Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, August 30, 1994 TAG: 9408300099
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: WOODSTOCK LENGTH: Short
The striptease shows ``demean and degrade'' women and send the wrong message to young people who attend the family-oriented fair, said Secretary of Natural Resources Becky Norton Dunlop.
The girlie shows, managed by Pennsylvania resident Gary Wayne Housel, have been protested by a local anti-pornography group. He set up a tent Saturday, the fair's first day, for shows to begin Monday.
In past years, adults have paid money to enter a tent to watch women remove their clothing as they move their bodies on a stage.
The strip shows are again stationed next to the children's rides on the midway because ``we didn't know where else to'' put the shows, said Charles Gochenour, president of the for-profit Fair Association.
Speaking from her Richmond office, Dunlop said Sunday the nude entertainment is not in keeping with her views of traditional family values.
Dunlop is a board member and former managing director of Enough is Enough, a northern Virginia anti-pornography organization that has been supporting the local group that wants the shows banned.
The Shenandoah Coalition Against Pornography insists the strip shows violate the town's indecent exposure ordinance.