That’s what Alabama lawmakers told adult cabarets last year as they planned on cracking down on clubs that flout the state’s tough anti-nudity law, which was passed in 1998 but has been in legal limbo ever since because of nearly continuous court challenges.
But now technology has come to the rescue in the form of spray-on bikinis and strippers can rejoice after 18 adult clubs settled with the Alabama state Attorney General’s office.
Under the deal, exotic dancers statewide are spritzing their butts and breasts with flesh-colored latex to comply with the anti-nudity law, one of the most restrictive in the nation.
Under Alabama's law regulating dancers, any skin that would normally be covered by a modest bikini must be swathed in an opaque covering.
But the law doesn't specify what kind of material must be used, and 18 clubs from Birmingham, Huntsville and Mobile settled with the state after they told lawmakers they’d cover up their employees with the liquid rubber.
Alabama says it reluctantly went along with the clubs rather than having a federal judge follow through on his threat to throw out the entire statute as unconstitutional.
U.S. District Judge Scott Coogler indicated he planned to strike down the law unless the clubs and the state reached an agreement.
"The choice we were faced with was some covering or no covering," said Keith Miller, the chief deputy Attorney General. "We decided it was better to have these coverings than nothing at all."
