Texas might make strippers get licenses

The Daily Beast has published a piece detailing Texas state Rep. Bill Zedler's (R)  bill that would require exotic dancers to get licenses to perform. He says that the goal of the bill is to protect the strippers from sex trafficking. The licenses would have to be "conspicuously displayed" while the dancers performed and WOULD INCLUDE THEIR REAL NAMES.

A similar measure has already passed in Houston and the dancers aren't thrilled with the results:

"I think the law is ridiculous," Michelle, a 24-year-old dancer who preferred not to use her full name, told The Daily Beast. "It's violating my rights. When you go to a bar and there's a waitress, they don't have a special ID with their first and last name on it. A lot of the guys who come to these clubs could be rapists and sex offenders."

Similarly, many of the dancers are concerned that their status as strippers would be documented in a government database. Some have opted to become "latex girls," taking advantage of a loop hole that allows them to dance with certain, ahem, areas covered with a light layer of body paint. They make less money, but they don't have to acquire a license.

Oh, and then there's this:

And for the record:  Zedler said that while he did indeed visit a strip club in college, it was nothing like these days. "It was strictly a deal where they would get up and dance. There was no touching or nothing like that. There was no complete nudity." And he didn't inhale. [The Daily Beast]