A message dated 7/30/02 3:00:13 PM Central
Daylight Time,
jrsygir1@aol.com
hi gang:))
this past sat night there was a big raid at an Atlanta fetish
club....it was their first night open actually.....there were
alot of issues including alcohol sales, a minor in attendance,
and no license to operate....the difference here and what
is alarming is EVERYONE was arrested......usually there are
just fines issued at most......the details we have heard are
in the following report from Gloria Brame (cross posted with
permission).
this has opened up a discussion this community really needs
to have.....BTS was not fined and was ultimately told we could
reopen under our old license i believe mainly because we were
up front with city agencies from the beginning and showed
good faith......not without mistakes.....but we did what they
told us to do and had proof.....other clubs, groups, and individuals
are trying to get away with being underground and are running
unlicensed or falsely licensed operations.....risking fines,
arrests, negative exposure, and official law enforcement retaliation
towards the whole community....this is happening all over
the country.....that is how people ran clubs in the past....underground
and illegal because they really had no chance and no power
behind them to operate in the light.....3 years ago in Baltimore
the Phoenix Society , after losing their long term lease,
reopened in another building with a furniture store license.....they
were raided and shut down their second night open.....there
were fines, lawsuits, and it tore the community apart....there
is still no club in Baltimore......it seems in Philly someone
wants to try the same ill advised scheme.....and for no good
reason since the city is willing to license clubs.......the
community needs to make a decision as to whether we are going
to insist we be allowed to exist legally.....or slink back
into the leather closet and hope for the
best.....are we going to support people who put us all at
risk and jeopardize the work that many have done or are we
going to demand that party organizers and club owners be above
board and follow the rules or help change them when they are
unfair. if you want to read more about this get on the SMAct
list by emailing KBeaton919@aol.com and requesting to be subscribed.
********************
From Gloria;
FYI, folks...
A local Atlanta sex club--Club Zinc--was busted over the weekend,
and local media are in a frenzy over the story. 115 people
were arrested for public indecency and sexual misconduct.
The Atlanta PD is helping to fuel flames by providing their
undercover video of dozens of naked people having public sex
at the club.
The group hosting a private party was Atlanta Gangbang (wwww.atlantagangbang.com).
Although the website is already gone, we were able to find
google.com's cache of the pages. The site explicitly described
the gangbanging events they host in conjunction with various
swingers' clubs, such as http://www.thevelvetheaven.com <http://www.thevelvetheaven.com/>
In addition to the swinging/gangbanging, there were also some
BDSM elements here (see email at bottom). Plus, a 16 year
old girl was on the premises and apparently actively participating.
Below is a newspaper report, followed by a copy of the email
invite that went out to hundreds of people throughout Metro
Atlanta (and perhaps points further).
First, here is today's coverage from the Atlanta
Journal Constitution:
************
http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/metro/0702/30zinc.html
115 jailed at Atlanta party with live sex
By JEFFRY SCOTT
Atlanta Journal-Constitution Staff Writer
It was a sex scene that had to be seen to be believed, and
for three hours undercover Atlanta cops watched. Then they
busted the Club Zinc at 582 Piedmont Avenue and put 115 people
in jail Saturday night for paying $25 each to see one woman
have sex with maybe 10 men. "Anybody who was there knew
why they were there -- there were no innocent walk-ups,"
said Sgt. Wayne Whitmire, of the organized crime unit of Atlanta
police. He said most of them found about the party on a Web
site.
Among those arrested were a 16-year-old girl who performed
a sex act onstage, and two men that police claim were the
party's hosts. Richard Craven, 38, of Alpharetta, and David
Havener, 39, of Atlanta, have been charged with operating
a business without a license, and serving alcohol without
a license.
Police said it was the first night the business was open.
Amanda Jones, 29, of Cumming, who police said performed sex
on stage, was charged with public indecency. "There were
so many people coming into the club we were afraid we couldn't
safely deal with all the people," Whitmire said. "If
we had waited longer, we could have arrested 300 people."
Police said it took more than three hours to arrest and put
the 45 females and 70 males in jail Saturday night and early
Sunday morning. All were charged with disorderly conduct.
Atlanta attorney Alan Begner called the charges outrageous.
He represents 40 of those arrested. "If you go to a nightclub
and drink and you're arrested because the nightclub wasn't
licensed properly, you deserve an apology. These people did
nothing wrong."
