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 (Mound House, NV) – More than a year after closing because of a series of emergency orders issued by Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak, Lyon County’s legal brothels will reopen for business.

“It’s official,” wrote Madame Suzette, owner of four legal brothels in Lyon County.  “After 14 months the Moonlite Bunny Ranch and the Sagebrush Ranch will be opening their doors Saturday, May 1st.”

Cole said reopening plans for the other two legal brothels, the Kit Kat Ranch and Love Ranch, have not yet been finalized.

Beginning May 1, Nevada’s counties will regain regulatory control over business openings.  At a special meeting on April 14, Lyon County voted in favor of a reopening plan that has been approved by the state COVID task force.

“The Board of Commissioners approved the plan that removes limitations to large, indoor or outdoor gatherings, opened businesses up to 100 percent occupancy and authorizes that brothels can open May 1, 2021,” said County Manager Jeff Page.

While the governor’s mask mandate will remain in place, Kiki Lover, a legal sex worker at the Sagebrush Ranch, doesn’t foresee any problem with compliance.

“Just let us reopen,” Lover said.  “We can definitely do our jobs with a mask on. It’s not that hard.”

The Lyon County brothels have prepared safety and health protocols related to COVID-19 that meet or exceed all CDC and state guidelines.  You can read them here.

Cole noted that over 500 employees and independent contractors have been sidelined for over a year as a result of the governor’s March 2020 shutdown order, many of whom have been unable to access unemployment and other relief benefits due to ongoing stigma about the industry.

“This has been a long, painful and, frankly, unfair wait for our industry,” Cole concluded.  “But all of us are excited to finally be able to jump back in the saddle.  Love is in the air.”

# # #

On January 28, 2021, the Lyon County Board of County Commissioners unanimously passed a resolution declaring an “economic emergency” that has developed due to COVID-19 directives issued by the governor which has put “restaurants, bars, casinos, brothels and other dining and entertainment industry businesses in danger of permanent closure.”

In an effort “to avoid irreparable economic damage” to the county, the commission urges Lyon County businesses to “continue to operate within the Governor’s ‘emergency directives’ in good faith” while allowing them “to determine how and if to implement those directives relative to their business model.”

In his comments, Commissioner Wes Henderson thanked Commissioner Ken Gray and Commissioner Vida Keller for “including brothels in the resolution.”

“Our brothels are a legal industry in Lyon County,” the commissioner continued, “and they have been unfairly singled out by the governor.  If I want to go get a tattoo today, I can go get a tattoo.  If someone wanted to go get a body piercing today, they can go get their body pierced.  But they can’t visit a brothel.  And that’s just not right and it is hurting this county financially.”

In response, Suzette Cole, owner and CEO of Lyon County’s four legal brothels, issued the following statement…

“Despite having agreed to implement a comprehensive plan of COVID-related health and safety protocols that meet or exceed those recommended by the governor, Lyon County’s brothels continue to be the only businesses in the county that remain completely and totally shut down by the governor’s directives.

“We are enormously grateful to the Lyon County Board of Commissioners for recognizing that legal brothels are an essential business that provide a valuable service, employment for hundreds of workers, and tax revenue for the county.

“We are reviewing today’s declaration of emergency with legal counsel and will be making a decision on reopening for business in a safe and responsible manner in the future.”

# # #

(Chuck Muth) – Alice Little – her trade name, not her real name – is a licensed sex worker at one of Nevada’s legal brothels that has been shuttered by “emergency” order since last St. Patrick’s Day.

And on Friday she sued Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak.

“The brothels have been closed for more than half of this year,” Little said in an interview with KTNV-TV13.  “Sex workers like me are suffering financially and emotionally. We have minimal options for economic relief and limited alternative employment opportunities due to our stigmatized work history.”

Nevada is the only live-and-let-live state in the country that allows legal prostitution – but only in licensed and regulated brothels.  And only in a handful of the state’s rural counties.

In addition, the legal brothel industry is the only legal industry in the state that has not been allowed to reopen in some limited form during the governor’s now 8-month-long shutdown due to the coronavirus.

Little argues it’s discriminatory and unconstitutional.   And it is.

“The Nevada Constitution affords constitutional protections to the freedom of association,” the 4’8” working lady notes in her suit.  “This liberty protects against government interference with an individual’s choice to enter into and maintain certain intimate or private relationships.”

Little is being represented by the Randazza Legal Group, which has a history of fighting for the legal brothel industry in Nevada.  And lead attorney Marc Randazza is no shrinking violet, especially when it comes to defending constitutional rights.

“Nevada sex workers are issued licenses by the government,” Randazza argues, “and they have a property interest in these licenses which may only be suspended after the licensees are afforded due process.”

