One of the strippers in the lawsuit felt that her well-being and the other women were not part of the conversation when Reno placed the new restrictions on strip clubs. “Seriously, I had a stable living, I was receiving a steady paycheck, but Reno thinks I’m gonna be better off unemployed. Like they actually think I’m gonna be safer without money.”
The lawyer in the case Mark Thierman told Our Town Reno the case is still ongoing but proceeding very slowly due to COVID-19.
In her interview, the stripper said she learned how to take care of herself at a very young age, and stripping was a way for her to maintain a sense of consistency in her life.
She is aware that her career choice may not earn everyone’s approval, but she says no one has the right to judge her. “I feel like the law was placed on us because people have their religious morals and feel the need to convert anyone they disapprove of, but I’m not like embarrassed by what I do.”
She says the choice to become a stripper was her choice and that if you disapprove of her lifestyle, then ignore it. “The dictating of moral code is my main f***** issue,” she said.
She said she does not feel protected by the new restrictions; instead, she feels judged. “If they really wanted to protect us, they would regulate the people who come to the club sometimes, like we are seriously being punished for our ‘protection.’”
The city of Reno placed the new regulations on the strippers in April 2019 stating they were performing in an environment where alcohol is served only for those aged 21 and over. The Reno City Council also voted to remove private booths, require brighter lighting and increase the amount of video surveillance in strip clubs, amid ongoing back and forth discussions of the place of strip clubs in the Biggest Little City going forward.
Mark Thierman, the lawyer defending the strippers in the lawsuit, says the new stipulations are infringing on the stripper’s First Amendment rights.
The stripper we interviewed agreed. “When I danced the entire routine was mine, it wasn’t like anyone else’s.”