MADISON, Tennessee—Apparently, the residents of Madison aren't very clear about just what sort of person attends a "swing club," with attendees at a community meeting to discuss the club's impending opening objecting to its proximity to the Goodpasture Christian School, which is right next door.
"I would feel uncomfortable," said Hope Tinsley, a ninth-grade student at Goodpasture, at the meeting, which took place on January 26. "I would feel like most of my friends would probably end up leaving because their parents would take them out and I wouldn’t want to lose them."
Hope's mom took an even darker view: "They [students] might be concerned with just walking around on the campus because it’s just right over the fence, it’s right beside the school."
Because, after all, "everyone knows" swingers are just rapists and child molesters, right?
But the attorney for the Social Club, Larry Robertson, asserted his client's legal rights, saying, "If I purchase a piece of property, or if my clients purchase a piece of property, they’re entitled to use it any way they choose, as long as it’s in keeping with the law. The people at Goodpasture have the freedom to conduct their lives any way they choose, within the bounds of the law, and so do other people. ... I mean there’s freedom of religion, there’s freedom to live your life as you wish, as long as you don’t harm other people."
But that argument was les than persuasive to Madison's Metro Council, which on March 17 passed an amendment to the town's zoning ordinance. Although The Social Club's property at 520 Lentz Drive, which had formerly been a medical office, was zoned "Office General" ("OG"), which would permit a private club to open there, the amendment excluded clubs from the OG-zoned areas.
Robertson had threatened to sue if the ordinance amendment passed, but someone had a better idea—possibly inspired by the rash of "religious freedom" laws being passed by conservative state legislatures across the country: they filed plans to renovate the Lentz Drive property as a church.
Cue the outrage!
"That, to me, in many ways just seems to be irreverent," said Ricky Perry, president of Goodpasture Christian School. "And it just seems like there's nothing you wouldn't stoop to to try to accomplish what you're trying to do."
According to WSMV.com, Perry stated that the new plans are essentially the same as the ones previously filed, only what was previously labeled "the dungeon" has now been converted to a "choir room," and the former "game room" is now called the "fellowship hall."
But while the zoning authority has given The Social Club's owners permission to renovate the property as a church, the club will have to prove that it is conducting worship services there before the authority will allow The Social Club to open.
"It's obvious to me that all they're trying to do is find another way to legally, or through some loophole, accomplish what they want to do," Perry charged.
In the meantime, City Councilwoman Karen Bennett announced last week that she is creating legislation which would create a special zone within the city for swing clubs and similar businesses, but the text of such a bill is not yet available.
"Just goes to show you: When in doubt, just say it’s part of your religion," commented Hemat Mehta of The Friendly Atheist blog.