Which they’ve been denied.

“By not permitting her to engage in the act of legal sex work without conducing any type of hearing,” Randazza continues, “Gov. Sisolak has unconstitutionally deprived Plaintiff Little of a protectable property interest by effectively revoking her license.”

“Defendant’s refusal to allow brothels to reopen is particularly arbitrary given that Gov. Sisolak announced the resumption of all other economic activity in the State of Nevada on August 3, 2020.  He has, without any rational basis, decided to single out brothels.”

Randazza goes on to note that other “similarly situated businesses” – such as casinos, bars, bowling alleys, gyms, dentists, movie theaters, hair salons, pools, spas and tattoo shops – have been allowed to reopen…

“If it is safe for a customer to get a massage at a massage parlor, then it should be safe for a customer to visit a legal sex worker if COVID-19 precautions are taken.  In the alternative, if the Governor insists on closing brothels, then licensed sex workers should still be permitted to utilize their licenses to ply their legal trade at their own residences or in private locations, as long as they are sanitary and follow COVID guidelines.”

Which raises this question…

Would you rather have prostitution taking place legally in a regulated, off-the-beaten-path brothel…or in the house across your street?

The reality is that COVID-19 is NOT spread through sexual contact.  The science says so.  Health professionals – including a doctor at the Mayo Clinic – say so.

And as long as the state’s legal brothels follow all the same safety protocols as massage parlors and dentists with their fingers in your mouth, there’s no rational excuse for keeping them closed.

If Gov. Sisolak doesn’t want to take the responsibility for reopening our legal brothels for political or moral reasons, then he should defer the decision to the elected members of the various county commissions – just as he’s deferred similar decisions to the Gaming Control Board, the local school boards, and his COVID Task Force.

Today is Nevada Day.  We’re the Battle Born state, not the Puritan state.

Today would be the perfect day to immediately reopen our brothels rather than waste the time, effort and money to fight this out in court.  We have far bigger problems to worry about.

(Mr. Muth is president of Citizen Outreach and adviser to the Nevada Brothel Association PAC.  He blogs at MuthsTruths.com.  His views are his own.)

(Suzette Cole) – In a recent media interview, Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak was asked about reopening the state’s legal brothels.  Riley Snyder reported that the governor “said it’s not on his radar.”

While re-opening Nevada’s legal brothels may not be on the governor’s radar, it’s certainly on the radar of over 600 employees and women who have lost their jobs and income; some of whom have been forced back into the illegal market where no safety precautions are followed or enforced.

The brothel shutdown not only hurts those who have lost their incomes, but also counties’ tax revenue which includes hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees and licenses yearly.

It’s also dried up donations from the brothels who are the biggest donators to various local charities that have historically been supported.  In Lyon County alone just some of these are:

* Animal parks
* Food banks
* Sheriff’s Ark Program
* Boys and Girls Club
* Dayton High School
* Toys for Tots

Continuing in his interview, Gov. Sisolak said…

“I don’t know how you social distance in a brothel.  I know that they advocate to me that they test for sexually transmitted disease. That’s different than testing for COVID and having people skin against skin. That’s why I have the problem with some of the contact sports.”

In response…

1.)  There are all manner of one-on-one personal service businesses that have been approved for re-opening in which there is little-to-no social distancing, including…

Massage therapists, dentists and hygienists, blood donation centers, plastic surgeons, makeup artists, tattoo/piercing parlors, waxing, facials and threading, hair salons, nail salons, barber shops, cosmetologists, tailors, medical spas and tanning salons.

2.)  According to multiple health professionals and organizations there has been no link found between sexual activity and the transmission of COVID.  For example…

• National Institutes of Health (NIH): “Covid-19 is not transmitted by sex.”
• William F. Marshall, III of the Mayo Clinic: “There is currently no evidence that the COVID-19 virus is transmitted through semen or vaginal fluids.”
• com: “Let’s be clear: COVID-19 is not contracted directly from sex.”

3.)  Again according to various health professionals, COVID is absolutely not transmitted “skin against skin.”

• The Centers for Disease Control (CDC): “Infections occur mainly through exposure to respiratory droplets.” Not skin-to-skin.
• The World Health Organization (WHO): “COVID-19 spreads between people…via mouth and nose secretions.” Not skin-to-skin.
• The Queensland Health Department: “(COVID droplets) can’t get in through other parts of your body like your skin or your hair.”

4.)  While testing for sexually transmitted diseases is, in fact, different from testing for COVID, Nevada’s legal brothels are uniquely experienced in administering and following medical testing protocols and can readily adapt to any recommended or required COVID-related testing.

5.)  While it is not feasible for participants of contact sports to wear masks while engaged in the activity, it is absolutely feasible to do so for sexual activity occurring in a licensed, regulated legal brothel.

