Daytona Beach Cracking Down On Partial Nudity In Strip Clubs
Officials in Daytona Beach, FL, are preparing to crack down on strip clubs just in time for annual Biketoberfest.
Thousands of motorcycle enthusiasts will be pouring into town and if they are pouring beer down their throats, they won’t be able to look at topless or scantily clad women.
City ordinance prohibits nude or scantily clad dancing in any establishment that serves alcohol or is within 500 feet of another establishment that serves alcohol. As part of the upcoming crackdown, police will be combing local strip clubs looking for any dancer who shows too much skin. Even pasties and G-strings are illegal per city ordinance as they are deemed too revealing by city law. The city even went so far as to distribute an image of the minimum amount of attire a dancer may wear, essentially establishing a dress code for dancers (now the government is telling people how they can dress—how’s that for free expression?).
If a dancer violates the ordinance by showing too much skin, she can be arrested. Club managers could be arrested as well.
Though club attorneys are eventually hoping to take this before the US Supreme Court, in the meantime city leaders will do their best to harm the economic viability of businesses that offer adult entertainment and infringe on the rights of consenting citizens for no other reason than their own personal dislike of this type of entertainment which is enjoyed by millions of people every year.
(I have been to several fully-nude strip clubs that serve alcohol over the years in a few different states and never once have I witnessed anybody misbehaving or causing trouble.)
In Europe you can find women topless at any beach or pool in full view of men and little children. In many countries, there are nude beaches or sections of public parks set aside for nude sunbathing and recreation (like Englischer Garten in Munich, Germany, for example). Yet in Daytona Beach, Florida, if a dancer shows too much of her buttock or covers her nipple with a pastie she can be handcuffed and hauled off to jail if alcohol is served within 500 feet. Unbelievable!
Citizens need to start voting with their wallets. Next year people who attend Biketoberfest should take their money and go to a city that is more respecting of peoples’ freedoms.