I was reading the other day about someone getting busted for "indecent public exposure" in the video booths of an adult book store.

And I started to wonder how the bathhouses avoid this issue and should the ABS do the same?

Everyone knows what the purpose of the video arcades is - at minimum it is to masturbate but most who go there are looking for more. But yet periodically the cops go in and bust people for doing what everyone is there to do. We all know it going in, so why should it be illegal?

I was wondering if ABS should make the video area a "private club" or whatever standard is used by the bathhouses to keep the law happy.

Anyone know if this has been tried anywhere? Maybe there is some obvious reason it won't work - but I was just wondering....

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I believe it really depends on the jurisdiction, both state and local. Some cities have special zoning and permitting regulations regarding "SOB's" (sexually-oriented buisnesses) which include not just ABS's but also strip clubs and possibly bathhouses. The "private club" question reminds me of other "vice-related" laws and workarounds that had been used for many years in Utah and here in the "dry" or "semi-arid" counties of Texas.

I live in the Houston area where there are a plethora of strip clubs and ABS's as well as two bathhouses. There used to be a sexclub, too, but it closed, mainly because of the location on a then newly-constructed light-rail line and redevelopment. It had been previously the site of a notoriously sleazy gay bar with sex on-site. As time changed, there was the "image" question about land use along the rail line and pressure from developers. Although Houston has no zoning, market pressures still have their way, not to mention the business licensing questions that affect the other SOBs regarding their location, size, parking, and so on.

It's a complicated question, really. You'd have to ask it with respect to a particular place where you might have a bathhouse or ABS.

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I sure know what you mean about location!

On of the best ABS I ever went to was from a review here on CFS. The Mustang Book Store in Upland CA. At one time it was big - 2 buildings - 2 floors in each! They had a great booth set up - off the aisle all the entrances to the booths were like a T where you went down a 5 foot hall and there was one booth to the right and one to the left. No doors so you had perfect access and viewing of each other. It was no place to be shy because unless the booth across from you was broken or empty you were going to be watched if not more. Damn I miss that place.

But then across the street in an old run down strip mall a Christian book store opened. And they started calling the cops anytime they saw ANYTHING. Even if it was just 2 guys getting in the same car or kissing. It did not take long for reputation that it was not a safe place to play to grow - and they ended up going out of business.

What really gets me is they had been there for years - profitable - paying taxes - NO problems - and then a "more desirable" business moves in and suddenly they are no longer wanted.

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Well, the thing with the light-rail Red Line is that the construction had already disrupted business for other stores or restaurants along the route. Many of them became unprofitable during that time, some never recovered. So, whole blocks became run-down (or even more run down than they already were) and -- with the new rail access -- were prime targets for developers.

That area, Midtown Houston, started gentrifying and it just gets faster and faster and more and more expensive, too. The baths are also located there. I don't know if they both own their own property or have landlords but regardless, their tax assessments (or rents) are probably rising and increasing the cost of doing business. On the other hand, the baths have a lot more customers now in walking distance. A lot more gay men live in the area, although there are trendy str8 bars too. A large gay country bar in Midtown, the Brazos River Bottom, shut down. I think they either lost their lease or their rent went up too much but I don't really know. Epitaph: The BRB never had enough parking anyhow.

I'm pressed for time and it's really off the subject, but the effect on other neighborhoods and what's happening with the expanded and newer rail lines and the properties around them is, well, interesting and typical.

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