A government ban on sex is not only unenforceable, but potentially harmful mentally and socially.

“During this extended public health emergency, people will and should have sex,” notes the Vermont Department of Health.  “Consider using harm reduction strategies to reduce the risk to yourself, your partners, and your community.”

Furthermore…

As attorney Deanna Forbush noted in recent testimony to Nevada’s COVID-19 task force, we’re not going to kill the virus by killing the economy.  ALL businesses need to be re-opened, with appropriate safety protocols in place.

Nevada’s legal brothels have submitted detailed safety measures that meet or exceed those in place for other in-person service businesses. And no data exists indicating the services provided by the brothels pose any higher risk of spreading COVID-19 than these other businesses.

Additionally, brothels do not engage in group activity.  It is a one-to-one service.  And while Gov. Sisolak has now approved gatherings of up to 200 people – not including employees – our protocols call for not more than 10 clients within our facility at a time.

The current government shutdown orders have created winners and losers and discriminate by applying different standards to similar industries.  All Nevada’s legal brothels are asking for is to be treated equally on a consistent, level playing field with everyone else.

Ms. Cole is CEO of four legal brothels in Lyon County, Nevada and president of the Nevada Brothel Association PAC

(The following is a transcript of testimony delivered by Deanna Forbush to members of Nevada’s COVID-19 Mitigation and Management Task Force on October 8, 2020)

Nye County has established and maintained a low Covid-19 positivity rate (6.4). And while the Governor has opened all other businesses in the county, he keeps brothels closed for no rational reason.

To maintain his emergency executive authority the Governor must avoid acting in an arbitrary or capricious manner. He would accomplish this by evaluating and treating all businesses with the same criterion.

He has not done that here.

Some businesses are open while others remain closed, and the decisions made in this regard have clearly been, not only arbitrary and capricious, but also prejudicial and unconstitutional.

So far, all my client has been told is the Governor is not “focused on brothels, that he is more interested in getting kids back in school, and he doesn’t like skin-on- skin activity.”

I have to tell you just how hurt the people who work in this lawful industry are, people forced out of work for eight months, and whose kids are hungry. They are very hurt to learn just how little they mean to their Governor, many who voted for him.

Also, there are plenty of “skin-on-skin” businesses which have been allowed to open while my Client remains closed.

1. Dentists and their hygienists who probe their patents’ mouths with their fingers for up to 30-60 minutes at a time are open. Yes, they wear gloves. But our customers have been wearing just as much latex protection as they do, long before COVID. And, when allowed to open our doors, just like the dental professionals, our customers and contractors will be required to wear masks at all times pursuant to the protocols we’ve submitted to our county and were approved overwhelmingly.

2. Spas and massage parlors are open where, while wearing nothing more than a sheet, a person can have their bodies massaged and rubbed with oils and lotions by an ungloved masseuse for up to 90 uninterrupted minutes.

3. Eyelash and hair salons are open. Technicians apply lashes with ungloved fingers in their customers’ eyes for 60 minutes straight. Hair stylists stand over their customers, washing their hair, massaging their scalps, cutting their hair, and then blowing it dry, sometimes for two hours without interruption.

4. Escort Services are open, which, as I understand it, involves one-on-one dating of persons who are typically unfamiliar with one another.

Meanwhile, brothels remain closed because the Governor doesn’t like skin-on-skin activity?

The Governor should understand that every business is essential to the people who work there as well as to those who patronize these establishments.

Killing the economy will not kill the virus. We simply will not change the course of the pandemic with an economic lockdown. However, what’s simply unfair, is the government has disparately applied its opening metrics creating winners and losers. That is not the function of government.

If the state’s metrics were being evenly applied, my client would be open. Elected leaders and government staff must not allow their own individual prejudices or moral judgements to discriminate against lawful businesses by applying different standards to similar industries.

Beyond being unfair, the system employed to date, is blatantly unconstitutional. The Constitutionality of Emergency Directives are subject to the constitutional guarantees of due process and equal protection.

The Equal Protection Clause under the 14th Amendment to the Constitution requires that before a government can treat similarly situated groups differently, there must be a rational relationship between the disparity of treatment and a legitimate governmental purpose.

This principal is reinforced by the 14th Amendment’s Procedural Due Process, requiring that before a government can deprive individuals of liberty or property, i.e., their businesses, it must show that it is acting for a public purpose, and that its actions are not “arbitrarily or without some reasonable relation to that stated purpose.”

There is no possible rational relationship between keeping my client closed and the public’s safety.

People who frequent my client’s establishment do not engage in group activity, services are provided one-on-one. As I listed above, the government has allowed businesses with indistinguishable risk factors to open, and has also permitted “super spreader” events to go forward with impunity, due to the participants’ constitutional rights.

