NORFOLK
Topless dancers in at least two local clubs are continuing to entertain au naturel despite revised state regulations mandating nipple coverings.
The owner of both clubs is involved in a federal lawsuit challenging the state's restrictions on just how much his dancers can bare. The suit, filed by the owners of six local nightclubs, also challenges rules on advertising happy hours and prohibiting gang members and "persons of ill repute" to rendezvous at a club.
At a hearing in the case Tuesday in U.S. District Court, a federal magistrate judge reserved decision on whether Virginia's revised rules, including those pertaining to nude dancing, are constitutional. Two related cases pending before the federal appeals court could decide the matter for him.
"It's an interesting case, but I can't promise too quick a decision," U.S. Magistrate Judge F. Bradford Stillman said at the end of the two-hour hearing.
The group of South Hampton Roads nightclubs sued the state Alcoholic Beverage Control Board last year, claiming its revised rules, and related laws passed by the General Assembly, remain unconstitutional.
Virginia Beach attorney Kevin Martingayle won key court decisions over the past two years that have struck down laws intended to regulate lewd behavior and excessive noise at nightclubs.
The Virginia General Assembly last year passed new laws designed to overcome the constitutional violations. It removed words such as "immoral," "lewd," "indecent," "profane" and "lustful" because of the prior court ruling that they were overbroad and difficult to define.
The new laws and related ABC regulations allow for exceptions to the nudity restriction for "artistic" performances, which the attorneys for the clubs argue is equally difficult to define.
"Who judges whether art or expression has 'serious artistic value'?" the lawsuit asks. "At what point does a nude theatrical performance stop being 'serious,' how is that determined and by whom?"
Martingayle and attorney Neal Insley are fighting parts of the revised regulations on behalf of the clubs Have a Nice Day Cafe in Norfolk, Headlights in Chesapeake, and Chicho's, Crazy Charlie's, Hammerheads and The Peppermint Beach Club at the Oceanfront. Headlights is the only club involved in the suit that offers topless dancing.
The revised state law, which took effect last July 1, prohibits "strip teasing, topless entertaining, or entertainment that has employees who are not clad both above and below the waist." A related law prohibits club employees from appearing "nude or partially nude."
Those laws, however, apply only to establishments with mixed beverage licenses - clubs that sell liquor.
The ABC board revised its own regulations, which prohibit the display of "genitals, pubic hair or anus by an entertainer, or any portion of the areola of the breast of a female entertainer." The regulation would apply to clubs with only a beer and wine license, according to Jennifer Farinholt, an ABC spokeswoman.
The Chesapeake clubs Headlights on George Washington Highway and J.B.'s Gallery of Girls on North Battlefield Boulevard have ABC licenses to sell only beer and wine. Both are owned by Robert "Buddy" Brown, who's been fighting the nude-dancing issue for more than a year. And both continue to present dancers without nipple coverings, often called pasties.
At J.B.'s this week, bare-breasted women danced on a raised platform as patrons tossed dollar bills onto the stage.
Brown said Wednesday that his dancers are "in compliance with state code right now."
"There is a problem with the wording of some of the regulations," he added, but he declined comment further because of the pending lawsuit.
The state attorney general's office, which is defending the suit on behalf of the ABC Board, argues that the new laws and regulations comply with prior court decisions and the U.S. Constitution.
"There is no doubt that there are negative secondary effects of alcohol consumption," Assistant Attorney General Catherine Crooks Hill told Judge Stillman on Tuesday.
"The whole point is to protect the citizens of the commonwealth," she said, adding they are "not meant to quash free speech."
Violators can be charged with a misdemeanor and possibly have their alcohol license revoked. The same goes for violations of the happy hour and rendezvous regulations. The attorneys argue that the prohibition on advertising happy hour is a free speech violation. They also say club owners have no way of knowing whether criminals or persons of ill repute are gathering at their clubs.
Tim McGlone, (757) 446-2343, tim.mcglone@pilotonline.com
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Gents...
This is an opinion board...and that's what I have expressed.
RE: elsie-eye
“Couldn't it be because we simply don't like seeing our sisters demean themselves?” and “....but, $10 - $20 an hour to objectify yourself just ain't worth it, buddy....”
While those are your choices and you are certainly entitled to make and live by them... you do not have the right or authority to speak for any other adult, nor to pass judgment on them for their personal choices.
“How many of you would like to see your mom up there on the stage wrapped around a pole? Or your daughter?”
I probably wouldn’t like it, but it would be their choice, not mine.
elsie
The human body is a beautiful thing....but, $10 - $20 an hour to objectify yourself just ain't worth it, buddy
Sorry, not you call. Who are you to dictate what your 'sisters' do?
I worked there 17 years & LOVED it!!!!
I worked at Norfolk's finest go-go bar for nearly 17 years and absolutely LOVED it!! I met folks from EVERY walk of life that you can imagine--and made many life long friends. After all those years, at the urging of some of my 'regular' customers, (some of whom are like a father to me,) I decided to get a "real" job. Well, I've had my "real" job for nine years now, with a Fortune 500 company, and absolutely HATE it!! I make about the same money---but I now have health insurance. That's the only good part. But the back-stabbing two faced NASTY people I've met in the business world have been a real disappointment. I miss my friends, my co-workers, and my military guys that I trust with my LIFE. And if I hadn't gotten so FAT at my "real" job, I'd go back to go-go in a heartbeat.
I recenly passed my engineering test at my job..and I do my current job very well. But somehow I feel I've sold my soul to the devil himself--my not staying true to MYSELF..
Fabulous Insanity
Looks like the legislators and the judiciary are more concerned about nipples in the bars than the bipolar drunks who drive home from them.
