It seems Orange County can't bear the thought that it is nationally renowned for being full of normal, educated couples who (gulp) swing. Yes, swing, as in go out and have recreational sex in a safe environment with your partner or with other people's partners on a regular basis. Or maybe it's the OC Register that can't bear the thought. Accept it, guys. It's not going to hurt.
Years ago, a home and part-time sex club known as The Panther Palace was hounded by the city of Costa Mesa for not having the proper permits. The county's latest victim is Club Amnesty, the friendly, mellow sex club we profiled last month (See "Swing Shift").
After our article ran, the Register started asking questions and began to dig for whatever scummy sex dirt they could find. That's the thing with sex in this county: If it happens in a way that's not missionary and monogamous, there must be something wrong. Wrong! And it must be stamped out.
So the Reg decides to sic not one, but three reporters (threesome!) on the club soon after our article ran. City officials in Orange began to investigate and, voila, you've got business license and code violations, a mayor crying out in shock and disbelief and a tawdry sex club exposed. Exposed! (Actually, as sex clubs go, this one is known nationally for being one of the friendliest, nicest places to visit. But that part didn't quite make it into the article.)
The big, dirty violation, you ask? The wrong box was checked on the sexually-oriented business application. But the application PDF featured in the article is for the photography studio which the club owners also run, not the club. Does another application exist for the club itself, with the proper box checked? And even if it doesn't, this violation should be correctable right? The fire-code violations are definitely correctable. But now the city has ordered the club to shut down unless the problems are fixed by May 1.
Owner Gary Nalder told the Reg he now has plans to sell the building and close up shop. Makes sense: It's too public now. The club—and its many professional patrons—operate on the premise that the location remain discreet. There are far too many people who refuse to believe that healthy, married couples do indeed swing. And they're not freaks.
The Reg article makes the club seem like a seedy, covert sex club that deceived city officials by masquerading as a photography studio. Instead of quoting many of the generous, easygoing OC professionals we met at Club Amnesty, the article offers up a few quotes from probably one of few porn-star club regulars. Gee. You guys dug real deep for that one.
If the Reg folks remember, our article explicitly pointed to the fact that the great majority, if not all, of the couples we met and spoke with at Club Amnesty were normal, tax-paying, generally white, generally married (for years) people who were sober and friendly and did not in any way, shape or form resemble porn stars. They were just nice people doing something that this county, and the U.S. in general, can't seem to stomach: shared sex between consenting adults in a responsible manner. What we found at the neat, well-run club were a few roomfuls of grown-ups behaving better than most people behave at local bars.
I'm sad to see Gary and Robin go, as are probably the thousands of patrons—police officers, teachers, engineers, moms and dads—who feel like the rug has been pulled out from under their feet as well. Municipal code violations always seem to miraculously appear when there is an interest in suppressing perceived moral code violations. Especially here. Especially when it comes to sex. And that fear of human sexuality just ran a well-liked local business out of town.
Way to blow the lid off of nookie, Register.
April 16, 2008 20:13
As much as I HATE the Register, as much as I think what they did here is despicable, I have to say that you must be wearing blinders to not have thought that what you were writing was not cool. You have to accept the fact that you blew it, you were the one to sic the press on this club because you were so full of yourself, you had to write all you knew even though a schoolkid could have told you what would happen when you did. Rail against opressive mores and hypocrites all you want but leave those practicing freedom, instead of writing about it, alone. Be cool.
April 16, 2008 21:11
John Grace: Dude, calm the fuck down. You act as if Daffodil totally misrepresented herself or something, which she most certainly did not. The Club Amnesty folks - owners and clients - were all willing participants in the story, and even posed for photos for our article, fully aware of the risks they could be taking by publicizing their venue. So now you're whining because you have nowhere to go to get off, I assume. Hey, I feel for you, but there are several other active swingers clubs in OC, so think up a few choice key words and run off to Google. And then hope that idiot Reggie reporters find more important things to do with their time than play the part of morals police who work disturbingly close with governmental bodies.
April 17, 2008 17:07
Hey, at leasts the Register did some actuals investigative journalism - checking for propers licenses and what-not - and didn't write a PR press release like OC Weekly.
April 17, 2008 18:26
El Cortisone aka everyone's favorite Reg hack: You folks are notorious for rewriting press releases (check out your initial coverage of the Snowball Express), much more so than us. Daffodil's story on Club Amnesty dealt with a lifestyle underneath the radar in Orange County, not municipal code violations. Her responsibility wasn't to do a background check on the club or its patrons. By your standards, every music journalist that ever wrote about the Doll Hut in Anaheim for the past decade or so didn't properly do their job because they never revealed that the Doll Hut didn't have the proper permits.
And since this is a Register person: why did you folks put three reporters on the case? Taking a break from running kitty kat photos?
April 17, 2008 22:32
And hey, I thought Reggie people were supposed to be Ayn Rand-worshipping Libertarians -- you know, the types who DON'T get their jockstraps in a twist over consenting adults having sex behind closed doors. Methinks the real reason for the Reggie's probing bit of (mmph!) "investigative journalism" was that Reggie peeps are simply too ugly and ashamed to be wiggling their naughty bits in a high-class joint like Amnesty, and if there are people anywhere who actually enjoy that sort of thing, well, dammit, they must be stopped!
Hey, Gustavo: Did I ever tell you about the time when I was a Reggie freelancer back in the '90s, and I had to go down to the Grand Ave mausoleum to type up a concert review? I had to use a loo on the 3rd floor, and I noticed, much to my surprise, the words "MEET HERE FOR BJ 1 A.M." scrawled in ballpoint on the wall tile calking? COMPLETELY true story. So obviously, Club Amnesty just needs to relocate to the Reggie building. The parking gets more plentiful with each buyout!
April 18, 2008 22:19
Someone with access to www.ocweekly.com message boards altered my first post - inserting an "s" after "actual" and "proper."
Wow. If they do this to reader entries on a blog ...
April 19, 2008 20:23
That's just not right. Talk about your rights being violated...
April 21, 2008 02:52
...maybe you guys shouldn't mention the names of clubs that like to operate on the DL in your publication? From what I gather, that's what sort of sparked the whole incident.
April 21, 2008 09:42
In the 80's they also busted a home in Barrington Il for having "swing" parties on weekends. These were normal people doing what they have a right to do. Alas Il. has an adultry law and you cannot swing. They also published the names of the people that were there. Embarassing their children. There was no need for that but apparently the papers thought there was. It is a shame that consenting adults cannot do as they please when it comes to their sex lives. Americans seem to think the sex word is a dirty word for adults anyway. I see them handing out condoms in schools for kids as young as 10,and they ask no questions. What is wrong with this picture? Personally I do not think another persons sex life is their business (this does not apply to pedophiles or child molestors). The state needs to stay out of peoples sex lives.
April 21, 2008 23:21
All those people who are screaming about a "Speak Easy" of sorts are people who either aren't having any sex, don't like sex, have never had good sex or don't know what sex is or how great it can be. And those people need to get over it. Big deal.