The sex show was billed as an "all-action party"
in an advertisement on the Internet that invited people to
"put on your sexiest outfit or let your imagination run
wild, but be ready to dance and party the night away."
Craven and Havener couldn't be reached for comment Monday.
Police said the club is part of a growing side of Atlanta
night life that is not found in city tourism brochures and
has come under police scrutiny. "We're looking at escort
services and any kind of sex services," Whitmire said.
"This is a part of that investigation."
The club is in a warehouse that used to be an industrial laundry.
One of the owners of the warehouse, Maurine Edwards, said
she had leased the place out for about two years, but she
wasn't sure whose name was on the lease.
"I thought it was a dance club," she
said Monday. "Well, I declare."
****************
By the way, one of the television news shows featured an interview
with the local official who again said that the Atlanta PD
knows the other sex clubs in Atlanta, and intends to go after
them as well. I managed to get a copy of the original email
invitation that Atlanta Gangbang sent out. It advertises a
BDSM act as part of the night's entertainment.
****************
Date: Mon Jul 22, 2002 3:40 pm
Subject: Party This Saturday
Here is the OFFICIAL invite to the most awesome sex party
Atlanta has seen in years. CLUB ZINC (a new lifestyle and
dance club in midtown) is having a pre-grand-opening party
Saturday, July 27th, 2002 at 8PM. What you can expect...for
your $25 cover (per person)
Top shelf alcohol provided free all night long.
"Atlanta Gangbang Club" will be throwing a real
live gangbang with ten guys and two girls.
"Club Sesso" is bringing 100 of Atlanta's hottest
couples to dance, get naked and party.
"Club Utopia" will be bringing their ultra HOT group
of young sexy swingers. (Over 100 couples).
"Goddess Amazon" will be doing an electrical BDSM
show that will blow your mind.
Also the "Zinc Girls" will be dancing all night
long...
This party will be the biggest of the summer, you dont want
to miss it.
Here is a link for the coupon to get you in this party. Click
this link and print out this coupon to get in on Saturday
night.
http://www.geocities.com/damienfromgeorgia/coupon.html.
Mention Atlanta Gangbang at the door!
******************
yil,
Gloria Brame
gloria-brame.com
*******************
In a message dated 7/30/2002 2:04:16 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
jrsygir1@aol.comwrites:>
i am very afraid that other clubs with fraudulent
licenses or no licenses at all will end up with fines and
maybe even arrests.....and bring not only unwanted negative
publicity but change the attitude of the city from tolerance
to lets zone them out of existance....not to mention the trauma
it brings to the community when clubs are raided (arrests
or not)
from Gloria;
I hear ya, and totally agree. It's the way of the world that
honorable people will be taken down by dishonorable people
:-( What happened to BTS is so grossly unfair, my heart goes
out to you guys. It seems to me that, at a minimum, SM club
owners right now, throughout the US, should be carefully ensuring
that they are in compliance with zoning laws, fire codes,
tax codes and so on and pay heed to what happened to BTS.
:-(
RE Atlanta, a few independent media voices (columnists,
including the generally right-wing Neil Boortz) are now saying
that Club Zinc should not have been busted. Atlanta really
has been astonishingly tolerant of the huge sexually-oriented
business community we have. But then, every now and again,
local law enforcement targets a particular business, sometimes
justifiably (they busted our enormous local strip club, The
Gold Club, for mafia ties) and sometimes ridiculously (the
infamous "dildo trials," where they successfully
prosecuted a chain of adult toy shops for selling dildos).
The burning question in Atlanta right now is whether the Club
Zinc is going to be an isolated incident or whether it's the
first of a series of police actions against clubs.
Are any of the folks from the Sanctuary and
PEP, or local SM events organizers reading this? (*waving*)
If so, have any of you done police outreach (yet) or otherwise
taken steps to insulate yourselves lest the cops show up on
your door one of these weeks?
Community email addresses:
Post message: BDSM-LegalIssues@onelist.com
Subscribe: BDSM-LegalIssues-subscribe@onelist.com
Unsubscribe: BDSM-LegalIssues-unsubscribe@onelist.com
List owner: BDSM-LegalIssues-owner@onelist.com
Shortcut URL to this page:
http://www.onelist.com/community/BDSM-LegalIssues
use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
