Since the beginning of Fight the New Drug in 2009, we have been grateful to have the best supporters in the world.
This year’s Fighter of the Year winner has one of the coolest and most impactful backstories that we’ve encountered to date of someone getting involved with our organization.
She’s a changemaker and conversation-starter in her local community, and her dedication to this movement for love has more than earned her the title of 2019 Fighter of the Year.
Meet Annie, a U.S. Fighter from the state of Ohio. She’s a junior at a university south of Cleveland, and her boldness for the cause is just one of the many reasons she’s a unique, stand-out supporter of FTND.
Related: 10 Fighters Who Embody How Change Begins With One Person Speaking Up On Porn’s Harms
“Give them something to look at”
When we sat down with Annie to hear her story, Annie explained her background and why repping meaningful causes like Fight the New Drug is so important to her.
“Diastrophic Dysplasia is what I was diagnosed with when I was born,” she explained. It’s a form of Dwarfism, a disorder that affects cartilage and bone development resulting in shorter stature, arms, and legs.
“It is a diagnosis that mainly affects the bones. And so the more you grow, the more crooked you become. And so you have to have surgeries in order to be able to walk. So it’s kind of a relief when you stop growing, because that means your bones can’t get any more crooked,” Annie said.
From the time she was 12, Annie’s mentality has been, “People are already going to look at me, so why don’t I give them something to look at?” This has inspired her to wear bold tee shirts that represent causes she wants to raise awareness about.
“I have this opportunity that people are going to look at me, and I can wear these tee shirts that have these messages that I’m super passionate about. And I think that’s really cool. In this weird cheesy way, I have a way of promoting something that they’re going to have to look at whether they want to or not.”
To listen to Annie’s podcast interview with Consider Before Consuming, a podcast by Fight the New Drug, click here or listen below.
Fight the New Drug as one of her causes
Among her collection of social justice tee shirts, Annie has a number of Fighter tees, including a classic red “Porn Kills Love” tee, an original Street Team tee, and one of our “People ≠ Products” tees. Annie says that’s her “thing”—if people are going to look at her, she wants to give them something to look at, and something to think about.
But Annie is also bold in other ways that spark conversations in her community and inspire us.
She’s rallied the friends around her to care about important causes, too, and even made it a point to include as many people as possible in big conversations about issues that face our world—including how porn harms individuals, relationships, and society.
In a post on her Facebook last year, she’s pictured with a friend holding fact sheets they personally made, detailing a few harmful effects of porn listed out on Fight the New Drug’s website.
In deciding to share the fliers all over campus, in the post she said, “We’ve decided our motto is ‘make campus uncomfortable 2019.’ We want to challenge the lack of real conversation surrounding porn. There are too many men and women who struggle with pornography addictions to pretend that it doesn’t exist or isn’t worthy of being talked about…shame OFF you—you are loved and your love still works.”
Being awarded FOTY 2019
When Annie learned she was chosen as our 2019 Fighter of the Year, this is what she said:
“Since I was a senior in high school, I’ve been passionate about Fight the New Drug and their fight for real love through their passion to speak out about porn… To find out today thatI’ve been given the title of their 2019 Fighter of the Year is honestly leaving me speechless and I could not be more excited or honored!”
As an organization, we couldn’t be more excited and honored that we have Fighters like Annie who step up and speak out about the real negative effects of porn and sexual exploitation.
We know her community is forever changed because of her boldness in spreading this fight for real love, and we are grateful for her shame-free voice. We’re so happy to award Annie with this award, and we can’t wait to see how she continues to raise awareness on behalf of this global movement.
Your Support Matters Now More Than Ever
Most kids today are exposed to porn by the age of 12. By the time they’re teenagers, 75% of boys and 70% of girls have already viewed itRobb, M.B., & Mann, S. (2023). Teens and pornography. San Francisco, CA: Common Sense.Copy —often before they’ve had a single healthy conversation about it.
Even more concerning: over half of boys and nearly 40% of girls believe porn is a realistic depiction of sexMartellozzo, E., Monaghan, A., Adler, J. R., Davidson, J., Leyva, R., & Horvath, M. A. H. (2016). “I wasn’t sure it was normal to watch it”: A quantitative and qualitative examination of the impact of online pornography on the values, attitudes, beliefs and behaviours of children and young people. Middlesex University, NSPCC, & Office of the Children’s Commissioner.Copy . And among teens who have seen porn, more than 79% of teens use it to learn how to have sexRobb, M.B., & Mann, S. (2023). Teens and pornography. San Francisco, CA: Common Sense.Copy . That means millions of young people are getting sex ed from violent, degrading content, which becomes their baseline understanding of intimacy. Out of the most popular porn, 33%-88% of videos contain physical aggression and nonconsensual violence-related themesFritz, N., Malic, V., Paul, B., & Zhou, Y. (2020). A descriptive analysis of the types, targets, and relative frequency of aggression in mainstream pornography. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 49(8), 3041-3053. doi:10.1007/s10508-020-01773-0Copy Bridges et al., 2010, “Aggression and Sexual Behavior in Best-Selling Pornography Videos: A Content Analysis,” Violence Against Women.Copy .
From increasing rates of loneliness, depression, and self-doubt, to distorted views of sex, reduced relationship satisfaction, and riskier sexual behavior among teens, porn is impacting individuals, relationships, and society worldwideFight the New Drug. (2024, May). Get the Facts (Series of web articles). Fight the New Drug.Copy .
This is why Fight the New Drug exists—but we can’t do it without you.
Your donation directly fuels the creation of new educational resources, including our awareness-raising videos, podcasts, research-driven articles, engaging school presentations, and digital tools that reach youth where they are: online and in school. It equips individuals, parents, educators, and youth with trustworthy resources to start the conversation.
Will you join us? We’re grateful for whatever you can give—but a recurring donation makes the biggest difference. Every dollar directly supports our vital work, and every individual we reach decreases sexual exploitation. Let’s fight for real love: