Why San Antonio Sucks
Topless clubs hope to dance past city ordinance
Web Posted: 08/26/2005 12:36 AM CDT
Guillermo Contreras
Express-News Staff Writer
Just how much skin do you have to show to be nude? Or, for that matter, semi-nude?
Beginning in early September, most strip club dancers in San Antonio will be using pasties to find out.
But to avoid the long arm of the law, the accessories must cover enough, um, anatomy so that the entertainers would be exempt from the city's controversial human display ordinance.
The city's eight major topless clubs are planning to have their entertainers wear "the modern-day equivalent of pasties" to cover their breasts and less-revealing underwear so the dancers will not have to apply for and wear permit ID badges, as required by the recently amended ordinance, said Jim Deegear, a lawyer representing the clubs.
By wearing pasties, exotic dancers might be able to sidestep the permit process, provided they would be covered up sufficiently so the venues they perform in would not be considered "human display" establishments, Deegear said Thursday.
The move could put to rest a long-running struggle between the city and so-called gentlemen's clubs over an ordinance governing strippers.
"They're tired of fighting," Deegear said of the topless clubs. "We concede. The city wins."
Deegear said some dancers have left the city or left the business because of dwindling cash flow caused by the ordinance's impact. He also noted the city spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in the suit, and his clients also racked up large legal bills.
"Everybody's been hemorrhaging money on this, and we decided to try this out and see how it works," Deegear said.
The announcement by the clubs comes two weeks before the city's human display ordinance kicks in Sept. 8, which would force dancers and other employees at cabarets to wear ID badges to keep offering semi-nude entertainment. The announcement also means the clubs and managers would not have to apply for the permits.
But William "Mick" McKamie, a lawyer who defended the city against a federal lawsuit filed by the clubs, said the dancers must be covered up enough to be exempt, and they still must abide by state law that restricts public lewdness, indecent exposure and similar offenses.
"If they don't meet the definition of semi-nude, this ordinance doesn't regulate them," McKamie said. Ultimately, he added, it could be a judge that decides how much skin pasties must cover.
If the ordinance doesn't apply to them, dancers would be able to touch customers, perform table dances and other activities short of illegal sexual touching.
"My clients still have to observe state law regarding inappropriate sexual touching," Deegear said. "Other than that, the ordinance will no longer apply, so we'll observe all the state law and try to get along with everybody the way the city originally intended."
McKamie said a dancer would still be semi-nude if the pasties are too small or revealing, and that bikini tops may be needed to overcome the definition of "semi-nude." He also stressed that the ordinance defines nude in such a way that it would require dancers to wear less-revealing underwear to be exempt from the ordinance.
The real question, McKamie said, is whether pasties cover enough skin to avoid the "semi-nude" threshold.
The topless clubs, which sued the city claiming the ordinance was unconstitutional, reached a settlement earlier this year with the city. As part of the deal, the city got much of what it sought when it originally passed the ordinance in April 2003.
Under the deal, nude dancing is banned, and dancers cannot perform semi-nude unless they are at least three feet away from a customer. Small, locked or obstructed VIP rooms are also banned.
"There's no new agreement," McKamie added. "This ordinance is enforceable and will be enforced."
Deegear said the city's two clubs that offer nude dancing plan to apply for permits and abide by other provisions of the ordinance, including the three-foot rule.
As of Thursday, 10 dancers and three managers had obtained their permit IDs, according to a San Antonio police spokesman.
In related action, 30 to 40 citations issued for dancing nude were disposed of with plea bargains last week. In exchange for no-contest pleas, dancers who committed the infractions were given deferred adjudication for 90 days and fined $150 each, Deegear said.