Question:

Why is the adult entertainment industry the victim of constant attacks by nosey, interfering, condescending legislators? What possible motive could there be to make life difficult for those who sell sex?

I am sick of hearing about the fundamental human rights of individuals being stomped over by people who find themselves in a position which allows them to exercise undue control over other people. The latest example came yesterday, when the Smoking Gun website reported: “In a bid to crack down on strip clubs and adult video stores, the city fathers of Knoxville, Tennessee allowed a private investigator to use municipal funds to pay for lap dances, beers and tips to female dancers.” The kinds of things this investigator reported in the affidavit (which is posted on the site) gave a clear indication of the sorts of things they were looking for – the kinds of things that they actually created laws against.

“The totally nude dancer proceeded to grind her vaginal area on my groin, alternately facing toward and away from me. The dancer rubbed her breast/nipples against my face.” I’m sure the investigator was reassured, during this horrifically unpleasant experience, by the thought of his helping to prevent this monstrosity happening to any other susceptible citizen.

“Another female (topless, wearing panties only) immediately approached me and asked if I wanted a VIP dance. I paid the dancer $40.00 and accompanied her through an open doorway to an area with approximately five couches. The dancer took off her panties and mounted my lap, grinding her crotch on my groin … and tried to put her vagina on my face.” Shock! Horror! Something must be DONE about this!

“I observed other customers receiving couch dances.” No!

“I noticed a yellow/green substance on the cloth cushion of a chair at an adjacent table. The appearance is consistent with acid phosphatase, an enzyme present in human semen.” (The author has momentarily passed into an unconscious state due to shock. Normal service will resume shortly.)

“I observed that approximately 95% of the store’s merchandise on display consisted of sexually explicit items, including magazines, videos and DVDs that emphasise the display of human buttocks, genitals, female breasts, sexual intercourse, oral copulation, masturbation and sodomy.” Definitely no MALE breasts, though – that’s a relief.

“Using a footage wheel, I measured the distance from the Inserection building to the St John Lutheran Church building and observed that the distance between them is 397 feet.” Okay, STOP.

To my original question. What business is it of Knoxville legislators in this instance, and any other bloody legislators in general, what consensual, paying, rational, adult, independent, autonomous individuals choose to exchange their hard-earned money for? What business is it of anyone else what someone does in their own time?

And you don’t have to go far for examples. A simple Google News search provides various examples. For instance: a Daily South Town, Illinois story saying that the city of Harvey “…may create a new class of business permits for strip clubs and other adult entertainment businesses, charging a $40,000 annual license fee to operate in the city …. Ald. Ronald Waters (6th) said the city needs to create the new permit fee to differentiate strip clubs from regular taverns. ‘Its not about the liquor. Its about the nude dancing,’ Waters said.’” No explanation, nothing. Is it so obvious that this is justified? Its gotten to the stage where journalists and the general public are not even asking the single-word question, ‘WHY?’ It is just automatically assumed that penalising the adult entertainment industry is not only permissible, but advisable.

“Owners of Mandan strip clubs denied more time to move.” “Seattle extends moratorium on strip clubs.” “Councilman interested in shutting down strip clubs.” “Strip clubs get hit with new fees.” And that’s just today’s news on strip clubs. When you look at the attacks on the rest of the adult entertainment industry, you see that the treatment of strip clubs is just the tip of the iceberg. “Government takes aim at pornography.” “We must act to prevent pornography.” “Civil rights anti-pornography legislation.” “Internet pornography legislation.” Its a freaking obsession; not to mention the borderline communist states like Alabama which actually outlaw sale of sex toys.

Back to my original question. When people get as far as to ask it, they are invariably given a small restricted pool of answers. But none of the answers make much sense. So I’m asking a genuine unrhetorical question here. Best answers on a postcard. My email address is .

WHAT, EXACTLY, justifies the aggressive act of bludgeoning, through oppressive legislative persecution, the adult entertainment industry, in some cases attempting to put them out of business entirely?

———————-
John Wright