As part of an effort to expose the Center for Arizona’s attempts to strip women of their agency and bodily autonomy, Sonny’s Gentlemen’s Club is teaming up with a humanist political firm, Spectrum Experience, to host a Meet-the-Candidates event at the club. Playfully titled Electile Dysfunction: Fighting CAP at the Poles, the event aims to educate candidates on the legislative effort by the Center for Arizona Policy (CAP) to publicly regulate private conduct.

“The Center for Arizona Policy has a disturbing history of using the weapons of ignorance and superstition to regulate sexuality and sexual expression,” said Seráh Blain, a lobbyist for Spectrum Experience. “CAP is waging a comprehensive, well-coordinated war on women that assaults sex education, gender identity, sexual orientation, and reproductive healthcare. We want to make sure candidates understand the connection between regulating adult businesses and regulating women’s bodies.”

Since 1995, the Center for Arizona Policy (CAP) has passed 151 bills that codify conservative Christian morality. From abortion to sex education to strip clubs, CAP has turned women’s bodies into a battleground. CAP’s fight to limit consensual adult entertainment is not trivial: CAP’s battle against sex is part of a larger war that puts women’s autonomy up for vote in the male-dominated legislature.

Guests who attend Electile Dysfunction at Sonny’s will have an opportunity to meet lobbyists who have worked against the Center for Arizona Policy’s legislation, get to know East Valley candidates, talk to dancers and patrons, and register to vote.

“CAP continues to hurt the economic status of women and wrongly claims the moral high ground,” said Rebecca DeVaney, owner of Sonny’s and the executive director of the Public Policy Regulatory Alliance. DeVany’s organization is the Arizona chapter of the national Association of Club Executives (ACE)—a group that works directly with the Department of Homeland Security on anti-human trafficking efforts.

“According to a survey conducted last year, a majority of entertainers in the Valley face educational challenges, support multiple children and struggle financially to make ends meet. We need to address the socioeconomic and educational issues these women face from a foundational level,” said DeVaney. “But instead, CAP wants to close the businesses that employ women and deny them access to reproductive healthcare."

LOCATION INFORMATION: Sonny’s Gentlemen’s Club, 19011 South Arizona Avenue, Chandler AZ, 85286. Phone: 480-963-6632; email: info@sonnyschandler.com

DATE AND TIME: Friday, October 7, 2016 — 9PM

INTERVIEW OPPORTUNITIES:

Rebecca DeVaney: club owner, lobbyist and Executive Director for the Public Policy Regulatory Alliance

Serah Blain: lobbyist for Spectrum Experience

Kat Sabine: lobbyist for NARAL Pro-Choice Arizona

Political candidates including: Scott Prior (LD16); Cara Prior (LD16); Mikel Weisser (CD4); Talia Fuentes (CD5); Cara Nicole (LD26); and others as RSVPs are returned.

Public Policy Regulatory Alliance is the Arizona State Chapter of the Association of Club Executives - National (ACE). ACE’s mission is to provide and share information concerning the political and legal status of the adult nightclub industry and to further provide a platform for the strategic planning of initiatives to combat negative challenges.

Spectrum Experience is a full-service humanist brand and PR firm with expertise in creating powerful experiences that turn target markets into changemaking participants. Spectrum is devoted to inspirational ideas, progressive humanist innovation, and powerful, effective political change. We empower businesses and changemakers who strive for a more humanist world.

Source: Public Policy Regulatory Alliance