Touching outlawed at Tampa bikini clubs

TAMPA FL (UPI) -- Three bikini bar owners in Tampa, Fla. have filed suit against an ordinance prohibiting physical contact between customers and scantily clad employees.

The trio contends the ban illegally restricts their First Amendment right to free speech and seek an emergency order blocking the ordinance until a jury trial can be held, the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times reported.

The ordinance against touching was one of three passed by the Hillsborough County (Fla.) Commission to regulate adult businesses, the Times said. Local governments say these businesses invite prostitution, illegal drugs and lewd behavior.

Officials are unable to predict the outcome of the bikini bar suit given what they say is the murky nature of court rulings concerning adult businesses with the defining of obscene considered key, the newspaper said.