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Ontario strip clubs, worker advocates say provincial shutdown is unfair

turinman

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Feb 28, 2006
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Ontario strip clubs, worker advocates say provincial shutdown is unfair
Strip club

A prominent downtown Toronto strip club is seen on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020. Workers and advocates say Ontario's forced shutdown of their workplaces was done without consultation and applies an unequal standard to an already stigmatized industry.THE CANADIAN PRESS/Colin Perkel

Holly McKenzie-Sutter, The Canadian Press
Published Tuesday, September 29, 2020 11:58PM EDT
Strip club operators are voicing frustration over the Ontario government's move to shut down their establishments, saying the closure was ordered without consultation and treats the industry unfairly.
The province announced the shutdown late last week, saying it was needed to reduce transmission in high-risk businesses.
Mauro Mastrucci, who owns the Airport Strip Club in Mississauga, Ont., said clubs weren't warned about the order and argued the measure discriminates against the adult entertainment industry.

“It's totally frustrating,” he said, noting that his club had followed public health guidelines, installed plexiglass barriers, required customers to wear masks, and checked patrons' temperature at the door.
Two Toronto strip clubs made headlines this summer after COVID-19 cases were linked to the establishments. But Mastrucci said restaurants and bars have also seen cases and have only had to close temporarily while his industry has to deal with a provincewide shutdown.
“How can they distinguish that it's more likely that strip clubs will be able to spread COVID-19 and bars and restaurants won't,” he said.
Other strip clubs echoed that sentiment, including one in Barrie, Ont. In an online post, Crossovers shared news about crowds attending a recent car rally in Wasaga Beach, Ont., writing, “And yet strip clubs are the problem ...”
One Toronto woman who works as a dancer in several strip clubs in Ontario said the closure reflects negative stereotypes about their industry.
“Why are we the scapegoat of moral panic? This goes back to the idea that sex workers are vectors of disease,” she said.
The woman, who also works with Work Safe Twerk Safe, an organization that offers advice and other supports for dancers, asked not to be identified for fear it could jeopardize her future employment opportunities.
Ellie Ade Kur, a board member with sex worker support organization Maggie's Toronto, said closing strip clubs demonstrates bias against a set of workers already struggling financially after non-essential businesses had to close earlier in the pandemic.
“Strippers are being shamed in a way that other businesses are not,” she said. “We don't think it's acceptable.”
Maggie's Toronto has fundraised throughout the pandemic to support sex workers, and Ade Kur said governments should step up to support those losing income from the targeted closure.
The Ministry of Health said the closure is part of an attempt to address a rapid increase in community transmission of COVID-19.
It also said contract tracing logs kept by the clubs were “often incomplete.”
Ade Kur said club workers could have proposed solutions on how to keep the establishments safe had they been consulted.

“These are some of the best people to consult around public health because their work is literally determined by their own health and safety,” Ade Kur said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 29, 2020.
 

shack

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Oct 2, 2001
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I am guessing that, outside of some risk taking horny guys, they will not receive much sympathy from John Q. Public.
 
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doggystyle99

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May 23, 2010
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The government has been more than fair with the strip clubs about re-openings.
Strip clubs were even allowed to reopen prior to the government allowing nightclubs to reopen which shows that the government treated them very fairly and put the onus on the strip club owners, staff (including dancers) and customers to follow the guidelines, but they all failed the test miserably.

The strip club owners failed in making sure their staff and customers were adhering to the guidelines. The staff (including dancers) failed in following and enforcing the guidelines on customers. The customers failed in following the set guidelines.
These guidelines are adhering to mask, social distancing rules on the premises meaning not just the floor, but also the VIP and change rooms for staff and having customers follow these rules as well, as well as other contact tracing and other preventive measures.

Non compliance issues of COVID-19 guidelines is evidence of it and so are the numerous posts on this board. They (owners, staff, customers) have no one to blame but themselves.
 

lkjh0987

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The government has been more than fair with the strip clubs about re-openings.
Strip clubs were even allowed to reopen prior to the government allowing nightclubs to reopen which shows that the government treated them very fairly and put the onus on the strip club owners, staff (including dancers) and customers to follow the guidelines, but they all failed the test miserably.

The strip club owners failed in making sure their staff and customers were adhering to the guidelines. The staff (including dancers) failed in following and enforcing the guidelines on customers. The customers failed in following the set guidelines.
These guidelines are adhering to mask, social distancing rules on the premises meaning not just the floor, but also the VIP and change rooms for staff and having customers follow these rules as well, as well as other contact tracing and other preventive measures.

Non compliance issues of COVID-19 guidelines is evidence of it and so are the numerous posts on this board. They (owners, staff, customers) have no one to blame but themselves.
All part of the plan. The re-opening of Strip Clubs was a death-trap from the beginning. As doggystyle99 summarized, the government gave them just enough rope to hang themselves. As if social distancing and masks were going to be happen in a strip club?! It is a strip club!

Strip clubs have always been under attack - especially the ones within walking distance of neighborhoods. Brampton got it right when they moved all their strip clubs into the industrial zones - far far away from the schools and houses. But 'thanks' to those activists that demanded having their strip clubs on main streets, the weaponized politicians were now able to give their constituents what they have always wanted: no open strip clubs in their neighbourhood.
 
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dickydoem

Area 51 Escapee
Apr 15, 2003
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Stuck in Lodi again
Strip clubs remain closed even though they were only responsible for a few cases' but outside of the three regions now back in stage 2, gyms are allowed to still be open even after a gym ( Spinco) in Hamilton has been responsible for at least 48 cases. Fair?
 
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