Lawmakers lukewarm, brothel owners seethe over Reid's call to outlaw prostitution

CARSON CITY -- U.S. Sen. Harry Reid wanted his call to outlaw legal brothels from Nevada's rural landscape to prompt an "adult conversation" among lawmakers about the state's notorious sex trade.

But what the Nevada Democrat got was an outcry of opposition from brothel owners and prostitutes looking to protect their livelihood and tepid responses from the legislators he asked to do the legal dirty work of running bordellos out of the state.

The gallery in the Assembly chambers went silent Tuesday when Reid paused for applause after he told lawmakers from both houses that "the time has come for us to outlaw prostitution."

Lawmakers from both major parties shied away from his suggestion that they could improve Nevada's beleaguered economy by driving brothels out of the state and inviting other businesses in.

"Nevada needs to be known as the first place for innovation and investment, not as the last place where prostitution is still legal," said the Senate majority leader and Nevada's most powerful politician.

Afterward, Democratic leaders of both houses said brothels aren't on the top of their lists of legislative priorities. Rural Republicans dismissed the remarks altogether.

Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval, who attended the speech, said the brothel industry is "not something I would support," but he added he thinks the decision to keep prostitution legal should remain at the local level.

Under state law, "houses of prostitution" are illegal in counties with more than 400,000 residents, a category that incudes Clark County. Rural counties are left to decide for themselves whether to license, tax and regulate brothels, which 10 counties have decided to do.

Washoe County, which includes Reno, doesn't allow brothels.

While legislators weren't eager to spring into action to ban rural bordellos, brothel owners and prostitutes were quick to denounce the senator's remarks.

They accused Reid of seeking to undermine the rights of women to make their own employment decisions and sought to remind reporters, lawmakers and anyone in the Legislative Building who would listen that tax revenue from brothels is critical to the viability of rural county governments.

"This is a civil rights issue," said Dennis Hof, owner of the Moonlite BunnyRanch in Lyon County and several other brothels. "These women have a right to work. He should be proud of us. We have a clean industry."

Suzette Colette Cole, who works as a madam at the BunnyRanch, said Reid's remarks "cut like a knife."

"What are all those girls going to do?" she asked. "Go out on the streets like in Las Vegas? Is that what he wants them to do?"

Prostitute Felicia Fox accused Reid of hypocrisy because he wants to put legal prostitutes out of work, while calling in the same speech for reviving Nevada's economy.

"It is so hypocritical," she said. "Mr. Reid, wake up. Don't take our jobs away."

"It is a good-paying job," said 20-year-old prostitute Jeyla Conrad. "I like what I do. I am a third-generation legal prostitute."

George Flint, longtime lobbyist for the Nevada Brothel Owners Association, estimates the state's 24 licensed brothels employ 1,000 prostitutes, though only about 250 of them are working at any one time.

The rural operations also provide 500 jobs for support personnel, including bartenders, cooks, maids and managers, he said.

Reid's comments were a hot topic for days before the speech, with brothel owners and prostitutes responding to a post on the Reno Gazette-Journal website Sunday night that reported he planned to criticize the industry.

The leak gave owners time to rally supporters and make a splash at the speech by inviting a bevy of working prostitutes into the Assembly chamber for Tuesday's event.

But the advance attention didn't dissuade Reid, who grew up in Searchlight and reported in his autobiography that the town had more brothels than churches and his mother did laundry for the bordellos.

Reid said he was moved to speak on the issue because a businessman, whom he didn't identify, told him his company shelved plans to move to rural Storey County because of the presence of legal brothels.

"I'm doing this because I believe it is important for the image of our state to bring businesses here," Reid said afterward. "Having legalized prostitution stops businesses from coming here."

Former state Sen. Bill Raggio, R-Reno, who as a young district attorney in the 1950s made headlines for burning down a brothel and during his legislative career introduced a bill to push bordellos more than 50 miles from nearby cities, agreed with Reid.

"It does discourage and dissuade some legitimate companies from settling here," Raggio said.

The longtime Northern Nevada lawmaker said that in recent years a ski manufacturer decided not to build a facility in Sparks because of legal brothels in neighboring counties.

But Raggio wasn't surprised that Reid's call to action didn't generate much enthusiasm.

Raggio said he and many other legislators who have opposed the industry met similar apathy.

"I understand you are looked upon as a moralist if you suggest this," Raggio said.

Like many state lawmakers, Reid's Nevada colleagues in Congress didn't jump behind his call to outlaw rural prostitution.

Reps. Dean Heller and Joe Heck, both R-Nev., didn't comment on the issue. Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., said the decision to outlaw prostitution should remain with the counties.

Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., was the only member who responded at length.

"If these counties want to tolerate it, tax it, regulate it and license it, I don't see it as my job to tell them what to do when it comes to legal prostitution," said Berkley, who is from Las Vegas but is considering a statewide run for the Senate seat held by Ensign. "As Nevadans, we are no strangers to criticism about what goes on in our state, and this issue is no exception."

Among state lawmakers strongly supporting Reid was Sen. John Lee, D-North Las Vegas.

"I see it as just a blight," Lee said of the industry. "It brings no value."

Eventually, however, even Reid grew weary discussing the topic with reporters, who spent more than half of an 11-minute news conference asking about his brothel stance, even though the vast majority of the speech covered education, renewable energy, the economy, bank bailouts and term limits for elected officials.

