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Las Vegas- [The Movable Buffet]- I met Heather Veitch [pictured right] and Annie Lobert at the Cheesecake Factory, across from the Green Valley Ranch casino.
We had to wait for a booth because Lobert's stories about her years working as an escort in the Vegas resort corridor can get graphic.
Many years ago Veitch used to be a stripper in Vegas. Now both women are Christian activists trying to reach out to women in the Las Vegas adult industry.
They are in the midst of gearing up for Adult Entertainment Expo, the biggest adult industry convention in the country, which takes place in Vegas every January. This convention includes the adult movie version of the Oscars, the AVN Awards.
I discovered the duo through a series of popular YouTube videos they did called "Saving Sex City." Episode 3 features the two walking the Strip as showgirls carrying placards with Christian messages.
Even before uniting for the video series, Veitch received a lot of media attention. She thinks it is because she doesn't look like your typical Christian preacher. In fact, her look has been a major factor, she says, in the Christian community being slower than the worldly people of Vegas to accept her.
One Vegas topless bar allows Veitch to come at night to buy lap dances and use the time to talk to the dancers about Jesus. I have been invited along for a future trip and am very curious to see how that works out. Veitch says she has received almost no hostility from the people she is trying to reach in Vegas, even those not at all interested in her message.
On the other hand, selling her fellow Christians on her project has been difficult. Veitch has found that some churches are not interested in populating congregations with strippers she has invited to services. And then it always comes back to her look. Veitch says, "The Christian community can be very judgmental. But we think our look lets girls in the industry identify with us."
For the upcoming 40,000-strong Adult Entertainment Expo, Veitch and Lobert will be working the convention floor, handing out cards and delivering their message to whoever will listen. Veitch's current boyfriend is not happy because this means she will be among all the male fans of porn at the convention as well as the men who work in that industry. The boyfriend called during our lunch to make that point again. Veitch was not convinced. She still will be at Adult Entertainment Expo, working with Lobert.
To Veitch, her need to be at the huge porn convention is clear. She explained after getting off the phone with her boyfriend: "To me, I am used to the attention because I come from that industry. For him, it is hard because I have had several guy porn stars who are attractive come up to me and want to make films. But I am the untouchable one there. I look like those girls, but they can't see me naked. Now I am using my body to advertise for God. So to me it is not bad."
And it is instructive to note that the media love Veitch's look as well. Even before the "Saving Sex City" videos, Veitch had already become a media magnet, having done every show from "Geraldo" to "The 700 Club." A documentary on Veitch, "Pussycat Preacher," became available for free download last week. Lobert's media profile before the "Saving Sex City" videos had been slightly lower. But by calling the church group she formed "Hookers for Jesus," Lobert admits she pretty much guaranteed that everyone who hears the name remembers it. Lobert says:
"I picked that name because it is catchy. Most Christians might think I am selling my body. But I say that because I am trying to hook people on Jesus. I hook them for Jesus. I go into the casinos and I sit at the bar while the girls are selling their bodies and I talk to them."
Asked how she can tell the hookers from the tourists, Lobert says, "I know. I just watch and I know. I know because I have been there. I share my story with them and give them my card and invite them to church."
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