May 17--A West Side alderman is backing off a proposal to relax rules on nudity in strip clubs that sell liquor, putting the brakes on a plan that has drawn the ire of anti-sexual exploitation groups who contend it would put workers at risk.
"Some of my colleagues are against it, and I don't want to be seen as exploiting women," said Ald. Emma Mitts, 37th, who won't call her ordinance for a vote at Wednesday's City Council meeting. "I was just looking at a way to bring in some revenue for the city."
The change of plans came a day after Mitts met with Mayor Rahm Emanuel to discuss a measure he hasn't publicly taken a position on. "She understands there is not the support for this, and it's controversial," Emanuel said Tuesday.
On Monday, Mitts expressed confusion about what exactly her proposal would do, telling reporters she favored a plan that would require strippers to apply "pasties" to their nipples in strip clubs that paid $75,000 for liquor licenses, though the plan her office distributed would have allowed dancers to be completely topless in those clubs.
It was the second time Mitts failed to grasp the specifics of the ordinance she sponsored. Before last month's City Council meeting, she held off calling for a vote after learning her measure would have allowed full nudity in clubs selling alcohol, saying at the time she would rework the ordinance to require strippers to "put a G-string on."
"I'm going to hold off on it for right now. I'm still considering it," Mitts said Tuesday about the likelihood she will revisit the issue. "I don't think I'm going to be bothering with it (again). If I drop it, I'm not going to deal with it."
Currently, dancers are required to cover their breasts in strip joints where liquor is sold. There are eight or so licensed strip clubs in Chicago, and only one, VIP's, A Gentlemen's Club, serves alcohol, city officials have said. Mitts has said representatives of VIP's have had a hand in crafting her new ordinance to loosen the restrictions.
Mitts had argued that her new rules would help the city better control what goes on in the clubs. She has complained that at some of the strip clubs in the city, patrons carry in their own liquor or drink in the parking lot, leading to criminal activity and making it tough for bouncers to keep control.
In addition to allowing some nudity with liquor sales, the money raised by the $75,000 licensing fee would have gone toward services for victims of sexual assault, domestic violence and human trafficking.
Opponents argued that Mitts' plan was still a bad one and stepped up their efforts this week to stop the measure from becoming law. The foes had a City Hall news conference Monday to contend that alcohol sales in Chicago's handful of strip clubs would lead to more sexual assaults and sexual harassment of the workers, regardless of how much flesh they show.