These same constitutional rights are also guaranteed to my Client. Instead, my Client’s rights have been denied for over eight months.

The Governor has likely noticed the lawsuits which have been filed around the country. These suits have not turned out well for governors.

For instance, in Pennsylvania, that state’s Supreme Court told Governor Wolf that his order shutting down businesses violated the 14th Amendment. Michigan’s Governor Whitmer learned from her Supreme Court that her actions were unconstitutional. The same thing happened in Wisconsin where that state‘s Supreme Court overturned it’s governor’s mandates.

Unless legal businesses in Nevada are allowed to re-open, the same thing will happen here.

My Client does not wish to join the long list of businesses which have sued the Governor and this state for his unconstitutional actions. We don’t want to be part of the problem facing this great state. Instead, we wish to be part of the solution, by putting thousands of people who work in this lawful industry back to work so their families no longer suffer. We want our counties to again become prosperous with the economic activity our businesses generate.

Please help us do that by issuing one more Directive opening our businesses, and putting our people back to work. Thank you.

Ms. Forbush is an attorney with the firm of Fox Rothschild who represents the Chicken Ranch brothel in Nye County.

(The following is a transcript of testimony delivered by Lance Gilman to members of Nevada’s COVID-19 Mitigation and Management Task Force on October 8, 2020)

Undoubtedly, we are in unprecedented times that have required difficult decisions and challenging choices. We have and do respect the leadership put forth by this task force, the LEAP Committee and Governor Sisolak and his office.

As such, Storey County, its leadership and management team, its businesses and its citizens have implemented the regulations and suggestions that have been put forth by the state to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 and we are proud of the results.

To date, Storey County has had only six cases of COVID-19, all of which have been treated and have recovered.

With that in mind, I implore you to allow Storey County the ability to reopen all of its businesses and fully begin the long recovery from the significant economic damage of this pandemic and its ensuing shutdown.

Specifically, I am asking that you allow the county the ability to reopen the Mustang Ranch, a longstanding economic driver and community steward for our county.

Since the beginning of the shutdown, our state’s leadership has repeatedly reiterated the criteria for reopening businesses in our state.

It has been stressed by the Governor and this task force that decisions on reopening businesses would be made first and foremost on data and the likelihood of getting infected or spreading the COVID-19 virus in a business and/or municipality.

It has been stressed that the data and not the industry or business would be the driving force for closing or keeping a business closed. It has also been emphasized that, for a business to reopen, a sufficient and adequate mitigation and enforcement plan would be needed.

In short, the goal of the shutdown and subsequent reopening was to avoid picking winners and losers but, rather, to minimize the risks of community spread and the burden on our healthcare system.

With those as the guiding philosophies for our state’s COVID-19 response, I am formally requesting Storey County’s ability to reopen the Mustang Ranch.

Working in coordination with healthcare professionals, Storey County leadership, the Storey County Sheriff and law enforcement, Mustang Ranch has developed a significant mitigation and enforcement plan designed to address COVID-19.

This plan has been shared with the Governor’s office, the LEAP Committee, the COVID-19 Task Force, the state’s medical leadership and others and, by all accounts, is sufficient and adequate.

We have received no feedback on why this business continues to remain closed. It is not a business that encourages congregation or large crowds and the proposed mitigation plan further mandates that there will be no crowds or groups at any time at the business.

To date, the state has reopened massage parlors, health spas, martial arts studios, dental offices and a variety of other businesses that involve close contact and one-on-one physical interactions.

Furthermore, there is no data that the services provided at Mustang Ranch are at any higher risk of spreading COVID-19 than any of these other businesses and industries.

Mustang Ranch is a longstanding community steward for Storey County, doing everything from significantly supporting underprivileged schoolchildren and after school programs to providing meals on a regular basis for seniors on fixed incomes and in challenging situations.

In fact, Mustang Ranch has continued to provide significant monetary support to a number of community-based programs during this health and economic crisis.

Additionally, the closure of Mustang Ranch has had dire impacts on the employees and women that work there, forcing them and their families into critical financial circumstances.

For many years, the Mustang Ranch was the only significant economic driver in Storey County, paving the way for our county and region to become the economic development beacon it is now.

The Ranch has been a constant for our community through times of prosperity and adversity, alike. We can identify no reason that the Ranch should remain closed, based on all of the above reasons and the state’s commitment to data-based decisions, not arbitrarily picking winners and losers.

I again implore this task force to immediately give Storey County the ability to open the Mustang Ranch in a safe and healthy manner.

Mr. Gilman is the owner of the Mustang Ranch brothel in Storey County, Nevada