BAD BOY ARTIST IS BACK. CONTROVERSY IN CHILLIWACK.

There is controversy in the sleepy little town of Chilliwack, a bible town. Exotic dancers are at the heart of the controversy. A popular little pub called “The Vault” in Chilliwack’s downtown core as re-opened after brief renovations to feature exotic dancers to the outrage of many. “I don’t want to be just a pub anymore,” says owner Tony Leccee. “Every bar has to reinvent itself, to stay one step ahead,” he says. But Lecce’s decision has been met with outspoken opposition.

Ken Popove, president of the Downtown Business Improvement Association, read a prepared statement when contacted by the press. “The BIA is not happy about with The Vault’s decision to go in this direction,” Popove said. The Mayor of Chilliwack, Clint Hames, also expressed his disproval. “The city isn’t in a legal position to do anything,” he said. Leccee has complained that his life has been threatened twice since it became public knowledge that his pub would feature exotic dancers. A petition has been circulated in strong opposition to the strip club.

For Leccee, it is purely a business decision. Under his liquor licensing agreement, “adult-oriented entertainment” –including strippers and exotic dancers--is permitted. Leccee reports that his business has taken a sudden boom. It would seem that not everyone is opposed to the idea of a strip club.

So how do I, a new resident of Chilliwack, a parody painter and caricaturist, fit into all of this? What is my stand on the issue?

Since learning of the issue, I contacted The Times (one of the newspapers that featured an article about me) to offer my services as a cartoonist. The paper happily agreed. And the results can be seen in the strip above (pun intended).

The question of whether I’m a purveyor of strip clubs or not is besides the issue. I am in favor of a business owner’s right to turn a profit as he sees fit, all the while being compliant to objective law and who is not initiating the use of force against anyone. That is the bottom line.

My position can be summed up by what I call the “Voltaire stance”: I may not agree with what you say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it.” In regards to The Vault, we can translate the Voltaire stance thusly: “I may disagree with you taking your clothes off, so I’m going to have a beer somewhere else.”

Let’s bottom line this. All the moral hysteria over this issue can be attributed to an archaic puritan morality—something that religious small-town folks are famous for. It comes down to the opposition to the human form unclothed, to exotica and sexuality—and all the white noise about “Save the children! Save the children!” and the oncoming of “organized crime” is empty rhetoric to bolster what is a false argument from the outset.

To me, it is all very simple. You object to the contents of a book, don’t call for a book burning—don’t read the book. You object to a certain television show—turn the channel or don’t subscribe to the station. You object to a strip club (or adult sex shop for that matter)—don’t patronize the establishment! Really, it is that simple. That is what is called the chirping bird of freedom, and that is the tune I sing. But I suppose that is a difficult concept for religious Neanderthals to grasp and who figure that anything they disapprove of should immediately translate to preventive laws. Hey, I’m subjected every Sunday to a barrage of Tela-evangelists, but you don’t see me garnering petitions to have it stopped. That’s because I’m too busy having a beer at the local strip joint.

The issue is not about breasts or G-strings. It’s about freedom of choice. Embrace it. As for me, I’ll come right out and say it: sex is good. Sexuality is good. The naked body is good. Sensuality is good. Let’s get the core of the objection: nudity. My drawing takes a subtle (or not so subtle) jab to the solar plexus of oppressive puritanical religionists: if nudity is a sin, then the fault lies with the manufacturer—and therefore God is one major cosmic pervert.

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