In 1997, the City of Houston passed a draconian anti strip club ordinance. Eleven years of fighting in the courts started. On Monday, the US Supreme Court refused to hear any further appeals by the clubs. The ordinance includes a three foot rule, and a distance requirement (1500 feet) from any possible place children would gather-church, mall, theater, park, school, and community center. For years, the vice squad has waited for this day. What this means is that if you have a good lawyer on retainer, and your employer, family, and friends don't mind you striking a blow for freedom, go ahead and get an upclose personal dance in the VIP room. If you can't risk it, travel beyond city limits to get your fun.
Yeah I heard this was on its way. It's beyond me where the "right to dance" crowd can turn next, since it seems most venues have been stopped. My personal trick, in a legalistic sort of way, would be to follow the pornography rulings and make SURE that "reasonable community standards" included public nudity and the overt performance of oral sex on strangers. Any volunteers? :)
One of my best friends is a long time Houston resident and clubber and has always bragged that for $ 80.00 he can get a BBBJ and a beer. He will be very sad if this is true.
Well if Houston changes the rules, TUSCL readers should be among the first to know -- but we will probably get more information from the club reviews than from this discussion thread. The thread is only 2 days old so it still has a few days of life in it, but if there HAD BEEN AN OBSERVABLE CHANGE in the Houston rules, I would think at least a couple of people would have said so in this thread. So I surmise that even if Houston LE has won a legal victory they have not yet implemented their new powers. If they do it gradually (my guess) there will be low-level crackdowns and lots of rumors, and most of the club owners and dancers will start tightening up on their own. If they do it in a dramatic public way, it could go well beyond TUSCL and could even appear on CNN, USAToday, Newser, etc.
I live in a town that used to have whorehouses, nude juice-bars and alcoholic topless bars. The "City Fathers" finally decided that was unacceptable, and they clamped down in a quiet but determined fashion. Now this town has none of the above three types of establishments, but no headlines were generated.
A few years ago, Phoenix passed a new law that placed additional restrictions on dancer behavior, established monitoring requirements for management, and put in place a variety of penalties. Interestingly, none of the new penalties applied to the customers. They were directed at the dancers and management only. So what happened? Phoenix LE was active for about 6 months, calling out girls and giving them misdemeanor tickets. Then enforcement tailed off. I have seen no evidence of enforcement in over a year. On any given day, LE has way more important things to do than lurk in clubs, looking for violations. I think they will do a little campaign when the political pressure is on, and then back off and go back to the more important stuff.
The thing is, last year there was a well publicized raid on Houston Dolls (county club, but city Police helped out). Treasures had it's problems in 2006 (two raids). There's a concentration of clubs in the westheimer/richmond area. I think the fuzz will go after these places because of the 1500 foot rule.
I'd be sad to see Treasures and similar clubs go the way of "correct" behavior. Although I realize they're obscenely overpriced, especially for the type of gal you could get, and although I realize they're not ideal circumstances according to many men's preferences, nevertheless for me the real thrill of the chase was in a place like that. I liked having the chance to "hang out" and either get drunk, or not; and either smoke, or not; and either fondle a few girls in try-out-the-merchandise lappers, or not; and either go to the back couches and get a blowjob, or not. All under one roof. That was my thing. Hunting for the girl by means of actually seeing her naked, before having to decide -- and so on. I'd be sorry to see Treasures get rearranged.
Alas, I had some of my best early experiences in Houston during the "good old days". My first lap dance ever was at the Colorado Bar and Grill. My first experiences with "extras" was at a now-closed place called "Paradise." Indeed, it was. I knew I was going to have an interesting experience there when I got out of my car and noticed that a dancer was blowing a guy in the car parked next to me. They must have wanted to leave the club to get some fresh air, because they certainly didn't need to leave the club for the activity that they were engaged in when I saw them. Their VIP area was the balcony area of what had previously been a theatre. You could lean over the edge of the balcony and motion for the girls onstage to come upstairs to see you. I think that this building has most recently housed a club called "Cover Girls."
Sic transit gloria! (Actually, her name may have been Esmerelda, not Gloria)
I went to a few clubs along the Westheimer area in Houston and frankly... the girls do not pay any attention to a 3 foot rule or whatever. They are very in your face and on your crotch. Texas clubs are full contact and the girls are the first to initiate "intimate contact" with the customer.
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I live in a town that used to have whorehouses, nude juice-bars and alcoholic topless bars. The "City Fathers" finally decided that was unacceptable, and they clamped down in a quiet but determined fashion. Now this town has none of the above three types of establishments, but no headlines were generated.
Alas, I had some of my best early experiences in Houston during the "good old days". My first lap dance ever was at the Colorado Bar and Grill. My first experiences with "extras" was at a now-closed place called "Paradise." Indeed, it was. I knew I was going to have an interesting experience there when I got out of my car and noticed that a dancer was blowing a guy in the car parked next to me. They must have wanted to leave the club to get some fresh air, because they certainly didn't need to leave the club for the activity that they were engaged in when I saw them. Their VIP area was the balcony area of what had previously been a theatre. You could lean over the edge of the balcony and motion for the girls onstage to come upstairs to see you. I think that this building has most recently housed a club called "Cover Girls."
Sic transit gloria! (Actually, her name may have been Esmerelda, not Gloria)