Lap Dancing and Constitutional Rights
A Pennsylvania woman filed suit against Adams Township for denying her a permit to run a lap-dance studio. Stephanie Babines and the ACLU say it violates her First Amendment rights; town officials say it's a matter of decency.
Babines and Adams Township officials can balance community norms and free expression on their own, but this portion of the AP story caught the eye:
Although Babines' classes include pole-dancing, power lap dance, strip tease and "SeXXXercise," they are all taught and performed fully clothed, the lawsuit states. Men can't take the classes, and no spectators are allowed.
Excluding men sounds downright discriminatory. At least, that's what neighboring New Jersey's Office of Civil Rights thought when it comes to Ladie's Nights at bars. And the ACLU agreed. "Where there are opportunities to create equality," said the ACLU's New Jersey chief, "we should do so." Surely the Founding Fathers envisioned a society of equal access to striptease techniques?
Tags: ACLU | Pennsylvania
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Reader Comments
relax
This is ridiculous, let's all get off our high horses and enjoy life. If lap dancing is enjoyable by some of us, let it be. Stop trying to dictate what everyone else is doing and focus on your own private life...
It's not JUST what you think it is
As someone who's done this kind of exercise for over 2 years, I can tell you that it's EXERCISE - a lot of work. I've improved myself physically and mentally and its benefits are amazing.
Steph - don't let the jerks, naysayers and dirty minded bastards get you down!!!
Lap Dancing & Constitution
This is ridiculous, but the Supreme Court has already ruled that commercial, nearly-nude lap dancing is a form of "speech," and that private possession of pornography which it would be illegal to buy or make for interstate sale, and "virtual" child pornography, copied from and depicting the real thing, a child labor issue, are forms of "press," protected by the First Amendment. The Framers would be outraged, as am I. REmember, too, the ACLU has also repersented NAMBLA, which advocates, and at least some of whose membedrs have been roven to practice, sex by adults with children. This isn't about freedom of speech or press, it's about exploitation and big money, and such positions bring the Supreme Court, much less the ACLU, into disrepute and contempt.r
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