I have been writing about red light districts the last several days for no real reason, except that we do not have such places in the U.S., and I miss home – Europe – where they are prevalent. Walking through Amsterdam's red light district is enlightening for anyone. As a teenager and young adult I visited Amsterdam often and walked through the red light district on occasion. I did the same in several cities in Germany – it is really not that unusual in Europe.
A good friend – Dusty in Memoirs – worked in Amsterdam's district from the summer of 1996 until December of 1997, leaving once in a while to work in a club in Switzerland or in Germany. Dusty and my co-defendant in the criminal case, Rocky, performed in clubs – live sex clubs. They did a choreographed sex show. In Amsterdam they worked in Casa Rosso and Moulin Rouge. See the YouTube video "Casa Rosso" on this blog, and no, there is nothing sexual on the video. We do still live in the U.S. and this blog has no porn. It is just the Adventures in Europe dude, Big D, talking to the doorman of the club, but you will get the idea. Now that is in the red light district.
What is not in a red light district is any adult business in Orlando or Orange County. In Orlando the dancers in men's clubs must wear tape on their nipples, and Orlando has a ban on alcohol consumption in adult establishments. Orange County does not have the alcohol ban; however, dancers are more covered than in any place that I've ever heard of. There is no such thing as full nudity in the city or the county. Yet I saw City of Orlando Assistant Attorney Kyle Shepard on television last night, and he had the audacity to state, "We don't want a red light district inside the city." As if such a phenomenon was even a possibility in the City of Orlando! Trust me Kyle – there will never be a red light district in the city.
The city, by the way, refers to all hookers on Orange Blossom Trail as "escort services" on the city website – a statement that floored me. When did we start calling street hookers escort services? These people really lost me long ago. I've always wondered where they came from. Even Disney has Gay Days every year. Hell, I'm just happy that I'm out of there, and I am sure that the feeling is mutual.
So what was your answer to my question? Well, classically, prostitution is offered in a red light district, although one could also consist of sex shops, sex theaters, and live sex shows. I couldn't call any area a red light district unless prostitution was offered by women in windows, street hookers, or in some other unimaginable manner though. It is a term that dates back to biblical times.
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