CORRESPONDENCE -- Residents bare thoughts on nudity ban

AT ISSUE: The Huntington Beach City Council tentatively passed an

ordinance that will ban nudity in public places, including bars and

restaurants. The ordinance will reappear before the council in August.

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I believe that everyone, including the City Council, misunderstands

the single most important issue regarding a ban on nude dance clubs in

Huntington Beach and elsewhere. What most people don’t realize is that

[in some clubs] between numbers, the dancers proposition the clientele

for a trip to a curtain-covered booth for a lap dance at $20 to $40.

The thought of high school-age young men engaging in this kind of

activity really upsets me, and I’m sure their parents and family members

as well.

How far of a stretch do you think it would be from this kind of

activity to hiring a street walker for sex?

The claim that a no-touch policy is enforced is a total fantasy. In my

opinion, this is just another form of legalized prostitution and should

be banned from our city and everywhere else.

GREG RICKETTS

Huntington Beach

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I believe the City Council should act to ban nudity in public places.

MELINDA JARRATT

Huntington Beach

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I think it’s absurd that our city leaders think it necessary to

protect us from the “evils” of a proposed nude bar. Their energies would

be far better spent protecting the Bolsa Chica from development, cleaning

up the beaches, protecting the remaining open space in our community and

working on the city’s infrastructure.

If they want to protect us from obscenity, they should start with the

mayor’s glaring conflicts of interest.

Adults should be free to patronize businesses like this if they are

well-run and follow the laws. We don’t need Big Brother protecting us

from our own vices.

SCOTT SANSENBACH

Huntington Beach

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I strongly ask that council ban all nudity in bars and restaurants. I

spent several years in England. There is a saying there that prostitutes

set trends and styles. It was interesting to observe that this was true

in clothing.

I feel that lenient laws on nudity have been a major factor in

declining morals in the population of the United States and have resulted

in an increase in one-parent homes with the accompanying financial load

on the government.

We do not need public debasement of women in Huntington Beach.

JAMES B. YOUNG

Huntington Beach

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Yes, I think the City Council should ban nudity in all public places,

which I hope will include surfers changing in and out of wet suits on the

beach, parking lots, curbside, etc.

This ban should also include bars and restaurants.

JIM BARRY

Huntington Beach