Close Nevada brothels?

shadowcat
Atlanta suburb
February 24, 2011 Nevada prostitutes, brothel owners say they're not afraid of Harry Reid
By Chris Moody - The Daily Caller | Published: 12:57 AM 02/24/2011 | Updated: 3:55 PM 02/24/2011


By Chris Moody - The Daily Caller
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Chris Moody is a reporter for The Daily Caller.

Moonlite Bunny Ranch brothel owner Dennis Hof answers the media questions on Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2011 at the Legislature in Carson City, Nev., following a speech from U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in which he proposed banning legal prostitution in the state. Hof and a number of his prostitutes and other brothel supporters attended the speech and called the idea "offensive." ison) Brothel representatives wait for U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to speak to a joint session of the state Legislature on Tuesday, Feb. 22, 2011 at the Legislative Building in Carson City, Nev. Reid proposed outlawing prostitution saying it hinders Nevada's ability to attract businesses to the state. Standing, from left are Jeff Arnold and George Flint, with the Nevada Brothel Owners Association, and seated from left, are Bunny Love, Brooke Taylor, Moonlite Bunny Ranch owner Dennis Hof, and an unidentified brothel worker. (AP Photo/Cathleen Allison)
Sex workers from the Moonlite Bunny Ranch, Brooke Taylor, left, and Deanne "Air Force Amy" Salinger testify Tuesday, April 8, 2009 at the Legislature in Carson City, Nev. Bunny Ranch owner Dennis Hof, at right, was one of three brothel owners who also testified on a proposal to levy a $5 state tax on sex acts to help raise state revenue. (AP Photo/Nevada Appeal, Cathleen Allison)

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's threat to shut down the regulated sex industry in his state doesn't exactly have Nevada prostitutes shaking in their G-strings.

“I will lie down for a lot of things, but Senator Reid is not one of them,” said Brooke Taylor, a five-year veteran working girl at the Moonlite Bunny Ranch just outside Carson City.

In his biennial address at the state capitol Tuesday, the Nevada senator vowed to strip the state's 16 counties of the right to determine their own brothel laws, saying that “the time has come” to rid the state of the practice.

“When the nation thinks about Nevada, it should think about the world's newest ideas and newest careers – not about its oldest profession,” Reid told the state delegation.

Reid's call to ban prostitution in the state — which is only legal in a handful of mostly rural counties — received a downright cold response from the audience, which included brothel owner Dennis Hof and eight of his “ladies” who work for him at the Moonlite Bunny Ranch.

Hof, and other local industry leaders, said Reid was just using the issue to distract from the state's other pressing problems. Nevada has one of the worst unemployment rates in the country, and its economy has seen little recovery since the recession began.

By focusing on prostitution, Reid could spend the week back in his district fielding frivolous questions about cathouses and not the state of the economy, brothel owners said.

“Reid is just trying to cover his butt,” Hoff told The Daily Caller. “He's putting the spotlight on the brothel industry and using us as a red herring. He's punishing the counties who didn't vote for him. He's saying, ‘You didn't vote for me, then go to hell.'”

Nevada Republican Governor Brian Sandoval, who would have the final say on any proposal to outlaw the industry state-wide, suggested he would veto the bill if it ever made it to his desk.

“It's up to the counties to decide if they want it or not,” he told the Las Vegas Sun.

In large part, brothel owners and defenders of local rights say that although they take calls from policymakers to eliminate their livelihood seriously, Reid's speech was an empty threat that lacks any significant support in the Nevada assembly.

“No one has rallied on his behalf,” Bobbi Davis, owner of the Shady Lady Ranch in Goldfield, told TheDC. “In the last election, only one rural country supported him. His son ran for governor and no one supported it. It could be retaliation. It sounds like a dumb thing for a grown man to do, but that could be it.”

13 comments

  • SuperDude
    14 years ago
    A U.S. Senator can propose changes to state law in his or home state, but it's up to the state legislature and the governor to decide if the proposal becomes law. This is looking like a non-starter.
  • samsung1
    14 years ago
    Here in Ohio, the strip clubs blame the republicans/conservatives for their legal troubles but here is a democrat trying to play the moral card.
  • SuperDude
    14 years ago
    Democrats have morals too. Many, not all, refrain from trying to impose their sexual morality on others. Some Republicans take the view that the "free for all" morality of the past 30 years has weakened the fiber of the country, to our detriment and possible decline. On occassions frightened conservative Democrats, like Reid, who just squeaked through last year, try to appeal to the moral conservative GOP base for additional support. Notice how Reid, in other articles, is quoted as having a conversation with an unidentified businessman who worried about his children seeing a brothel sign on the way to school if his company were to locate in that rural county. Who said that? What company does he represent? In what context? Was it said in confidence or for attribution? Did Reid just make it up to get his point across? If the only concern is some tawdry sign that should not be seen by children, surely reasonable adults can come to some agreements on acceptable nonsexual commercial display and advertising without threating the existence of the business. I'm guessing the brothels would rather be good corporate citizens than fight a battle over a gaudy sign, if that is offense to be controlled.
  • jackslash
    14 years ago
    Prostitution is illegal in Las Vegas, and so of course there is no prostitution in that city.
  • vincemichaels
    14 years ago
    jackslash is a wise man. LOL Now the babe I had in my room certainly just wanted my "company"
  • Dudester
    14 years ago
    I followed up on the story yesterday. Reid was laughed at as soon as he left the podium.
  • Prim0
    14 years ago
    Conservitism is the answer. Keep the government out of all these decisions and if someone wants to pay another for sex, let em! We don't all have the same religion or morals...who is one person to say that what another is doing is wrong if it doesn't effect them and doesn't harm the consenting adult participants. Freedom of religion should include freedom from religion too, IMHO.
  • spandexman
    14 years ago
    Will they close down the biggest whore house in Carson City, the state capital too?
  • CTQWERTY
    14 years ago
    If there was some other viable industry to make use of the land, the brothels would be gone. The soil sucks in Nevada.<p>

    Hof probably paid Reid to bring the topic to the fore so Hof could reap all of the PR.
  • bumrubber
    14 years ago
    PrimO,

    Unfortunately the "conservative" party was taken over by the American Taliban 20-30 years ago.
  • vincemichaels
    14 years ago
    I wonder what skeletons Harry Reid has in his closet. At some point, someone will dig up one and we'll see Harry squeal.
  • rl27
    14 years ago
    What do you expect, Harry Reid's a Mormon. To please his backers, many of whom are Mormon he has to be against it, regardless of what his beliefs are. The Morman minority in Nevada gets a referendum to outlaw prostitution on the ballot every time they can. Several Democrats are against prostitution, but the Republican's are worse and more dangerous. Most are against all forms of adult entertainment for Moral and Religious reasons. Morality is either loosely or explicitely listed in their state and national platforms.
  • sanitago
    14 years ago
    Prim0,
    it'd be nice if what you say were true, but when I look at the modern conservative movement, I see them talking about 'keeping government out of our private lives", but what do they do? they pushing through things like the Patriot Act, the various laws that define what they see as "marriage as it should be", restrictions on abortion, restrictions on almost any type of "adult" industry, etc., etc., etc. they're interested in freedom....as long as it's "freedom" by their definition.
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