The Stage

Lap Dancing Association warns proposed legislation could tarnish burlesque and nude performer venues as “sex encounter establishments”

Published Tuesday 11 November 2008 at 16:20 by Lalayn Baluch

Burlesque shows and theatre performances involving nudity could become the victims of proposed legislation intended to relicense lap dancing clubs, say opponents.

Trade body the Lap Dancing Association, which claims to represent one in three UK clubs, is fighting moves to retitle its member venues “sex encounter establishments”.

The association, which last week presented a 3,000-strong petition against reclassification to Downing Street, says the new licence needs a stricter legal definition of which forms of nude entertainment it would apply to.

“If not, the licence could inadvertently capture everything from traditional burlesque - made popular by performers such as Dita Von Teese - to naked actors on stage in the theatre, like Daniel Radcliffe in Equus,” said the LDA.

Far from cracking down on bad practice, says the LDA, the proposed measure by Labour backbencher Roberta Blackman-Woods will leave “irresponsible operations untouched” while increasing costs for legal operators by £8,000 annually.

“The reality is that the imposition of SEELS [Sex Encounter Establishment Licence] on already licensed premises would involve huge practical problems for licensing authorities, as a robust and detailed description of nude and partially nude entertainment would have to be drawn up,” said the LDA in its report on the rule change.

The association said it supported moves to crack down on unregulated establishments, but insists this can be addressed through changes to the 2003 Licensing Act.

LDA secretary Kate Nicholls told The Stage that representatives are due to meet with Home Office officials to discuss alternative proposals and will also present evidence to the Select Committee on Culture, Media and Sport this month.

The reforms suggested by MP Blackman-Woods have won strong support from feminist groups and also the powerful Local Government Association, which represents a total of 446 councils in England and Wales.

But Equity is supporting lap dancers in their concern to ensure that the new licence continues to recognise them as performers.

Union spokesman Martin Brown said: “If [relicensing] establishments would reclassify the people who work in them, then we are opposed. We are opposed to exotic dancers being classified as sex workers.

“Our members have made it very clear to us that they are, first and foremost, dancers and they absolutely object to attempts to classify them as sex workers.”

Lap dancers were first admitted into the union in 2002. Previous attempts by other unions to recruit them failed in one case after performers feared they would be categorised as sex workers.