Phoenix Swing Club vs City of Phoenix

Liberated Christians
Cyber Swing/Polyamory Resource Center
Promoting Intimacy and Other-Centered Sexuality

January 4, 2004:
Response to question if canned letters are worthwhile
My Letter to the City
Stevi Secrets Support on Many Adult Entertainment Boards

On Stevi Secrets great group, there is an interesting post which I responded to which may be of interest here:

The poster was questioning the effectiveness of "canned" letters being sent in mass vs personalized individual letters that might get more attention.

Here is my response:

You raise good points but here is my view. I am a bit cynical of the extra value of individual carefully written letters over the sheer volume of canned letters. I cynically doubt if any letters are read by anyone but staff. But staff may share with Council and Mayor of numbers of letters coming in pro and con on issues. Especially if they get lots of letters, canned or personal. I think you will get a canned reply at least from some Council staff's, as some have already indicated. At least they now had to draft the canned responses and kept busy sending them out. That "activity trap" may get attention.

If anyone at the City, actually is serious about discussing the issue, which I am skeptical of based on past experiences with Phoenix City Council, than they may look to individual letters for people to respond or discuss more seriously with. But instead, the volume of letters may force them to say talk to the swing club owners, hopefully Milo and Nancy of Club Chameleon, and or their selected representatives who are sponsoring the campaign.

I think as far as letter campaigns go, the letters and site to respond on are excellent. I hope other swing clubs will join the campaign but some seem to just want to hide and avoid any participation as Guys and Dolls has done from the beginning. Owner Robert, gets upset with me even mentioning the new law outlawing swing clubs in Phoenix since he doesn't want to scare away clients, even though I always say clients are at no risk, only owners and managers. But since they play nice and don't fight they have not be harassed like Club C has not only by busts but very picky city building inspections etc. for it's outspoken fight for YOUR private adult rights.

Maybe the new mayor may take notice if there are enough response, canned or individually written. It is sort of a test to see if we can work with the City directly in a cooperative manner or not.

If not, the letter campaign is only 1 of the 3 ways to fight for private sexual rights. The other two would be to try and do a voters initiative and the third is already going on - Court challenges especially supported by the Lawrence vs Texas case which is very favorable to overall private sexual rights.

The letter campaign is the easiest and less expensive for both swing clubs, the industry and for the City. The other two options are far more complex and expensive for both us and the City.

Dave in Phoenix
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Here is what I wrote all the City Council and new Mayor modifying the text slighly expanding to include broader sexwork a bit... For those not knowing what I am talking about see: http://www.libchrist.com/swing/PhoenixLetterCampaign.html

Dear Phoenix City Council Member:

I am a registered voter and resident of Phoenix. I oppose the recent City of Phoenix enforcement actions targeting private membership clubs for consenting adults interested in nontraditional sex practices. Surely the City of Phoenix has more important things to spend time and the taxpayer’s money on than hassling clubs that harm no one.

I was actively involved in the public hearings in late 1998 when the law was passed and have reported extensively on the overwhelming majority of Citizens at the hearings and Council meetings that opposed the various laws. Yet the Council ignored all the input and passed the new laws. It was obvious they were simply doing what the radical religious rights group wanted. Ironically there is no biblical support for their anti sex positions yet they insist on morality laws to control people since people won't follow their lies regarding biblical Christianity voluntarily.

These police raids, and the ordinance on which they are based, are efforts to impose on all of us a narrow-minded morality expressed by religious political extremists. There is no reputable scientific evidence that these clubs or their activities are harmful to individuals, neighborhoods, the City or anything else. The Supreme Court of the United States recently ruled that such an effort to impose a moral view can not justify government intrusion into our privacy or infringement of our right to enjoy liberty and pursue happiness.

Millions of American adults - including your neighbors, friends, ministers, teachers, military personnel, lawyers, and doctors - participate in these activities. And many of them, like me, vote and want to support candidates that oppose government interference in the private lives of consenting adults.

In addition to swing clubs, all private consenting adult activities should not be the concern of law enforcement. The U.S. is almost the only country in the world for example, where private consenting adult prostitution is a crime.

I am a advocate for all private sexual rights and well known in both the swing and sexwork community of Phoenix. Personally I travel to Canada as much as possible where most sexwork is legal and Courts have upheld the rights of private swing clubs. Ironically I have to go to Canada to enjoy "pursuit of happiness" and individual freedoms. Canada is similar to most of Europe and again few people in the world have the restrictions of sexual activities and Phoenix has been in the lead in taking away individual rights due to the pressures I assume from Community Defense Counsel fanatics that are headquartered in Scottsdale.

Sincerely,
Dave in Phoenix
Co-Founder Liberated Christians
Supporting Christians in Swinging exposing the lies of false Christian traditions that have no biblical basis.
http://www.libchrist.com
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Update on Support Phoenix Swing Clubs
See http://www.libchrist.com/swing/PhoenixLetterCampaign.html if forget what were talking about

Support Swing Clubs!
This is Stevi Secret. As many of you know, the swing clubs in Phoenix Az have come under attack recently through a series of police raids. These raids are not only designed to close down these clubs but also adversely affect your rights to practice consensual adult sex. While the raids are occuring in Phoenix, this is an issue of concern to free thinking adults no matter where you live. What's happening in Phoenix today, will be happening in your town soon. It's time for us as adults to take action. Below you will find several sample letters prepared for your conveniance. There are letters letters below for both Arizona residents and non residents to send, along with mailing instructions. Please take a few minutes of your time to let your voice be heard on this important issue facing all of us. Thank you for your time!

Stevi Secret http://www.stevisecret.com

PS To Stevi Secret Yahoo Group Members: Solidarity build momentum. After you have sent your letter please make a quick post in the group telling people you have done so. Don't wait for the other guy, everybody do your part!
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Folks, I just this notice out to nearly 11000 people on various Yahoo Groups I moderate. They will be waking up to find this notice in their inboxes. In the cumming days, I will be posting this notice on boards that reach thousands more. Here in this group there are a lot of people who have demonstrated they have an interest in making this a better world. This is your chance to prove it. I'm going to real disappointed if I don't see some posts from people simply letting us know they took a minute to send their letter. Cmon people, this is your chance!

Stevi Secret http://www.stevisecret.com
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Dave in Phoenix
Co-founder Liberated Christians
Founded in 1993 to help overcome traditional Christian traditions that have no biblical basis
Swing and Polyamory Resource Center