CANOGA PARK, CA – The Free Speech Coalition (FSC) announced the election of 3 new board members at an FSC meeting held last Thursday during the Internext Expo and Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas.The newly-elected FSC board members are Gregory Shearer, Jim Everett and Nellie Symm-Gruender. The terms of all three new members will begin immediately, according to a press release from the FSC.

Shearer (AKA Spanky) has worked previously in the production, manufacturing and distribution of alternative adult videos, according to the FSC’s press release.

“With a marketing background, experience producing gay visual erotica, a background in retail sales, Mr. Shearer will represent the interests of the gay community and bring his skills to the FSC Board,” read the press release.

Evert serves as the Chief Operating Officer of L.D. Management Company, a chain of adult superstores that operates in 15 states. An alumnus of the Ohio State University, Everett has served on the board of several companies, including the American Marketing Association and Habitat for Humanity.

Symm-Gruender, a registered nurse with 31 years of experience, has a “long history of involvement in social issues,” according to the FSC.

“In 2000, when Nellie and her husband Gene started their first adult entertainment store, they became outspoken supporters of the First Amendment and activists for the adult industry in the state of Missouri,” the FSC said in its release. “It is her hope that through a position on the Board of Directors for the Free Speech Coalition she can continue her advocacy of the First Amendment at the local, state and national level.”

In addition to the new members, Sid Grief of AAA News, Joan Irvine of Association of Sites Advocating Child Protection, William Murphy of Fairvilla MegaStores, and YNOT’s own Connor Young were re-elected to the Board of Directors. Mara Epstein, Mark Kernes, Reed Lee and Jeffrey J. Douglas will all return to complete their terms on the Board.

“The membership has elected an energetic and committed Board of Directors to steer FSC in the right direction in 2006,” said FSC Executive Director Michelle L Freridge. “This next year will be very challenging for the adult entertainment industry as federal, state, and local governments increasingly violate the civil rights of Americans in misguided and illegal attempts to censor legal adult speech.”

According to the FSC’s release, the coalition’s Board of Directors “serves an active and vital role in the organization, providing oversight over activities and functions, including strategic planning, approval of annual budgets and periodic review of strategic goals.”

FSC Board members serve 2 year terms, but they are permitted to run for re-election when their terms expire.