Friday, November 11, 2011
Strip Club Regulations to Take Effect in January
Posted by Bianca Phillips on Fri, Nov 11, 2011 at 11:01 AM
There will be no more drinking or stripping at strip clubs beginning January 1st, thanks to a 2007 Shelby County adult business ordinance that's going into effect after years of being tied up in court.
U.S. District Court Judge Bernice Donald upheld the ordinance after strip club owner Jerry Westland filed a lawsuit in 2008 declaring the ordinance unconstitutional.
According to the new rules, clubs won't be allowed to sell alcohol, nor will customers be allowed to bring their own. Dancers will be required to cover their nipples and wear opaque bottoms, and they won't be allowed to come within six feet of patrons or one another. Dancers are also required to purchase permits, and clubs must pay an annual $500 licensing fee.
Comments (34)
Showing 1-34 of 34
I don't even go to strip clubs, but this is just another example of "everyone should live exactly by my beliefs" behavior of the holier-than-thou southern people.
I love how southerners talk about limiting the reach of government, and freedom, and liberty and all that. But wait, there is a catch! Freedom and liberty only for things that they agree with. If they disagree by all means the government should shut that stuff down!
Freedom to be straight, white, Christian, and conservative. Everyone else in the South can just go jump off a cliff. (If there were any cliffs around here, maybe we'll just have to use a man made bridge instead).
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Valkraider: Wow you aren't generalizing at all... Don't worry, I'm sure there will be more strip clubs for you to go to in other cities. So settle down.
so is this what conservatives mean by small government?
i'm confused.
How does this no closer than six feet rule play with the Americans with Disabilities Act? Will there be sections for those with visual impairments?
Although this sounds somewhat obsurd...I am sure that somewhere in this.... there is a little reasonable thinking behind... idk... maybe the safety of the girls in the clubs... of course this also means they wont be making as good of tips.....
Why stop there? Why not require each dancer to wear a burqa, and every patron a chastity belt? And we'd all drink Snapple while the ladies dance to scratchy old 78's of the Glenn Miller Orchestra. Boy, that'd really be the tits!
I encourage everyone who has a complaint about these new regulations to actually go to a strip club and witness 1st hand what you're complaining about. The drinks are overpriced and the women are nasty-looking drug addicts. The last time I went to one, I wasn't there for a full minute before an ugly, 90lb crackhead jumped in my lap and offered me sex for money. So, I suggest you all go visit your local whorehouse/drugden and fully appreciate what it is that you're bitching about losing out on. Then come back and tell us all about how much society will suffer without them.
especially strip clubs in memphis. i havent been to them all, but from my experience, theyre gross and the girls are icky. the only worthwhile club in town is the pony, and im sure they will do just fine after these law go into play.
Dancers can't come within 6 feet of each other? I need to go back and review the Constitution to see which part covers this particular law.
Does this mean no more plays that include dancing at the Orpheum? It sounds like they could arrest the entire chorus line.
why has this not been in the news? why have the people who agree with the freedoms not had a chance to protest the protesters? The people who complain do not attend strip clubs, and are doing this solely to put them out of business. We can't buy cork screws at wine shops, we cant buy liquor at the grocery, we can't do this, we can't do that. Go on and cast the first stone you bible thumping Hypocrites. There should be a free the titties campaign!
“Dancers will be required to cover their nipples…”
A little open ended regarding how those tatas will be shielded from prying eyes.
Will hands suffice? Perhaps the physical manifestation of the “black box” via the FCC? Or maybe just another fine us of suction cup technology.
I'm all for freeing the titties.
Really, this is just another extension of the Christianban into our everyday lives. Another set of ridiculously intrusive, puritanical, and overbearing laws that does nothing but pander to the far right zealots out there.
It wasn't too long ago that Memphis was known far and wide for the PP on the MM. Now look what we've come to. Simply pathetic.
How about this, I may just go outside Bellevue with my shirtoff with a sign that says FREE THE TITTIES. I way 300 pounds, ill also wear those pasties you guys like on my nipples. You wanna complain about something in a place that you don't attend? I'll give you something to be up in arms about!
@ Seriously
Okay, so does it hurt you? Why do you give a damn whether or not I want to spend my time and money at a strip club? That's none of your business, so take your moral high-horse elsewhere.
God I love the Memphis Flyer! You won't ever see news like this in the C.A.!
Wow. It kills me how the church gets so involved in politics. Reminds me of ten years ago when the idiots of Mount Vernon, Illinois protested day and night and scared Hooters straight out of town! Conservative Christians are as radical as Muslims! Bill Maher is right about the fact that the three major religions will force their beliefs on each other till they destroy us all!
