The Louisiana State Capitol, tumescently democratic (Burkomaster/Shutterstock)
I’m totally serious: Louisiana is a great state:
During a debate about a bill to regulate strip clubs, a state representative proposed an amendment — in jest, he says — that the strippers should be youthful and thin.
The joke, which is now an official part of the legislative public record, upset several female lawmakers in the House, who called it a new low for inappropriate and sexist comments that regularly pervade the State Capitol.
State Rep. Kenny Havard, R-St. Francisville, officially submitted a written amendment to legislation that would have mandated dancers at strip clubs be no older than 28 and no heavier than 160 pounds. When challenged by other legislators, he quickly withdrew the amendment and later called it a joke about overregulation.
“Looking out over this body, I’ve never been so repulsed to be a part of it,” Rep. Julie Stokes, R-Kenner, said on the House floor after the amendment was pulled. Stokes said the amendment was just the latest exercise in commonplace misogyny that women in the Legislature frequently endure. “It has got to stop. That was utterly disrespectful and disgusting.”
Senate Bill 468, by Sen. Ronnie Johns, would raise the age of dancers at strip clubs from 18 to 21.
Rep. Walt Leger III, D-New Orleans, who presented the measure on Johns’ behalf, said the legislation is intended to combat human trafficking, as recent stings have found underage homeless youth and foster children who have aged out of the system being targeted to work at clubs where prostitution and drug dealing flourish.
As the bill was being presented, Havard — saying he wanted to “trim the fat” — offered his amendment. He withdrew the amendment after another lawmaker called it offensive.
But Havard didn’t apologize and said he doesn’t regret his joke.
“No, it was meant as a poke that we’re overregulating everything around here,” he said in an interview. “It was a joke, that’s why I pulled it. But it was satire to say, ‘Hey, when are we going to stop overregulating everything?’ ”
Oh, for freak’s sake, Kenny Havard is my representative. I’m a Jesus-loving, right-wing troglodyte who voted for him more than once, and he’s a great guy who does a lot for his constituents. And you know what? He’s a real person with a sense of humor. This is Louisiana, ya morons. I salute his sense of absurdity, and no, I’m not joking. In fact, I volunteer to join him and his colleagues on a legislative fact-finding mission to the Woodville Ballet, where they used to have a differently-abled ballerina working with one leg.
Uncle Chuckie, will you come down South and set these people straight? Please?
Other lawmakers left these dollars at podium in jest during strip club age debate #lalege pic.twitter.com/D09t8lP6fV
— Rebekah Allen (@rebekahallen) May 18, 2016