Source: Reuters
By: Company Press Release
(LOS ANGELES, CA) — You can look, but you can’t touch or even get close any more.
That’s the order that went out to patrons of strip clubs on Tuesday when Los Angeles City Council passed a measure requiring dancers to stay at least 6 feet away from customers, thus ending lap dancing in the city.
The ordinance, passed unanimously despite stiff opposition from strippers and adult club owners who fear for their livelihood, banned lap dancing and any other kind of bodily contact between dancers and customers in strip clubs, bikini bars and adult bookstores.
The ban follows rising complaints by people living near adult cabaret clubs about prostitution, drug use, excessive noise and streets littered with condoms.
But club owners and dancers, who make most of their income from cash tucked into their G-strings, have said the ban will kill the thriving business which employs thousands of people.
The new law, which must be signed by Los Angeles Mayor James Hahn before going into effect, requires state-licensed security guards to be on duty at all times. Violators face up to six months in jail and as much as $2,500 in fines.
Roger Diamond, a lawyer representing about 20 Los Angeles strip club owners, had opposed the measure, arguing that a city body cannot regulate what goes on inside adult clubs.
But on Tuesday he said the clubs would "rather work with the city. We’re not here to be bad neighbors," Diamond said.
