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Denied small business stimulus funds, owners of adult entertainment businesses in Pennsylania and New Jersey have joined colleagues from five other states in suing the federal government.
The owners claim the U.S. Small Business Administration has denied them “Restaurant Revitalization Fund” grants for moral reasons, which they say is a clear violation of their constitutional rights.
Among those now participating in the suit, filed in federal court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, are Oasis On Essington of Philadelphia and three Cheerleaders locations including Pittsburgh and Allentown, as well as Gloucester City, New Jersey.
The suit argues that the SBA passed judgment on "whether a business presents live performances of a prurient sexual nature" without ever going to any of the clubs.If it had, the onwers say, the administration would see that the live shows aren't obscene and "appeal to normal, healthy sexual desires.”
The stimulus denial "violates federal laws and overextends the bounds of the group’s authority," argues the suit, which also includes businesses in Maryland, South Carolina, California and Washington, D.C.
Sex-venue related businesses in other states -- Michigan, Wisconsin, Texas and Colorado, among them -- have pursued similar cases with mixed results. Some still have litigation pending.
Others -- such as Savannah's in Harrisburg -- did receive stimulus funds. But it wasn't clear whether that's because they'd temporarily shifted their business models to sports instead of stripping.
The dancers have since returned to Savannah's stage, as Daily Voice previously reported.
The civil suit filed by the strips clubs asks a U.S. District Court judge to issue an immediate emergency temporary restraining order and, then, to direct the government from stop the alleged discrimination.
Hearing dates have yet to be scheduled.
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