GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Strip clubs and other adult entertainment establishments in Florida are challenging the state’s law that prevents them from employing adults between the ages of 18 and 20.
HB 7063 was signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis earlier this year and took effect Monday. DeSantis claimed the law would “combat human trafficking” by making it a crime for any adult entertainment establishment to hire anyone under 21.
On Monday, lawyers filed suit against the state before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, in the name of 19-year-old Serenity Michelle Bushey, a nude dancer at Café Risque, a strip club near Gainesville in Alachua County.
The lawsuit alleges that the law’s arbitrary raising of the age requirement “not only made her lose her job but also violated her constitutional rights,” the Daytona Beach News Journal reported.
The plaintiffs also include Café Risque, strip club chain Sinsations and Jacksonville pleasure products store Exotic Fantasies. They argue that the ban on performers under 21 “is not narrowly tailored and does not advance the asserted government interest commensurate with the burden on free speech.”
The lawsuit states that Bushey and at least eight Café Risque dancers have lost their jobs, and argues that the law also violates their First Amendment right to express themselves.
“As with similar performers around the state, Bushey earned her living through her art while providing entertainment for the benefit and enjoyment of her audience,” the plaintiffs argue, adding that they believe “the human body is a thing of beauty which, when combined with music and rhythmic motion in the form of dance, conveys an important message of eroticism.”
Café Risque, Sinsations and Exotic Fantasies, the complaint notes, “have the right to select the adult staff and employees of their choosing to assist in the dissemination of their speech, without regard to age.”
Main Image: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Cafe Risqué billboard
