Kentucky legislators this week were considering a bill that would end lap dancing and impose tough new restrictions on nudity at strip clubs.
Under SB 250, sponsored by Republican state Sen. Julie Denton of Louisville, strippers would be allowed to be “semi-nude” only if they remain 6 feet away from patrons while on a stage at least 18 inches above the ground, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported last week.
“This is designed to protect women,” Denton told the newspaper of the measure which was cleared by the Senate Judiciary Committee and now moves on to the state’s full senate where, if passed, would move on to the lower House for approval.
The bill defines semi nude as “the showing of the female breast below a horizontal line across the top of the areola and extending across the width of the breast at that point, or the showing of the male or female buttocks.”
The proposed measure would allow dancers to wear pasties while the dancers remain on stage, but not while performing lap dances. Dancers doing so would have to wear tops and bikini bottoms which completely cover the buttocks.
Kent Ostrander, executive director of the Lexington-based Family Foundation of Kentucky, said the proposal would serve to protect patrons from catching sexually-transmitted diseases.
But some lawmakers questioned Ostrander’s claim.
The proposal, however, would not affect theatrical productions.
