Letter to the editor: “Community Defense Act” (HB 2107)

colincurtis

The following is a letter shared with us by Artur Bagyants.

The deceptively titled “Community Defense Act” (HB 2107) recently passed by the Kansas House seeks to restrict nudity at strip clubs. 91 out of 125 members of the House voted in favor of the bill. Many of these legislators ran on mantles of small government, individual liberty, and free enterprise. This bill overtly violates all three principles.

I have never been to a strip club or a “sexually-oriented business” and I have no plans to go. But I believe what these legislators only claim to believe - that reducing unnecessary government intervention and protecting individual liberty are too important to be sacrificed on the altar of personal unease.

There is no legitimate public interest that is promoted by this bill. Simply put, this bill is a product of a dishonest group of legislators who claim to champion the same freedoms they seek to restrict.

In a time of economic downturn we do not have the time, the need, nor the money to spend on ridiculous proposals such as these. Let’s get to work on ideas that can actually help people.