All Charges in Montreal's Taboo Club Raid Dropped

[Luv2play]

The Crown has decided to drop all charges against the 34 people arrested in May 2003 at the male stripper bar Taboo in Montreal, it was reported in The Gazette today. Those charged included 34 people, of which 23 were dancers, 2 customers and 7 club employees. This victory is seen by some as a result of the recent Supreme Court decision, which I reported on in another thread, legalizing swinger clubs which promote group sex in private venues. The Taboo Club, in the meantime, has decided to launch a complaint against the police to the police ethics commission.

 

It is perhaps a stretch to link the two cases dealing with swingers clubs and stripper bars but the trend in Canada is evidently going in the direction of greater tolerance of public behaviour which touches on the issue of decency or obscenity. The Crown in the Taboo case said that the charge of indecency was a non-issue, to which the police spokesman said it was not a setback to the police. However, it will undoubtedly be seen as a victory for those who enjoy the shows that male strippers put on in the Montreal bars, which includes your faithful reporter!

[bigguyinpasadena]

Good news Luv2play.

I hope the new(if there is a new one)government does not overturn it.

[Karl-G]

Thank you very much for the up-date.

 

I feel very sorry for the dancers who have gone through so much stress for so long and had to pay serious money to a lawyer to defend them. If I were there I would surely buy a few drinks for Francis and Ghislain and the others and wish them well. I would also enjoy a few extra lap-dances with the guys.

[KY_TOP]

Thanks for the update. I can't believe it took this long. Wonder what effect it will have on how the bars and dancers operate from here on out?

[Guest zipperzone]

>Good news Luv2play.

>I hope the new(if there is a new one)government does not

>overturn it.

 

I'm sad to say that it will be a miricle if we do not have a new government - all polls indicate that we are in for a big change.

 

And if that does come to pass, it will be a sad day for Canada. Harper is a clone of Geo W. and we can expect to see a much more concervative and restrictive attitude to all things the Christian Reich decide are morally wrong.

 

A woman;s right to choose will probably be revisited and he has publically stated that he wants to change the defination of marriage back to 1 man & 1 woman.

 

Trying days are probably just over our horizon.

[Luv2play]

Frankly, I don't see much change in the short term as a result of the Taboo case and the Supreme Court ruling in the swingers cases. The male stripper clubs seem to have reached a modus vivendi with the Montreal police and I don't see anyone wanting to rock the boat.

 

I first visited a male stripper bar in Montreal back in the '80's and it was quite a different scene then. The Village was just starting to form as a "gay ghetto" and the bars were really quite seedy. They were started on a shoestring and were quite small and dingy. But they had real energy and lived very close to the edge of the law. Some of the things I witnessed I had not seen outside of Amsterdam's live sex shows.

 

Much water has passed under the bridge and the Village is now a huge success. The city and province even promote it as a tourist draw. With these changes have come money, lots of it, and yes, corruption only of a different sort. Drugs in particular have firmly taken root and their influence can be seen in the club scene, including the stripper bars. The pushers operate quite openly and are tolerated by the bars' managements. I guess the money is just too tempting and the influence of the underworld too omnipresent.

 

Somehow, things just go along without too much fanfare or incident. The police often walk through the clubs and there is a certain scurrying around by some and the pushers just keep their heads low. It is really quite amusing. One has the feeling the clubs know when the cops are going to show up.

 

For the dancers, there is a lot of money to be made. For some, it slips right through their fingers and after a few years they drift away. For others, it sets them up quite well and they use the money to get established in a business that would otherwise be difficult to do, given the modest backgrounds of many of these boys.

 

Well, enough of my meanderings. The club scene in Montreal is quite a bit of fun if you avoid some of its excesses and just go with the flow.

[+ newatthis]

luv --

 

I had yet to make my first visit to Montreal when this raid occurred. Were any of the current Taboo dancers or staff among those involved in the dropped prosecution? Which ones?

 

--new

[Luv2play]

newatthis, I'm not familiar with the boys dancing at Taboo as I am not into twinks. I drop in the odd time but very seldom as they just don't do it for me. There are other posters on this site who know the boys there very well and if they read this thread they may have something to say.