Strip Club 'Tax' to Fund Rape Investigations in Houston

Submitted by Mastodon on Sat, 2012-06-30 20:46

Article here.

'(NEWSER) – Want to help Houston foot the bill for its rape investigations? Visit a strip club. The city doesn't have the funds to quickly analyze evidence collected in rape kits, so the City Council passed an ordinance yesterday imposing a $5-per-visitor "pole tax" on strip joints and other clubs that host adult entertainment (think wet T-shirt contests). The money collected will go toward processing Houston's rape kits; an estimated 6,000 sit untested, the Wall Street Journal reports. With 30 clubs subject to the tax, as much as $3 million could be raised annually.

Supporters of the fee, which passed 14-1, say that strip clubs contribute to sexual assaults by fostering an unhealthy attitude about women that could ultimately lead to sexual assaults; opponents point out the lack of studies proving that. Texas already levies a $5-per-customer "pole tax" on strip clubs, meaning Houston clubs will have double the fee. But, says a City Council member, "When you look at videos of these clubs and see women putting $5, $10, and $20 dollar bills in their remaining clothing, I don't think a $5 tax will hurt anybody."'

Like0 Dislike0

Comments

How about a dick tax? A Pecker tax? A Johnson tax? A Penis tax?

How about funding investigations and prosecutions of false rape allegations?

Like0 Dislike0
Submitted by Luek on Mon, 2012-07-02 05:49

Well, if they're gonna start charging men a tax to go to strip clubs, they'd better get rid of ladies' nights at bars as well. Ladies' nights events would be likelier to result in sexual assault.

Like0 Dislike0
Submitted by xtrnl on Mon, 2012-07-02 07:30

Women go to strip clubs where other women strip. I guess they would be paying this tax too? How about at lesbian strip clubs (ie, strip clubs that cater exclusively to gay women). Do women going there also have to pay this tax?

If going to strip clubs entails objectifying the strippers, then shouldn't women who go to strip clubs where men strip also have to pay a tax that is then used to further the undoing of some social evil associated with the objectification of male bodies, such as perhaps contributing to the payment of disability insurance premiums for men working in manual labor professions who are much more likely to be killed and injured on the job than men or women working in non-manual labor capacities?

Like0 Dislike0
Submitted by Matt on Tue, 2012-07-10 22:31