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AFA JournalSEXUALLY ORIENTED BUSINESSESSmall Town, Big ProblemControversy surrounding the opening of a strip bar in a small Northwest Alabama community serves as a reminder that the time to act against sexually oriented businesses is before they are planned.By Jason CollumAFA Journal Staff Writer AFA Journal, May 2001 Edition Some Colbert County, Alabama, residents have seen the peace of their community shattered in the wake of the opening of the region's first topless strip bar, Club 43. Local officials, with state laws on their side, are working to make sure a bad situation doesn't get any worse. When the owners of Club 43 announced they planned to open the bar just south of Muscle Shoals, local residents were limited in what they could do to prevent the business from entering their community as the county has no zoning ordinances in effect and the bar wasn't within any city limits. "It has just ruined a real nice, Christian neighborhood," Jessie Peters, who lives near the club, told the local newspaper, TimesDaily. She said she didn't believe the bar would open in the face of opposition. "We fought it tooth and nail." Despite protests the bar's owners, Rodney and Van Trawick, were able to obtain a business license. County commissioners told the TimesDaily they were unable to legally deny the business license. However, the Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control [ABC] board did deny a permit to sell alcohol at the establishment. The Trawicks opened the business January 9 and within two hours of its opening authorities with the sheriff's department and ABC raided the establishment, arresting the Trawicks and 10 employees of the club, including dancers and drink servers [the club operates on a bring-your-own-beverage basis]. The Trawicks and their employees were charged with displaying materials harmful to minors, a misdemeanor under Alabama's anti-obscenity laws, dubbed by supporters and critics as being among the nation's toughest. Since then the Trawicks have filed suit against Sheriff Ronnie May and his department, alleging the officers are harassing the club and patrons by the officers' constant presence. Deputies have been called several times on complaints from nearby residences. Marshall Gardner, an attorney for the Trawicks and Club 43, was very pointed in his criticism to the TimesDaily of law enforcement's activities, which have included heavy patrolling of the club, and with the community's disdain for the establishment. "This is a legitimate business, and they have been up front from day one about what their plans were. I'm just sorry that we haven't moved beyond where we obviously are. I would hope the commission would not pander to one religious group and appease one religious belief." While religious beliefs do play a role in the community's disapproval of the club, fear of increased crime in the neighborhood is also a concern. Studies have shown where sexually oriented businesses [SOB] are located crime tends to increase while surrounding property values do the opposite. Betty Alsbrooks, who lives in Russellville, just a few miles south of Club 43, said she understands why neighbors, some of whom live only a few yards from the facility, are upset. "Along here they have a lot of young children," Alsbrooks said as she purchased gas from a small convenience store across the highway from the club. "[I understand the concerns] because I've got grandchildren, and I wouldn't want it around mine. I wouldn't want that club close to where I live. I don't see how it could do any good for the community" Secondary effects The National Law Center for Children and Families has compiled a crime impact study of municipal and state governments on harmful secondary effects of SOBs. The study, conducted from 1978 to 2000, focused on 32 cities and locations, large and small, across the United States and how they have been affected by the introduction of sexually oriented businesses. Among the findings: In Tucson, Arizona, officers found a wide variety of illegal sexual conduct at all adult businesses. At virtually every business, employees were arrested for prostitution or obscene sex shows. Dancers were usually prostitutes and, for a price, customers could observe them performing live sex acts. Underage dancers were found, the youngest being a 15-year-old female. Crime increased significantly in Garden Grove, California, with the opening of an adult business, or with the expansion of an existing business or the addition of a bar nearby. The rise was greatest in serious offenses [homicide, rape, robbery, assault, burglary, theft and auto theft.] Beaumont, Texas, police verified that bars, taverns, and lounges [especially those with sexually-oriented entertainment] are frequent scenes of prostitution and the sale/use of narcotics. On the whole, all criminal activity was higher at SOBs. Some refuse to admit the obvious, though, and insist there is nothing wrong with this type of business. "This has always been the Bible Belt, so you've got to expect that," Club 43 head bartender Krista Stokes, who moved to the area from Chicago eight months earlier, was quoted as saying about the controversy. "They're not hurting anyone. All they're doing is just dancing. The girls know what to do and not do. This is just something to make money and have fun." Ask a former stripper who was able to escape the lifestyle, though, and a different picture emerges into view. Victoria Teague, founder of Victoria's Friends in Atlanta, a ministry that helps women leave the adult entertainment industry, says there is very little fun in being in the business. "At first it was a glamorous ride," Teague said, "with the money and lights. I thought I was a celebrity. I was told I'd be famous and there would be movie producers coming around making me film offers. I was totally used." Teague turned to drugs, as she said many dancers do, to cope with the job. The downward spiral almost led her to suicide. "[The industry] is destroying the girls in there. Most of the girls are sexually abused," she said. "It's degrading. My last year, I felt like an animal in a cage with men jeering and pawing at me. At the end of the shift a lot of girls would be crying. It's God's grace that I got out." As a result of Club 43's opening, officials in nearby Muscle Shoals and Tuscumbia enacted strict zoning regulations in order to keep these adult businesses out of town. Other cities around the nation are also moving to prevent these types of businesses, including Starkville, Mississippi, where officials earlier this year restricted adult businesses to industrial zones, away from families and churches. RESOURCE AVAILABLE--AFA has compiled a booklet, A Guide to What One Person Can Do About Pornography, which gives details about why citizens should take action against pornography and SOBs and how they can do it. The guide can be found on AFA Online at www.afa.net/pornography, or can be ordered by phone by calling 662-844-5036, option 4. |
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