INDIANAPOLIS — Two Indiana state legislators have taken a municipal battle over zoning discrimination against “sexually-oriented businesses” and ramped it up to the statewide level through a proposed bill prompted by recent legal wins by two adult boutiques.
Democratic Representative Carey Hamilton and Republican Representative Mike Speedy introduced House Bill 1122 in direct response to the recent opening of a Hustler Hollywood store and a Lion’s Den store in their districts, after a protracted zoning battle in which the free speech and anti-discrimination arguments put forth by the stores' owners prevailed.
HB 1122, according to the Indianapolis Business Journal, “would prohibit a registered sexually-oriented business, such as an adult bookstore, sex toy shop or strip club, from operating within 1,000 feet of a facility that caters to minors. That includes schools, daycares, a YMCA, public swimming pools and playgrounds, as well as businesses such as arcades and trampoline parks.”
The Indiana House passed the bill 84-8, sending it to the State Senate.
The bill also gives “a more detailed description of what Indiana considers ‘sexually explicit materials’ that would deem a business as ‘sexually-oriented.’”
According to the Indiana Business News, HB 1122 “could put Hustler Hollywood in a position where it would have to relocate, not only because it is less than 500 feet away from a children’s restaurant, but also because the bill would redefine what materials qualify as a sexually-oriented business.”
Click here to read HB 1122.
Main Image: Representatives Carey Hamilton (D) and Mike Speedy (R)