"Let me just say this. I appreciate all these questions about probably 7 or 8 percent of my speech," Reid said. "I'm glad that your interests have been piqued by prostitution, but it seems to me you guys should all get a new life and talk about something important."

Stephens Washington Bureau Chief Steve Tetreault, Review-Journal Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel and Review-Journal writers Henry Brean and Laura Myers contributed to this report. Contact reporter Benjamin Spillman at bspillman@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861.

Trending topics:

• brothels
• Harry Reid
• Henry Brean
• Las Vegas
• Nevada Legislature
• prostitution

Comments

Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background.

1. FamousAlicia Feb. 27, 2011 | 8:34 p.m. Report Abuse

   My name is Famous Alicia and I currently work at the Chicken Ranch Brothel. The comments made by Reid, imo, are ridiculous. Here is why I say this: 1st this is a choice we make to work legally, we are not forced here, nor is it the right of the govt to decide what we are able to do, its our freedom of choice. Also we go through regular weekly visits to doctor/health dept to be tested( thats money for the dct & health depts), we get sheriffs cards every quarter( thats money for that as well), we pay taxes(which is money for the govt), we pay state tax(if we live outside the state, that state gets their cut as well), we also contribute money to the counties where brothels are legally operated. This is a safe legal way to provide a service like any other self employed person. Why is Reid so set against brothels now? Has he thought about all the non sex workers that are employed at brothels? What about their jobs? Shouldn't he be more focused on unemployment or the foreclosure rates here in the state more-so then a legal tax paying business? We are not in the 2 most populated counties which are Clark and Washoe county, where prostitution is illegal. It should be up to the people in the county where brothels are to decide to keep brothels or not. Whether or not you like/dislike prostitution, it will always be around, so why try to shut down a regulated taxed and controlled safe way to do this? Vegas is the Adult Entertainment capital of the world, why change the image, when its not legal working girls or brothels that are all over Las Vegas or Reno advertising our brothels, so why single brothels out. Doesn't he have anything more important to be focused on? Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but when it directly effects someones right to earn a legal living, that crosses the line.

2. Little Miss.Snippy Feb. 24, 2011 | 2:46 p.m. Report Abuse

   Harry Reid is the best evidence we have that there is a secret government. Who does this man work for? What is his real agenda?

3. mrability Feb. 24, 2011 | 9:57 a.m. Report Abuse

   shut it down,its all scum anayway
   
   losers

4. Jeff.Durbin MSgt USAF Ret Feb. 24, 2011 | 3:14 a.m. Report Abuse

   My quess is that Mr. Reid doesn't want any competition from those legally having relations with citizens. After all, he has done this for so many years and is at the end of this tenure, he is just looking out for himself to have a career further advancing his opportunity to lure, and then have his way with the citizens in his last stage on the Nevada circus. In reality, we need licensed brothels in every county. After all, the vast majority of us pay salaries to the politicians running the county and getting the shaft anyway, so why not make it legal, at least we can tax it, instead of letting it go into the pockets of the criminal element in Nevada known as politicians.

5. stingray12002 Feb. 23, 2011 | 11:10 p.m. Report Abuse

   Really? Do you think anyobe in Vegas drives two hours to find a hooker that costs more than a whore in Vegas?

6. I_Robot Feb. 23, 2011 | 8:26 p.m. Report Abuse

   Reid doesn't give a flying rat's rear end about a contractor not relocating here because of a so-called "impression" of the state. All Reid wants to do is punish the rural counties that did NOT vote for him in the last election. And the only way he can do that is to try to remove their chief revenue source.

7. PopsLV Feb. 23, 2011 | 7:49 p.m. Report Abuse

   Harry continues on his way embarrassing Nevada with his comments. I thought when he was re-elected he would wake up but I guess not... Most of the people in Nevada who have lived here for a while don't give a darn what people in other states think about Nevada. Many people from other states still think we are the only state with gambling and that we all live in the back of the casinos.

8. my0.2 Feb. 23, 2011 | 6:21 p.m. Report Abuse

   Prostitution should be legalized, regulated, and taxed like any other business in demand. Amsterdam has a very nice red light district. Sex is a human need and people who choose to be prosititutes should be able to practice their trade safely. Politicians and public figures would not be black mailed because they used a prostitute and their spouse doesn't have to worry about diseases. It would help to eliminate the victim in the equation by making it legal. Thereby stopping the sex slaves in neighborhood homes or pimps from taking advantage of run-a-ways. We need to grow up and stop thinking sex is dirty.

9. PappyHappy Feb. 23, 2011 | 6:00 p.m. Report Abuse

   Obama and Prince Harry must have gotten together:
   
   Obama comes out today AGAINST the DEFENSE OF MARRIAGE ACT --- and Prince Harry comes out against legal prostitution.
   
   Do you possibly think they were attempting to divert our attention from so many bad things that are going on, and HOW LITTLE THEY HAVE DONE TO FIX THEM.
   
   This really does border on being .....BAZAAR!

10. PappyHappy Feb. 23, 2011 | 5:56 p.m. Report Abuse

    Poor Harry. Does his Viagra simply not do the trick any longer?
    
    Our 'Senate Majority Leader'! The Mid East is blowing up in our face; over 10% unemployment; home values have plummeted; we are looking at $4++++ for gas; states are broke as a result of federal mandates (MEDICAID in particular); and 'Harry nonHustle' is concerned about ............................PROSTITUTION??????
    
    Poor Harry. He would be pathetic if he was not so funny!

Read All Comments