The Nebraska Legislature may soon decide to outlaw lap dances in the state.
LB443, a bill that would regulate adult and sexually orientated businesses, was introduced by Sen. Mark Christensen of Imperial to the General Affairs Committee on Monday afternoon.
The bill would place zoning restrictions on strip clubs and other businesses that sell adult materials. The restrictions would keep those businesses a quarter mile from schools, childcare facilities, playgrounds, churches, public recreation buildings and houses.
Christensen also introduced an amendment to shrink the quarter mile zoning restriction to 1,000 feet.
The bill would also regulate what goes on inside a strip club: It would create a six foot buffer zone between stripper and patron.
That would put an end to common strip club practices such as having the stripper pluck a dollar bill from a patron with her G-string or certain body parts, and giving table and lap dances.
“I’ve heard the joking directed toward the bill and me for bringing what appears to be a frivolous moral crusade,” Christensen said during the hearing. “What is so funny about the negative secondary effects of increased sexual crimes, thefts and the devaluation of property … What is so funny about an industry that exploits women as sexual objects?”
“Secondary effects” were one of the main arguments made by proponents of the bill. Secondary effects from strip clubs refer to an influx in crime rates for neighborhoods that have a strip or adult business nearby. A pamphlet containing studies done in 30 different cities by the National Law Center was handed to senators on the committee.
One of the studies, done in Phoenix, said the number of sex offenses in neighborhoods with a sexually orientated business were 506 percent higher than in neighborhoods without such a business.
A study done in the Times Square business district of New York City concluded that adult businesses drove down property value and increased criminal complaints in the area.
As the committee heard from seven proponents of the bill, talk slowly turned to testimony on the problems pornography makes for society.
Terry Rosseter, an Omaha man and member of the group Virtuous Men, said pornography is one of the most crippling addictions men can face.
“Pornography is simply a different kind of whore,” Rosseter said. “I’m sorry, it’s a prostitute of the mind.”
Amy Miller, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union in Nebraska, said the ACLU would fight the zoning restrictions the bill would place on businesses.
She said the pamphlet containing studies from the National Law Center doesn’t provide enough evidence on if crime rates in Nebraska are higher because of adult businesses. She said a study would have to be done in Nebraska before such conclusions could be reached.
After she was finished testifying, Miller said the other parts of the bill, such as the six-foot rule, are “censoring” in nature, but the ACLU wouldn’t be fighting the bill from that angle. They will have a greater chance of success going after the zoning restrictions, she said.
Ken Semeler was one of two club owners who spoke at the hearing in opposition to the bill.
Semeler, who owns The Night Before Lounge in Lincoln, said the six-foot rule would “basically put me out of business.”
“You can’t walk to the bathroom” at The Night Before Lounge without getting within six-feet of a stripper, he said.
He also said he didn’t understand the point of making strip clubs close earlier either.
“I’m not sure what happens at 11:05 that doesn’t happen at 10:55,” he said.
