| By Dave Harding, ProgressOhio - May 1st, 2007 at 11:15 am EDT |
| Also listed in: Ohio Bloggers |
More than 50 members of Dancers for Democracy rallied in Columbus to focus attention on legislation they say would put adult entertainers out of business.
There were college students, strippers saving money so they could become college students, single moms and those who just like to dance.
The legislation, Senate Bill 16, calls for limits on the hours of operation for adult businesses and would make it a crime for dancers to come within six feet of patrons – even if the patron is their husband.
Charity Fickisen, chairwoman of Dancers for Democracy, called the six-foot rule the “most ridiculous’’ part of the bill and the provision that would hurt dancers the most.
“We get most of our money from tips. If patrons cannot come within six feet of us, there will be no tips,’’ she told a news conference, “and there will no dancers.’’
The legislation is being promoted by Citizens for Community Values, a right-wing outfit based on Cincinnati. Even some of CCV’s past allies are now questioning the need for the bill.
Fickisen told the news conference that consenting adults should be permitted to go to strip clubs and insisted that current laws are sufficient to regulate the adult entertainment industry.
To show the ridiculousness of the six-foot rule, the group stood inside the boundary of a plastic ring with a 12-foot diameter. They christened it the “Close Contact Violator’’ of CCV.
The group hopes to keep pressure on legislators and ultimately kill the bill.
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