The Legislative Committee of the Entertainment Commission heard today a legislative digest and history of the two years of work that went into the drafting of the proposed ordinance regulating Exotic Entertainment Establishments. We really heard loud and clear the level of dedication that the Commission on the Status of Women have on this issue. At the same time the hearing room was over taken by dancers, managers and adult entertainment venue owners who consistently came to the microphone and said in their own words that the legislation as drafted would end the financial and work opportunities that these women have come to enjoy.

It was particularly moving to hear single mothers who were raising their families on the incomes they earned from the opportunities that they enjoyed in the current system of performer treatment in San Francisco. One dancer, a beautiful woman who could demand top billing at any club around the country spoke about the safety and security that she encountered as she traveled around the country dancing in other cities. Her statement was the San Francisco’s clubs are about the safest clubs in the country.

I went away trying to figure out what we were trying to fix? What are we trying to do here if the dancers, owners and mangers are happy with the current system?

I think that the best answer that I heard today came from a relatively new employee at the Commission on the Status of Women when she said that, and I am going to paraphrase her comments here, that “If one woman was not being respected in the world then their job was not done.”


While I applaud the nobility of zero tolerance for disrespect for other human beings, I also heard loud and clear that a perfect record is not obtainable by anyone. I heard that over one hundred thousand private dances were given in one club last year and there were no incidents or problems. I heard that dancers felt unsafe outside the clubs on the streets given the street crime and lack of security, but when the stepped into the clubs where they performed, they were safe, they were with friends and they were looked after in a way that made them look forward to going to work.

I heard women describe that they own their own houses, have health insurance, have children, go to college and graduate school and make enough money and have enough flexibility with the current system that the last thing that they wanted was to “give up the freedom of being an independent contractor”.

So why are we being told that we have to change a system that seems to be working?

It appears as if there are some women who have not had the best of experiences with life. One woman, a Daisy Anarchy stood up and emotionally insisted that women were being coerced into prostitution by the existence of stage rental fees and private dance areas. The same conditions that the majority of women at the hearing stated were necessary for their financial freedom.

Tonight at the Entertainment Commission it was apparent how differently each commissioner views his or her job.