MINNEAPOLIS, MN — With temperatures below freezing for an extended period of time, it may come as no surprise that the sight of bare flesh might be a cause for alarm in Minneapolis. The fact that the flesh in question belongs to two window display mannequins, however, makes the situation all the more unusual.According to The Downtown Journal, the two clothing-free mannequins have been raising quite a stir from inside of their Washington Avenue windows.
Some contend that because the mannequins are on duty at Sinners Gentlemen’s Club, they constitute a display of “merchandise or pictures of the products or entertainment on the premises,” which is something that the Minneapolis city code says sexually oriented businesses are not allowed to do.
Jerry Buchanan, who owns the building in question, thinks “It’s a stretch to say a headless mannequin is the product available” and contends that the situation is “a civil liberties issue” that the city is likely to lose in federal court.
Bickering over the window display has more than a recent history, with a federal lawsuit concerning the signage of nearby Sex World having ultimately been settled out of court during the early 1990s, but not covering the property that currently houses Sinners. When that club opened last November, it promptly received notice from the city that it was violating the city code by having the shameless dress forms in its display window. It ordered the club to remove the dummies.
Instead, Sinners appealed — and the Zoning Board of Adjustment will consider the matter immediately after Valentine’s Day, on February 15th.
The Downtown Journal indicates that Council member Lisa Goodman admits the city can’t keep clubs from opening in the Warehouse District due to zoning laws, but assures citizens rattled by the blatant indecency of the headless and armless mannequins whose photo appeared in the all-age paper’s pages and on its website, that “they are not going to take advantage of the B-4 district.”
