COLUMBUS, OH — Citizens For Community Standards is gearing up to fight conservative opposition here to Senate Bill 16, also known as the “Community Defense Act.” Passed in June of this year by the state’s general assembly, the bill is now up for a vote in November. The bill prohibits physical contact between strippers and their patrons and makes all adult businesses close at midnight.CCS is a political action committee formed by Association of Club Executives National to oppose conservative group Citizens For Community Values’ efforts to see the bill passed in the first place. Angelina Spencer, executive director of CCS, told YNOT of the group’s opposition, “Senate Bill 16 was a ruse promoted by the CCV, in my personal opinion, to keep the CCV president [Phil Burress] and his family seated in a well-paying job. I am opposed to this law because it insinuates that adults need to be monitored by the government with regard to which hours they may enter an adult bookstore. I am also opposed to the law because in spite of the CCV’s protest to the contrary, the law does indeed provide a punishment of 30 days in jail and a $250 fine for any patron or dancer that engages in “incidental” touching…. in essence… a handshake between a man and a woman inside a gentlemen’s club can now be criminalized. Geez, I thought we lived in the U.S., home of the free and the brave! Additionally, I am opposed to the cost to Ohioans for enforcement of such a stupid law when Ohio has more pressing problems… like sitting in 49th out of 50th place for job growth. I have two questions no one can answer: How will the law be enforced? And… at what cost to taxpayers in terms of both money and their safety on the streets?”

Asked if the bill is truly about protecting the community, Spencer said, “Hell no. The CCV claims this law is needed to lower crime. Yeah, right. Let’s work from the premise that the CCV is right and our places truly are the denizens of crime they purport them to be… then why in the world haven’t the clubs and bookstores been closed under the 70 plus laws that already exist on Ohio’s law books? Why do you need an oppressive “no touch” and “midnight closing” provision? If you want to protect a community you can do so by providing good services, lighting, jobs, law enforcement, activities, housing, education and opportunity.”

Asked why CCV is so vigorously opposing CCS on the bill, Spencer said emphatically, “Phil Burress has a huge ego and doesn’t like to lose. For example, this law was passed last year as House Bill 23 but it was too watered down for the CCV. He became angry with the Ohio senate president Bill Harris and according to him, the CCV even threatened a couple of senators and shadowed them at public events with prayer warriors. Yet to me, this isn’t about law or protecting the public… this is a ruse designed to turn the public’s head away from real issues. The Republican Party is reaping the consequences of catering to these social conservatives who have hijacked the elephants in order to promote a censorial agenda. For example, a basic tenet of the Republican Party is less government! I’m curious as to why this party would capitulate to more governmental interference on this issue… if this is the case, then it is only a matter of time before they decide to go after, oh, groups like the NRA so we can get gun control. Phil was credited in a NY Times article as swinging the last presidential election to a Bush victory and even met with Rove on a few occasions. My question remains: Why would a grassroots organization from Ohio garner so much favor and attention from such magnates of power? As we dig more deeply, we discover that the masterminds of this law also promoted the anti-gay marriage amendment in Ohio. However, the CCV reports some serious discrepancies in its funding… to the tune of millions of dollars… with regard to its funding of this campaign issue…. so they hide behind their charitable organization and claim they don’t have any obligation to disclose their donors.”

Unfortunately, Spencer feels that CCS’ battle is an uphill one.
“Unfortunately, many people will vote against us simply out of righteous indignation,” Spencer told YNOT. “I think it is a shame that our industry and the women who work in this industry are being so blatantly objectified to Ohioans by the CCV. I would hope that the wonderful people of Ohio would vote on the law itself rather than the mores of stripping. What starts here in terms of censorship certainly will not end here… it will eventually flow to other forms of fashion, art, media, books, etc. I would ask adults who patronize regular nightclubs how they would feel if the CCV decided to outlaw “dirty dancing” in regular clubs and punished women for sitting on a guy’s lap or dancing on a bar. I’m telling you, if the CCV wins this one… its only the beginning. Wouldn’t it be a shame to scarlet letter exotic dancers and then have it be used as a precedent to outlaw normal human interaction and contact in a regular nightclub?”

On the upside, Spencer also works as senior adviser to Dancers For Democracy — a group founded by strippers, who are perhaps more affected by this bill than anyone.

Of the spirited group, Spencer said, “They were tired of listening to the CCV claim they were drug-addicted whores forced into virtual slavery in Ohio. These brave women wanted a voice. They wanted to give a face to the industry and personalized stories of triumph. DFD ladies conduct interviews, research, writing, protests, and fund raising. I absolutely adore them. I believe they are sagacious, talented, well-liked by the public, and sincere. One of the most ingenious things they did was hold a press conference to show the absurdity of a six foot rule between dancers and patrons at adult clubs. They constructed a large 12-foot diameter hula hoop and wrapped it with yellow police tape to show the public how impossible it would be to abide by such a stupid distance requirement. We hope to regularly engage these great ladies during our referendum campaign to repeal this law.”

To help CCS fight in Ohio, visit ACENational.org.