Spice Of Life: Stormy Under Fire

Last month, porn actress Stormy Daniels was arrested and booked in a Columbus, Ohio strip club, after performing for her Make America Horny Again tour. Daniels— whose real name is Stephanie Clifford—allegedly "motorboated" an undercover police officer with her breasts. Daniels was arrested, booked and released, but charges were dropped the next afternoon. Daniels is presently involved in a lawsuit against President Donald Trump and his former personal lawyer Michael Cohen, which alleges that a non-disclosure agreement between Trump and Daniels is invalid. Trump allegedly paid Daniels $130,000 to buy her silence for having sex with Trump, prior to the 2016 presidential election.

According to law enforcement, on the night of July 11, 2018, Daniels violated the Ohio Community Defense Act. Prior to Daniels’ arrest, the regulation—enacted in 2007—has never before been cited and is the result of legislation pushed through by an evangelical Christian group, Citizens For Community Values (CCV).

A non-profit group that monitors hate groups in the United States, the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), has labeled the CCV a hate group since the late 1990s. According to SPLC, "all hate groups have beliefs or practices that attack or malign an entire class of people, typically for their immutable characteristics" and it’s not the first time the Cincinnati-based CCV group has been in the spotlight.

In 1990, the Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center opened a showing of controversial artist Robert Mapplethorpe’s photographic work. Mapplethorpe’s work featured nude and explicit sexual content. Both the museum and the museum’s art director were indicted and charged with obscenity. It was the first time in the history of the United States that criminal charges were levied against a museum. A jury found both the Arts Center and art director Dennis Barrie not guilty. According to the Smithsonian’s online magazine, the trial and resulting attention "challenged perceptions of art, public funding and what constituted ‘obscenity.’"

At the time, the CCV began a very public campaign against the museum’s showing of Mapplethorpe’s photographic images. The organization sent thousands of letters protesting the showing, demanding the cancellation of the show and demanding that federal funding be pulled from the museum.

"It was a very significant, very well-orchestrated campaign against the exhibition, the Contemporary Arts Center and the Fine Arts Fund," says Barrie at Smithsonian. "Suddenly, a national battle had landed in Cincinnati."

The trial and outcome changed the landscape of Cincinnati. It was a win for the art world and freedom of artistic expression. But, it is worth noting, that the CCV was behind the entire campaign.

The same way the organization fought against an artistic photographic show at a respected arts center, it fought against strip club owners and dancers to institute its Ohio Community Defense Act in 2007, which prohibits, among other things, strip clubs from operating between 12am and 6am, as well as customers from touching dancers (and dancers from touching customers).

Regarding the recent incident in Ohio, prosecutors dropped all charges against Daniels, based on the event being her first time at the club (and how she couldn’t be considered an employee of the club, as the law only applies to regular or semi-regular dancers).

Columbus Police Chief Kim Jacobs apologized for the arrest.

"A mistake was made and I accept full responsibility," Jacobs told Cincinnati Enquirer.

As for Ms. Daniels, she added another appearance at a second Columbus strip club as she continues her tour. She also tweeted her support for two house dancers from the Sirens strip club, who were arrested for the same alleged violation.

"Saddened to hear the other two dancers arrested with me last night did not have their charges dropped," says Daniels on Twitter. "All tips from my stage performance tonight at Sirens in Columbus will go towards their legal fees. Come support the working women of this city."

The Pacific Northwest enjoys some of the most liberal regulations in the country regarding sexuality and stripping. Oregon is the only state in the country that has a state constitution which protects "obscenity" under the First Amendment. It’s one of the reasons full bar and full nudity go hand-in-hand in Oregon strip clubs. And, thanks to the Oregon Supreme Court, live sex shows are also legal (providing no prostitution follows), dancers wear what they want and touch is allowed (according to club and dancer rules). So, a situation such as the one Stormy Daniels found herself in would most likely never happen here.

But, we should still keep an eye on those local evangelical Christian groups.