GAY CLUB WINS RIGHT TO SERVE ALCOHOL IN THE NUDE

A gay club that took the city of Miami in the US to court has won the right to be able to serve alcohol and put on nude strips shows, which is against a city law.

Swinging Richards and two straight clubs sued the city council of North Miami Beach opposing an ordinance barring venues from having nudity while serving alcohol.

The clubs argued that the 1994 law had only ever been enforced against gay clubs and not straight venues, making it discriminatory.

Fearing that it could lose, the council voted to grant the three venues a special license to serve drinks while offering nude dancing. In turn, the clubs agreed to drop their lawsuit.

“Swinging Richards WON!” proclaimed the club on its website. “This mean we always HAVE BEEN, and ALWAYS WILL BE the only fully nude all male, gay club in Florida!”

According to the site, the venue’s stages feature ongoing shows with between one to six dancers who over the course of three songs strip down to fully nude. The venue also offers lap dances and “private VIP rooms”.

“Even the Mayor wanted this issue settled. We were not causing a problem, but giving people a good time,” CB Jones, the owner of Swinging Richards, told the South Florida Gay News.

He complained that he had incurred considerable legal expense to secure the victory, noting, however, that “it isn’t really a victory when you just win what you should have had in the first place”.