
                         THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
                 Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, June 30, 1994                    TAG: 9406290120 
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN                     PAGE: 16    EDITION: FINAL  
SOURCE: BY SUSIE STOUGHTON, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: 940630                                 LENGTH: FRANKLIN

ATTORNEY FINDS NO CAUSE TO STOP MALE DANCING

{LEAD} At least for now, the beat can go on at local night clubs offering ``ladies nights,'' the city's latest entertainment that sparked a outcry by a number of concerned residents.

Two businesses on Armory Drive - Sports Emporium and Ebony Magic - offer male dancing for adult female patrons. Sports Emporium has held a ``Male Revue'' twice this spring, while Ebony Magic has offered male dancing once a week since opening in April.

{REST} City Attorney F. Bruce Stewart told the City Council this week that he had found nothing illegal about the dancing in outfits described by night club owners as ``sexy and provocative.''

``Based on his research, the activities occurring here in Franklin have been found to be acceptable by the courts,'' said City Manager John J. ``Jack'' Jackson.

But the entertainment by professional dancers who are scantily clad is hardly acceptable to some of the town's citizens.

Starr Harris, one of the protest organizers, presented a petition with 163 signatures of area residents to the City Council in May and asked that the dancing be stopped.

If city officials want an ordinance to regulate entertainment, they might consider one similar to Norfolk's, Stewart suggested.

That ordinance prohibits nude dancing and female topless dancing, Jackson said. But it does not address male dancing as long as the dancers' private parts are covered.

No one on the council - six men and one woman - had seen the dancing and found it difficult to regulate something they didn't know anything about, Jackson said.

by CNB