LAS VEGAS, NV – Although Las Vegas tried to attract tourists in the recent past by appealing to families with children, promotional efforts have returned to what is profitable: attracting adults for adult activities. Nonetheless, there are those within Las Vegas who would prefer to see the profitable local adult industry move elsewhere – or simply go away.“This industry does not attract people of high moral character,” attorney Mike Johnson insisted recently as part of an ongoing attempt to drive exotic dance clubs and other mature forms of erotic entertainment out of the city.
Johnson is the senior counsel for the Alliance for Defense Fund, which is located in Scottsdale, Arizona, and dedicated to promoting what it believes are appropriate “family values.” One of those values is strongly controlling the adult entertainment industry, because it believes it is inherently involved in crime. Recent scandals involving former Clark County Commissioners and influential strip club owner Michael Galardi, as well as separate accusations of murder and violence directed toward a club owner and employee have inspired Johnson and his organization to take up the anti-strip club cause with renewed vigor.
Apparently turning a blind eye to scandal and political corruption in non-adult areas of the national and international economy, Johnson and his organization insist that the two vices are inherently associated with the strip club industry and its affiliated businesses. Although no data exists to substantiate his claims, Johnson insists that “it is widely recognized that sexually oriented businesses cause dramatic secondary effects to their communities.” Although Johnson assured sympathetic listeners that “all the studies show and prove that anywhere these businesses are allowed to proliferate, you have dramatic increases in cases of rape, drug abuse, prostitution, and a host of other problems,” he did not cite any specific studies to substantiate his claims.
The Las Vegas Metro Police concede that each club has had dancers willing to exchange sexual services for cash, although some clubs tolerate the practice more than others. The Metro Police also agree that such clubs can attract workers and customers who use illegal drugs.
Johnson would like to see clubs forced to adhere to a six foot distance rule in order to keep dancers and patrons from close contact, which would effectively destroy the ability of dancers to legally participate in lucrative lap dances. Such a distance requirement was removed from the books in 2000 by the Clark County Commission.
Judith Lynne Hanna is a senior research scholar for the University of Maryland who believes that groups like Johnson’s are entirely incorrect. She has studied the adult industry since 1995 and visited more than 100 clubs as part of her research. Her conclusion concerning crime is that she has “yet to see anything disproportionate to the industry. There are pedophiles in the churches, yet they don’t regulate the church. Maybe they should have a distance requirement.”
Although Johnson believes that the presence of strip clubs cause “urban blight,” Hanna’s conclusions are different. She points out the number of upscale and profitable gentlemen’s clubs that avoid problems in order to keep their customer base happy and retain their business licenses.
In addition to the fact that many employees and business owners are active politically, either directly or through donations to causes and candidates, Hanna points out that many undereducated women who work as dancers likely could not otherwise find the flexible and well paying work that they find with exotic clubs. Were such clubs to experience prohibitive restrictions making it impossible to earn decent wages, Hanna believes some might well turn to “prostitution or onto Welfare.”
Clark County Manager Thom Reilly reported that county officials, in conjunction with those from the city of Las Vegas specifically, will work to produce rules that are consistent for all clubs. Further, in spite of objects by individuals such as Johnson and groups such as the Alliance for Defense Fund, current policing efforts are focused on the escort industry, which has a much closer association with prostitution than the strip club industry.
