Philadelphia Inquirer staff writer Joseph A. Slobodzian has reported that rough times may have arrived for NASCA, the North American Swing Club Association.
Slobodzian’s story said that in the last three months, city officials have shuttered all three of Philadelphia's private - but publicly advertised - clubs for couples and singles who enjoy sex, if not love, with a proper stranger.
It began Nov. 13, when Club Kama Sutra - named for the ancient Hindu guide to lovemaking - was closed by the Department of Licenses and Inspections after operating for five years behind blacked-out windows in the former home of Señor Rattler's Mexican Restaurant.
"I have never seen a problem there," Jim, of Northeast Philadelphia, told the Inquirer. He and his wife, Stacie, have been Club Kama Sutra members for three years. "I think this is all about the lifestyle of people."
Jim, 34, like most people in "the lifestyle," did not want to use his last name. It's not that his lifestyle is secret, he said, but publicity could jeopardize his job as a computer network engineer.
Jim told the Inquirer that membership in Club Kama Sutra has expanded his and Stacie's network of friends to about 50 to 60 people.
"We're just ordinary people," Jim said. "We could be your neighbors or your brother."
Officially, lifestyle has nothing to do with it. L&I moved against each of the three establishments, officials say, for "operating a sex club without a permit."
The story goes on to say that the Club Kama Sutra owner Alan Tizer said he'd get a sex-club permit in a minute except for a catch-22: the city doesn't issue them.
"Realistically, I don't think anyone would push to add sex clubs to the zoning ordinance,” Andrew S. Ross, divisional deputy city solicitor, told the Inquirer.
Without such a permit, Ross said, businesses like Club Kama Sutra are illegal. Kama Sutra has been been operating under Señor Rattler's restaurant permit.
The story went on to say that closed next was Pleasure Garden Club, in a secluded location along the Schuylkill behind Ballbuster's pool hall in southwest Philadelphia.
And on Jan. 20, strike three: a midnight visit by L&I to the Retreat, a sex club operating in the old Club Tribeca.
Tizer and his attorney, Kenneth A. Young, are appealing a Jan. 18 decision by the city Zoning Board of Adjustment upholding closure. They also have sued the city in Common Pleas Court, contending officials have violated their members' rights of free expression and association guaranteed by the U.S. and Pennsylvania constitutions.
"Every big city has these kinds of places," Tizer told the Inquirer.
Many people just lump swing and sex clubs in the same company with brothels, adult bookstores and peep shows, strip clubs, and "gentlemen's clubs."
The Inquirer reported that legally, however, there is a difference. Prostitution is a crime, and gentlemen's clubs - officially adult cabarets - are heavily regulated. Rules include descriptions of which body parts dancers must keep covered and what customers may do.
Members say swing clubs are none of the above, more akin to private clubs, except members may doff their clothes and engage in sex - if they choose.
The clubs don't violate prostitution laws, said Young, Tizer's attorney, because what sex does occur is spontaneous and consensual, and no money changes hands. They are not adult cabarets, because employees don't strip. They don't run afoul of liquor laws, because they typically serve a buffet dinner, dessert and breakfast and are BYOB.
During his club's five years, Tizer said, there was only one minor incident in which police were contacted. The club existed unnoticed along often-raucous South Street, he said.
The story went on to say that from the outside - the old Señor Rattler's sign hanging above, the facade painted a battleship blue-gray, and the windows covered - there was little to show what went on inside. Members parked several blocks away and were shuttled to the club.
While no one would compare Club Kama Sutra to the Union League, members say it is surprisingly low-key - steamy sex aside.
Keith, who also did not want to use his last name, joined Club Kama Sutra in 2001 and then became an employee - "house manager and official greeter" is what he calls it - three years ago.
Keith said he was not a swinger himself.
"This is just a friendly atmosphere, sort of like Cheers, a place where everybody knows your name," he said.
Keith described Club Kama Sutra's members as diverse, ranging from young marrieds in their 20s and 30s to middle-age people in committed relationships to some "in their 70s."
Tizer told the Inquirer that he and his wife, Pat, also known as "Redhead," the club's online Web hostess, got involved in swinging when they married nine years ago after unsuccessful earlier relationships.
"This will not fix a bad marriage, but it can make a good marriage between open, honest couples stronger," Tizer said.
The Inquirer reported that Tizer told the Zoning Board of Adjustment hearing on Jan. 18 that he had invested $100,000 in the property and paid $100,000 in city taxes. He said he has 2,500 active members, earned $20,000 a weekend from the club, and has seven years left on his lease.
The city is imposing a "severe financial hardship," Tizer said.
Board Chairman David L. Auspitz and his four colleagues listened attentively for almost an hour - some even bantered with Tizer and his lawyer - but the ending was as predictable as the plot of a pornographic movie.
"Any hardship is self-imposed," Auspitz told the Inquirer. "You have a permit and could open a restaurant tomorrow."
Club member Jim said he and his wife will have to go back to the less desirable "meet and greets" at arranged parties, where people who hit it off repair to a hotel room.
The Inquirer concluded by mentioning that Club Kama Sutra, for example, has announced a "Valentine's Day Passion Party" for Feb. 11 in the ballroom of the Holiday Inn in Fort Washington - club members only; reservations required, of course; and, sorry, no sex.