I predict an increase of "in home stripping" if the clubs close from this. The girls aren't going to do nothing when there income is pulled from them.
I don't think anyone that has posted is looking at the real issue. If you look back to the club that this started over, that club was located in "historic" downtown and was not properly zoned for that type of business. The location of the Pony and Christie's, well those areas are pretty much slummy anyway so Im not sure many people even care. As a patron and a former dancer I do see how this hurts business and money but on the other hand you have to take into consideration the amount of drugs and prositutes that are born from these type of businesses. If the clubs were properly managed and better control matters taken on the dancers who solicit sexual favors and drugs then we would not be having this discussion today. This is not above forcing religion it is about breaking drug and prostitution laws as well as certain clubs being a public nusicance.
I can't wait to visit them after they become private clubs. They will be much better
Separation of Religon and State?
Memphis is one of the most corrupt cities in the US.
Judges take money, the powers to be control all aspects, and the conservatives hide behind the bible.
It doesnt matter if it strip clubs and strippers, or being able to smoke a cigarette.
It is now the Upper Class VS the Lower Class....they have effectively eliminated the Middle Class.
Get prepared for MORE!
I have read that at Midnight on the 31st they all became bikini bars. Sill were serving beer, and still doing dances.. just fully clothed.
Well they beat the new rules, but they will die anyway. As of midnight Dec 31st all the strip clubs in Memphis became "bikini bars". No stripping and in the areas they are located it pretty much means they are through.
I am a dancer in memphis, I am not on drugs, over/under weight nor do I offer sex for money, I do not understand why my job is creating such a fuss. I wish the city council would stop trying to shut "us" down everytime an election is coming up. Its all politics and money, my motto is "if you don't like it, don't come! I honestly think crime will increase now, there is already nothing much to do in this small city, and did anyone stop to think(no offense to everyday patrons) that maybe we dancers are keeping a woman from being raped or a child from being molested? I have so much more to say but I've probably said too much already....
take away entertainment for males what do u get? Alot of frustrated wives at home lol The strippers are the reason half of those men wives get a good hard one every now and then after their man leave the strip club of hire a stripper for the party anit that right mayor's preachers, anit that right REV Ray lol.
This is yet another attempt to legislate morality, and regardless of what the State Court may have found I strongly disagree with such laws which attempt to prohibit otherwise victimless acts between two consenting adults. Why can't people who don't want to hang out in strip clubs just exercise their freedom to stay away from them in the first place. Anyone who thinks these or any other rules are going to stop fornication, adultery or prostitution is living in a fantasy world. I believe those who feel obligated to force their own convictions regarding sexuality down everyone elses throats must not have the strength of character enough to live by such themselves without having big brother tell everyone how to go about living their lives. Yes, my friends, 1984 is here. (FWIW, this point of view is from a conservative Christian.)
It's not a southern thing. It's not even a case of someone wanting people to live by there way of life. Its just in response to clubs causing problems. It is because clubs got caught having sex shows, selling drugs, and promoting prostitution. It is because on of the owners of the clubs tried to open one is a more upscale part of Shelby County. I use to work at one of the clubs. The club I worked at was legit, but some of the other clubs owned by the same guy were getting cops called on the regular. I walked into one club after it had be shut down and there were bullet holes in the walls. Now this is not really the clubs fault, but it is part of the problem. I don't really see these new rules lasting. It will cut down on tax money from the sales of alcohol. It will also cut down on spending from tourist. Keep in mind that the FedEx headquarters is down the street from most of these clubs. The simple fact that they did not ban them all together means they must still want them around. With these rules the clubs will not last long. I am sure this will go away.
What would be the point for a person to go to a "topless" club if all the dancers are wearing bikini tops. And now this "club" is no different than any other night club --where they are still allowed to serve alcohol. Next they will make you pay for a permit to enter a regular club for fear you may be dancing at the club and get aroused by your dancing partner. Politicians chip away at freedoms that we take for granted. It is not that i am for or against the clubs existance but making a topless club in to a non alcohol serving bikini bar is the death toll for the existance of any such club in Memphis. Politicians will be rejoicing when the clubs are forced to close. I fear this is just another chip away from our freedom to choose. Memphis is notorious for getting its priorities wrong. First it was the Deep Throat obscenity trial that was a farce and a wate of taxpayer money. Years later we thought a no smoking "section" in the restaurant was a good idea then they snuck in a total ban on smoking. Now it is regulations on dancers. Next it will be you must buy a permit to drink ( for your protection) and you will be fined for swearing in public. If we allow our freedoms to be taken away it is our own fault.
This is ridiculous, if your argument is that strip clubs promote drug trafficking or prostitution, then punish the violators and not law abiding citizens
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