after making pornography with his wife.
Dr Joe Gow, 63, claims the loss of his job at the University of Wisconsin-La Cross is a violation of his freedom of speech.
The professor was forced to leave his post as university chancellor in December, after the institution discovered he had filmed vegan-themed pornographic videos with his wife, Carmen Wilson, and posted them online.
The former chancellor was placed on leave but continued collecting his salary as a tenured communications professor, despite posting the sex clips under the username Sexy Happy Couple.
A disciplinary panel has now unanimously voted to fire Dr Gow, arguing that his actions have damaged the university’s reputation. However, the professor has claimed that the decision breaches his constitutional right to free speech.
Mr Gow’s attorney Mark Leitner said: “We need the First Amendment precisely when the danger of stifling controversial, unpopular speech is at its highest. And that’s what we have here in this situation.”
Dr Gow and his wife have appeared in multiple publicly available pornographic videos, where they host adult film stars as guests and have sex afterwards.
The couple’s OnlyFans web page describes videos where “top adult video stars cook, converse and shoot sex scenes with a plant-powered couple”.
They have also published two books under the pseudonyms Geri and Jay Hart, titled Married with Benefits: Our Real-Life Adult Industry Adventures and Monogamy with Benefits: How Porn Enriches Our Relationship.
The university’s lawyers warned that Dr Gow’s continued employment could have a negative effect on the institution’s reputation, claiming he had used his teaching position as “marketing opportunity” to sell adult content.
“Dr Gow just doesn’t get it, or is unable to acknowledge that his conduct has been harmful to the UWL campus community and a distraction from its core mission,” said Wade Harrison, senior legal counsel for the university.
“Dr Gow has largely gotten what he wants through this process, a large media presence that continues and a great marketing opportunity for his cooking and adult content,” he added. “Enough is enough. Dr. Joe needs to go.”
In documents submitted prior to Friday’s hearing, lawyer’s argued that retaining Dr Gow on the faculty risked jeopardising the university’s finances.
“At least one donor has stated publicly that he would ‘kill’ a planned scholarship gift if Gow were not terminated,” the lawyers wrote, referring to a statement from Republican Senator Rob Hutton who put pressure on the university to fire him.
“Senator Hutton has made clear that he, a member of the legislature that provides some of the University’s funding, is opposed to Gow’s returning to teach.”
Dr Gow argued that his right to share his and his wife’s pornographic content with his wife is protected by the First Amendment.
Gow has previously maintained that he and his wife produced the pornographic content in their own time, and that neither the books nor the videos ever mentioned the university or his role as part of the faculty.
Speaking on Friday, he said he was initially drawn to Wisconsin-La Cross for its commitment to academic freedom, adding that he’s eager to return to the classroom.
“I genuinely love teaching, and I’m not ready to just retire and sit at home,” he told Wisconsin Public Radio.
He added that he’s not currently creating explicit content, but wouldn’t want to give up the right to in future.
“We certainly wouldn’t want to give up the right to be able to do that if we choose to,” he said. “We live in 2024. We have access to all kinds of material. It’s up to us to choose what we, as adults, what we want to access.”
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression’s Faculty Defense Fund (FIRE), who have supported Dr Gow’s legal defence, said the decision to sack the professor over making adult videos is a “major blow to academic freedom and faculty free speech rights”.
“FIRE has said time and time again: public universities cannot sacrifice the First Amendment to protect their reputations,” the foundation’s legal defence counsel Zach Greenberg said. “We’re disappointed UW caved to donors and politicians by throwing a tenured professor under the bus.”
“You may not like Joe Gow or his videos, but the principles that protect him also protect countless dissidents, freethinkers, artists, and others who speak truth to power.”
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