Canada's Supreme Court in favour of Sex Clubs

[Luv2play]

In a landmark ruling, Canada's Supreme Court struck down the common bawdy house law which was used to charge 2 swingers clubs in Montreal. This is a major victory for those who believe our Victorian laws in respect of sexuality need to be updated (of course many have but there are still laws like the indecency laws, which this is, that are very outdated).

 

What this portends for stripper bars will be interesting to see. I have not yet had time to study the ruling or to see other legal opinion on the matter but in the past, stripper bars have been charged under these common bawdy house rules. What is significant at first glance is that the court has moved away from the old standard of judging indecency from community standards to a new one of harm to others. In the ruling, the court also upheld that the club could not be open to the general public but it could be a commercial club.

 

It seems to me at least that for the time being this will not change how male stripper bars are treated under the law. But if what were "indecent" acts occur, will the bawdy house rules still apply? If so, will they be challenged as the swingers challenged the laws as they applied to them.

 

Unfortunately, I'll be away on a skiing holiday for the next week so will not be able to contribute anything further on the subject at this time but others may wish to comment in the meantime. Have a happy holiday, everyone!

[Guest zipperzone]

Now, whoever said we were backwards?

[uwsman2]

I have read the opinions and dissents (there are two cases, actually), and it seems that the court has really made a revolutionary move in throwing over the idea of morals legislation.

But the problem remains that the majority was only willing to treat these swingers clubs as being constitutionally protected because they were able to find the activities "private," in the sense that in order to gain admission to these clubs one had to pass an interrogation at the door to ensure that one would not be offended by what was happening inside. One case involved a swinger's club in a townhouse, where the sexual activity took place on the third floor behind a locked door to which members were given the passcode. The other case involved a bar where sexual activity happened behind a translucent curtain that descended on an hourly basis.

I'm not familiar with stripper bars in Montreal (or Canada in general, for that matter), but I would think that to come within the scope of this ruling they would have to have some kind of door policy that keeps out minors and any adults who are not looking for nude entertainment...