City of Industry Adopts 20-Foot "Glass" Rule

April 1, 2005

By SAXBEAT, Staff Writer

Shown here is the portable glass stage which will comply with the new "glass" ordinance. The same company provides portable metal fence stages as well.

(CNS) Fed up with what officials call a "blatant disregard for the law," the Industry City Council today passed an ordinance requiring adult entertainers to stay at least 20 feet from customers at all times, unless separated by a "glass, metal or brick" wall. The law, which goes into effect 90 days after passage, is already painted as being the strictest adult industry regulation in the country.

"We've tried everything," said Councilwoman Teri Felcher. "We've tried working with the clubs, we've tried enforcement, we've tried shutting them down, and either we get no cooperation, or the clubs fight the laws in court. Separation laws have been tried and won the legal test in almost every community in which they've been passed, so we are confident this law will work, and show the clubs we mean business."

Felcher, who admits the allowance for a brick wall was meant somewhat tongue-in-cheek, says that although Industry does not have a large population that would be offended by the clubs, the city has an obligation to uphold its reputation. "We were a laughingstock," she said. "Our neighboring communities considered us the local porn center, where the sluttiest clubs were. Now, we can just point to Upland."

First Amendment attorney Roger Diamond (pictured here), who is not representing any of the clubs in this dispute, nevertheless said he felt the clubs had good legal grounds for a challenge. "With some of the clubs," he said, "A 20-foot law places patrons outside of the club. That is unfair restraint of trade, no matter how you look at it."

Councilman Dennis "Dirty" Sanchez, countered that the provision in the law for glass separators was meant to accommodate such small clubs. "And if they can't afford plate glass right now," he said, "the metal fence provision allows them to put up chain link, as long as the openings are less than 2 by 2 inches." The measurement, he continued, was chosen to prevent dancer and customers from reaching through the chain link.

A dancer with the stage name "Meela" said the new law will mean the end of strip clubs in City of Industry. "I've already started looking elsewhere," she said. "I'm checking Upland, of course, and also Ontario and downtown Los Angeles. Those are where my kind of clubs are. If they are too crowded with girls, then God forbid, I may end up having to look in North Hollywood or Van Nuys."

Councilwoman Felcher said that's exactly what the law was meant to encourage. "If the dancers will leave," she said, "the clubs will close down. Then Industry can return to being known as a family-friendly town where all other types of business are welcome."

Controversial Catholic Sect To Buy Strip Clubs

April 1, 2005

By SAXBEAT, Staff Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) - The controversial Catholic sect, "Holy Family," which has become well-known recently because of its links to Hollywood actor and director Mel Gibson, has made an offer to buy the Deja Vu and Spearmint Rhino chains of strip clubs for a reported price of $3.5 billion.

Gibson, acting as spokesperson for the small but outspoken church in this matter, said it was a matter of, "Doing something positive to fight sin and sinners, as our laws obviously haven't worked."

The Deja Vu chain, which operates 78 strip clubs across the United States, is best known for offering "97 pretty girls and 3 ugly ones" at each of its clubs. It constitutes the largest adult entertainment chain in the U.S., with revenues estimated at $500 million to $1 billion annually.  Spearmint Rhino has holdings in Europe as well as in the United States with revenues near $500 million.

The Holy Family sect is a so-called Traditionalist break-off of the Roman Catholic church, which, among other things, celebrates Mass in Latin, and is not recognized by the Holy See in Rome. The group plans to convert the purchased strip clubs into churches. Gibson has contributed large sums of money to the group before, including $2.8 million to build a church near Malibu, CA, but the offer for the entire Deja Vu and Spearmint Rhino chains dwarfs his previous contributions and is being supplemented by thousands of private contributions as well as some of the $2 billion in earnings from Gibson's religious epic, "The Passion of the Christ."

"We've scouted out most of the locations already," said Gibson. "You'd be surprised at how quickly we can have them up and running as churches. Once we remove the stripper poles, the stages can become altars with just a paint job. Most of the clubs also have small booths around the perimeter that can be converted to confessionals. Basically, we just move the chairs to the back of the club, bring the sofas up front as pews, and we are done. We can even use the DJ booth for music until we can order enough organs to go around."

Michael Swyved, CEO of Deja Vu, Inc., said the company will not consider the church's offer. "It's an outrage," he said. "They should clean up their own act before they start complaining about ours," an apparent reference to the molestation scandal sweeping the Catholic church in recent years.

Religious Studies Professor Aptly Named at California State University, Northridge, says while the battle between church and adult entertainment may have taken a new turn, the war is an old one. "Of course, there is going to be friction between the groups," he said. "There are so many similarities: Both encourage a lot of kneeling. Both involve private offerings of money based on guilt and how much you think you've sinned. There is probably an equal amount of praying and thanking God at both institutions. Priests and DJs occupy positions of authority that are often abused. And of course, women are both exalted and oppressed in both organizations. They are essentially fighting over the same turf. And of course, we've all heard of the link between religious and physical ecstasy. So, I think it makes sense. I think the Holy Family group is recognizing the amount of money being spent in strip clubs, and saying, 'Hey, put some of that in our garter belt,' so to speak."

Swyved says the Deja Vu company is considering a number of options to fight off the hostile offer, including declaring itself a religious sect in order to get First Amendment protection. "We'll do whatever it takes," he said. The company has already asked the purchase offer to be investigated under anti-trust laws. "If strip clubs get bought by churches," he said, "the church will have a monopoly on people's souls. It is un-American. We have a right in this country to decide whether or not we are going to sin, and how much."

Gibson denies the church will have a monopoly on souls. "There are still a lot of sinners out there," he said. "Our sect is small, and besides, there a lot of other strip clubs besides Deja Vu, and almost all of them offer higher mileage. Of course, when it comes to sinners there are always the Jews; and while they may run Hollywood and the banks, there are surprisingly few of them running strip clubs."