Does the recent Portland City Ordinance concerning escorts and models affect you? Probably. On page 3 of the document, it says "Personal Escort/Model means any person who is held out to the public as being available for consideration to date, socialize, visit, consort with or accompany, entertain, or pose for a patron."
I called Mike Sanderson of Bureau of Licenses and asked him if this meant fantasy booth girls and he said he "wasn't familiar with that term." Great, now we have policy makers creating rules without even knowing what in the hell they are talking about. Asked a lawyer how this applied to exotic dancers and it was his opinion that to "entertain...for a patron" may include table dancing too. So now we're all in this together. But I was already of the opinion that phone sex operators, dancers, models, escorts, dominatrixes, porn actors, and working girls were all in this together anyway. We know there are differences in each field of the adult entertainment industry, but the common public doesn't. As far as the uninformed know, we're a bunch of dumb sluts who got molested at a young age and our self esteem is so low we don't even realize how we're exploiting ourselves every time we perform fantasy for cash.
I think this ordinance will affect dancers for the following reasons:
1. Some of the girls we dance with also work as lingerie models; our co-workers are gonna be under some serious stress.
2. If models and escorts can't or won't apply for escort permits, they might start dancing in strip clubs, inflating an already saturated work schedule.
3. Portland cracked down on street workers and they are currently going for models and escorts; why wouldn't they go for dancers next?
4. These ordinances are sweeping the country: dancers in Palm Beach, FL now have to purchase "Adult Entertainer Permits;" in San Diego, CA, both dancers and escorts have to get "Nude Permits" before being able to work, similar to exotic performers in Phoenix, AZ. Who started this mess? Mayor Giuliani of New York.
5. This ordinance isn't about prostitution, it's about somebody else telling you what you can do with your body. And NOBODY tells me what to do with my body--not my mama, not Johnny Law, not my sex partner. Nobody but me.
Above all, we can't let this ordinance pide us, even if we don't agree with each other on the subject. This country is so goddamn great because two people can have different opinions on life and still live next door to each other, get naked together, whatever. I will not let friendships I've had for the last five years get busted just because of this ordinance.
Know what you're talking about. Get a copy of the ordinance by calling the Bureau of Licenses at (503) 823-5139. All of us have a right to discussion and opinion. Peace.
EXOTIC MAGAZINE