Puritans Talk a Walk Please
I had to look at the calendar after reading this story, it does say 2009 right? I bet the morality police secretly admire policies adhered to by nations living under Sharia law, we should feel lucky that women aren't required to wear burqas here in the Commonwealth... yet. Sorry Puritans, we're not moving, as a matter of fact, and look at the number of posts here, our side is multiplying. One day women will be allowed to wear thong bathing suits in Va Beach...
leave them alone
Every time we turn around the government is trying to tell everyone how to live. Enough already! It's bad enough they banned smoking in bars and restaurants, now they want to place more bans. When and where will it end?
No one has to go to these places if they don't want to, but that doesn't seem to matter. The government knows better than you and I do. Yeah right!
Stop the government interference.
2cents
Why is it when a woman objects to the concept of women dancing around naked in front of a bunch of drunken slobs, that it must be due to jealousy? Couldn't it be because we simply don't like seeing our sisters demean themselves?
Nudity doesn't bother me a bit...I have personally sunbathed topless on some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, breastfed three daughters, on and on.
The human body is a beautiful thing....but, $10 - $20 an hour to objectify yourself just ain't worth it, buddy....and as for doing it to pay for college or support your kids? Didn't a school teacher recently lose her job when her stint as a stripper came to light? And, a lawyer did too, I believe. How many of you would like to see your mom up there on the stage wrapped around a pole? Or your daughter? By all means, feel free to take of your clothes...just not on a stage for a bunch of leering losers with dollar bills.
Absolutley Amazing!!
That grown people with some simblance of education can get so up tight over something this stupid. Let's see --- the sign tells you whats inside --- the guy at the door checks the ID's --- then you pay a cover charge to enjoy the entertainment that the sign outside informed you was there. After all that some idiot thinks there is a Bingo game inside and has a stroke because a good looking woman is dancing partially nude? That my friends is a level of stupid I cannot wrap my mind around! This is probably the same guy that stole his Dad's Playboy to look at the centerfold as a kid!
topless dancers perform as legal challenges continue
We claim to be one of the greatest nations in the world and we still have a problem with nudity. It is a shame that you can visit foreign countries and nudity is not an issue, but return home and you read articles like this. Walk the beaches of brazil or some of the carribean island and a nakes breast is only an issue to an American. We sometimes create our own problems. Sex most times is only an issue because we make it one.
radical Libertarian concept
Doc Tabor,
I don’t think it is so much a “radical Libertarian concept” as it is a forgotten concept. No harm, no foul... golden rule...
If some of these people would expend as much energy on an issue that would provide a viable solution to a legitimate problem in today’s world... something might actually be accomplished that would benefit man/woman kind.
Instead, elected officials attempt to legislate morality. An action that usually fails miserably, a woman cannot bare her attributes in a closed setting to earn a few bucks, but she can abort a pregnancy because it is her body to do with as she pleases... just saying, either it is her body or not.
Safe Passage
I would agree that this kind of entertainment is demeaning to all involved, and I would not patronize these places, but I have driven past them, and no one came out and tried to drag me inside and force me to look at nipples.
So, as long as they will leave me to pass by unmolested, I can stay outside and not bother them either.
Its a radical Libertarian concept known as minding our own business.
It might be a good policy for us to all follow, whether acting alone or collectively through government.
Boobs!
doesn't it seem a little silly when they have litigation about covering an area about 1" in diameter?
i've never been to a topless bar, but from what i've heard its not a phenomenal experience around here either way! haha.
Lighten up
Hey lighten up will ya. It's called adult entertainment. Lots of places have it and are successful having it. If a guy or gal wants a drink or two while seeing nice ladies or men dance scantily clad or partially nude let em. If you don't like this sort of thing then don't go in the place...don't deny others who like it. They usually make a good buck because their drink prices are inflated for the eye candy they provide. Which means they pay their fair share of tax money too.
What's the big deal?
Unless the girls are standing outside topless with signs (Like the Liberty Tax spokspeople) what's the big deal? If you don't want to see nips, don't go there. There are alot more offensive things on display at the oceanfront...like 300 lb tourists in bikinis.
Maybe some others' self esteem is more in question
"And, yes, they are sleazy. Don't even pretend you go there for the food! You go to topless bars to leer at women whose self esteem is so low that they think that dancing naked for a bunch of losers is all they are fit for."
Sounds like a lot of jealousy there. I've been to plenty of establishments that were not the least bit sleazy; unfortunately around here most establishments aren't much for upscale decor. Now as far as these young ladies supposedly having self esteem issues and issues about what they are fit for or not, you couldn't be further off base. These young ladies can make, on a slow day shift $10 to $20 per hour or more per shift, on a weekend evening the tips can amount to hundreds of dollars for less than 8 hours of work. Many of these young women have children or attend college or both and the income that dancing provides keeps them far above the poverty level. Compared to the pay at your average fast-food joint, chain restaurant, retail store, or most administrative office positions these girls are actually rather good at working smarter not harder.
just another double standard
Just another example of one group trying to push their views on another. If you're offended by a nipple, you should move to a state that doesn't have one on its state seal.
Headlights, huh? Hmmm.....
Double stereotype
Hey...a double sterotype plus bigotry in one post. Europe is as big of a place as the US and is just as diverse. They all don't think the same way.
Great Seal
The obverse of the seal features the Roman goddess Virtus standing over a defeated opponent. Yeah lets put a Pasties on the seal.
Save the Tatas
I love the "Save the Tatas" campaign. We definitely need/love to save 'em...apparently we're just not supposed to look at 'em. Lame VA.