However, I am rethinking not only our defacto get away destination but also the possibility of investing down there ..... all because of the actions of one local pizza parlor. The most popular pizza place in the area has created quite a stir by announcing that it may start sponsoring amateur strip tease and drag queen shows.
I live in Mid-Town Tulsa. I drive by several SOB's every day. I see hookers working Admiral and Eleventh. We mid-towners have had to fight street prostitution on 11th street for years. My wife actually chased one hooker down the street after she moved off of 11th and started working the street corner in front of our house. I see trans prostitutes working 15th occasionally. It all saddens me greatly. There is no joy or fun in the sex business only despair. I don't want to see it at my getaway.
Taking personalities and personal morality out of the argument, the fact is the owners are talking about turning the local pizza joint into a part time sexually oriented business (SOB). SOB's are strictly regulated by zoning and city statute in most cities. The reason is that they are known to increase crime and reduce property values. https://psmag.com/.../heres-really-dont-want-strip-club A strip club in the neighborhood reduces property values by almost 15%. https://www.realtor.com/.../things-that-affect-your.../
Some argue that an occasional strip show or drag queen night does not make the pizza parlor a sexually oriented business (SOB). In
the eyes of the law they are correct. The difference between an SOB and
an unlicensed bikini bar under Oklahoma law is about six square inches
of fabric, a miniscule g string and a set of pasties. Unless local
city or county government passes stricter definitions a g string and pasties is the limit
before incurring SOB regulation on advertising, zoning, etc. However, most people will see it for what it is,
exploiting sexual excitement for profit ..... defacto if not dejure a
sexually oriented business. The question the owners have to ask themselves is, will the short term profit from a few big nights by out of town people make up for the loss of local business, the loss of goodwill and trouble these performances is going to cause. And then there is the silent boycott. Let me tell you how that works. The churches in the area will not picket and they will not threaten. But, some will exercise their constitutionally protected First Amendment right to speak out from the pulpit about an event or series of events that offends their moral standards. That's what churches do. Then, the members of those churches will start staying away. They will take their family business elsewhere and stop recommending the place to their friends. It's a silent snowball. Nothing will happen quickly but in six months or a year after the buzz has worn off that local family business will still be gone and it will be incredibly hard to get back. Small town folks have long memories. The business itself will probably be gone. On a national scale, K-Mart never came back after the American Family Association called them out for selling porn. And now, Target is taking big hits on their balance sheet over their transgender bathroom policy. https://www.afa.net/.../afa-target-boycott-crashes...
The fact that this pizza parlor is getting ready to make one incredibly stupid business move wouldn't have changed my plans alone. If they do this they will be out of business in a year or so anyway. After the buzz wears off and the crowd moves on they will never get back the local business that they lost by offending a big chunk of the local population. They will probably be gone by the time I would have invested.
But, what has changed both my vacation plans and my investment plans are the reactions of some of the locals. One poster on Facebook said that those of us who had different opinions should be "looked into" (aka doxxed in modern terminology) because since we were homophobic (an unproven accusation) we must also be racists. Many were openly hostile toward the socially conservative and Christians who dared voice an opinion that disagreed with theirs. Some came flat out and said that people like me should find another vacation spot. A poorly thought out opinion for people who depend on tourism for their daily bread. So, sadly, I have taken that posters advice. I deal with this kind of rancor in Tulsa all of the time. I don't need to drive three hours to get it in the boondocks.
The owners of this pizza parlor let an evil genie out of the bottle. By appealing to the baser instincts of some of their local residents they put on display for the whole world to see a dark, ugly and frankly frightening side of their otherwise beautiful little community.
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