Reid to Nevada pols: time has come 'to outlaw prostitution'

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) says he’s all about jobs – just not when it comes to the world’s oldest profession.

Speaking to a joint session of the Nevada Legislature, Reid on Tuesday called for an end to legal prostitution in his home state, saying he wanted to have “an adult conversation about an adult subject.”

“Nevada needs to be known as the first place for innovation and investment – not as the last place where prostitution is still legal,” Reid said at the state capitol in Carson City, according to a copy of his prepared remarks. “When the nation thinks about Nevada, it should think about the world’s newest ideas and newest careers – not about its oldest profession.”

“We should do everything we can to make sure the world holds Nevada in the same high regard you and I do,” he added. “If we want to attract business to Nevada that puts people back to work, the time has come for us to outlaw prostitution.”

Former Nevada lieutenant governor and assemblyman, Reid told the story of how he recently met with a group of businessmen who were interested in opening up a data storage facility in Storey County, which already is home to the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center. But one businessman was incredulous that one of the biggest businesses in the county was a brothel.

“I’ve talked to families who feel the same way – parents who don't want their children to look out of a school bus and see a brothel,” Reid said. “Or to live in a state with the wrong kind of red lights.”

The Reno Gazette-Journal reported that among those present for Reid’s address in the chamber was Dennis Hof, owner of the Bunny Ranch and Love Ranch brothels, along with nine sex workers who are employed by him.