Exxxotica organizers sue Dallas over convention center ban

A lawsuit over banning a sex expo from the Dallas Convention Center was filed late Wednesday afternoon.

No one on the city council really wants to see this at the convention center, but two councilmen say fighting it will be a losing battle.

"Hopefully someone comes to their senses to save the taxpayers what looks now to be an unlimited liability,” said councilman Philip Kingston.

Earlier this month Dallas City Council members refused to rent out the Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center for the Exxxotica Expo. The lawsuit filed by the Exxxotica organizers claims the event is speech protected under the first amendment.

City council member Lee Kleinman, who often votes with the mayor, agrees it’s protected and broke ranks to vote against the ban.

"In my view they were not upholding the constitution. I did distribute to them copies of the first amendment reminding them they signed an oath of office," Kleinman said.

A long line of people from the business and faith community spoke out against the city playing host to a sex-po, arguing it promotes human trafficking and violence against women. Kleinman said the majority of his constituents wanted him to ban the sex-po and so did many of his political donors.

"I'm very frank with them, this is how I see it. It's been this type of use that has gone to the Supreme Court and as deplorable as the activity may be, it's not in our purview to restrict it,” Kleinman said.

The city's own attorney advised the council that the ban would be treading on shaky legal ground. The city has already hired two outside attorneys to defend the council's decision.

Kingston said the impact has no foreseeable end.

"We have turned the Kay Bailey Hutchinson convention center into the most popular venue for porn conventions in North America,” Kingston said. “Who wouldn't be interested? You either have your convention and make money on your business model, or we ban you, and you make money on the litigation."

None of the councilmembers who voted for the ban would comment to FOX4 about the issue, citing pending litigation.