Charleston, West Virginia- Two Republican legislators want to outlaw contact between strippers and customers, which a local exotic dancer says would be devastating to strip clubs.
Such an outcome would not bother Delegates Greg Howard of Cabell County and Bill Hamilton of Upshur County in the slightest.
Their bill would put an end to lap dances and the practice of patrons stuffing currency into the garters of entertainers.
The legislation calls for performers to stay at least 10 feet away from customers. They would have to remain on a stage at least 2 feet off the floor. Tipping would be prohibited.
House Bill 2421 also would limit the business hours of adult entertainment clubs to 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
Borrowing the phrase that Gov. Bob Wise popularized in reference to video poker machines in 2001, Howard said, "My intent is to reduce, regulate and restrict strip clubs in this state.
"I won't hide my agenda. I'd like to see these businesses regulated to the point where it would actually be difficult for them to provide the type of entertainment that they do."
Howard, 31, a father of two, said he's never been to a nudie bar. But he said he's seen all too many of them from the outside.
"There's one on the edge of the church I've gone to for 20 years," said Howard, of Huntington. "Within five miles of my house, there are seven or eight of them."
Advertisements on nearby billboards are also plentiful.
"You could be driving around with little kids in the car and they see a woman on a billboard with her finger in her mouth and ask, 'What's that mean?'" Howard said.
"Eve," a 26-year-old bartender and part-time dancer at Sheer Fantasy in Jefferson, said the restrictions are unfair.
"A lot of our girls live off the regular customers," she said. "Not everyone wants to go wait tables or work three jobs."
She said dancers have been wrongly stereotyped. Exotic dancing provides women with good-paying jobs and a chain of supportive friends, she said.
"People would be surprised," said Eve, who said she has an associate degree in accounting. "They think the girls are evil and money-hungry. A lot are here to support their families."
She said she grew up around the adult entertainment business. Her father opened the Sugar Shack strip club in Pontiac, Mich. when she was 15. She started dancing at age 20 and has performed in West Virginia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Arkansas, Florida, Tennessee, Oklahoma and New York. Of those states, West Virginia has the strictest regulations on the industry, she said.
"When we give lap dances here, you can't face the customer or take off clothing unless you're in the back and not on the floor," Eve said. "I couldn't imagine telling a customer he has to watch his favorite girl dance from 10 feet away. We're providing a service just like any other business. We're not escorts or hookers."
Lap dances range from $60 for three songs to $360 for a full hour.
Sacrificing the industry may be worth it if it cuts down on the criminal activity that takes place around strip clubs, the delegates say.
"In those areas, you tend to have more sex crimes and domestic abuse," Hamilton said.
The bill says that nude dancing encourages prostitution, sexual assault and drug abuse.
Eve said anyone suspected of using drugs at Sheer Fantasy would be kicked out, and employees fired.
She said she also hasn't encountered stalkers or heard of sexual assaults around the club.
The bill died in committee last year. Both Howard and Hamilton will try to persuade House Judiciary Chairman Jon Amores, D-Kanawha, to take up the bill this year.
Amores did not return a phone call.
Howard said he also wants to amend the bill by restricting advertising by sexually oriented businesses.
"We have more billboards in this area than anywhere else in the state," Howard said. "Our motto is, 'Open for Business,' and I support that. But for these businesses, I'd like to see their motto be, 'Closed for Business.'"
