Same-sex dancing is also illegal during this time, as it is considered a public display of homosexuality. Clubs that are secretly operating as LGBTQ establishments get into the habit of flipping on a red light in the event of a police raid , so that patrons can switch to a dance partner of the opposite sex before the cops arrive.
While gay bars have never been technically illegal in New York, State Liquor Authority rules dating back to the s make these venues an easy target for the authorities. Throughout the s, police take the regulation against "disorderly" establishments to mean "venues frequented by gay people," and use the legislation as a pretext for harassing LGBTQ bars and clubs.
After 23 students are injured—including one with a broken ankle—at a Dead Kennedys show, the University of Minnesota bans "slam dancing" on campus. An early name for "moshing," slam dancing is described by the AP as concert-goers "bashing each other's bodies, leaping from stages and balconies and even cutting one another with razors and knives. Instead, rock musicians speak out against it themselves, including the Smashing Pumpkins, who publicly condemn it after a girl dies at one of their concerts in In the rural Christian town of Elmore City, Oklahoma, dancing has been strictly forbidden since , on moral grounds.
In , students from Elmore City High School initiate a proposal to overturn the ban so that they can have a senior prom. The community's religious leaders have major objections; one Reverend F.
Johnson, from a church in a neighboring town, is quoted in People magazine saying, "No good has ever come from a dance. If you have a dance somebody will crash it and they'll be looking for only two things—women and booze.
When boys and girls hold each other, they get sexually aroused. You can believe what you want, but one thing leads to another. The events go on to inspire the cult film Footloose , starring Kevin Bacon. Moshing was banned by the University of Minnesota in The long-running New York jazz spot Mikell's is shut down after the cops find more than three musicians performing on stage. The cabaret laws are still in effect in the city, but by the mids, they have been amended to allow music by up to three performers in venues without a license.
Because Mikell's doesn't have a cabaret license, and four performers are found on stage, the city pulls the plug on the venue. The small Arkansas city of Trumann lifts a year-old rule prohibiting dancing in venues that serve alcohol.
Laws pertaining to dancing are often crafted at the city level, and by the s, many local governments have either repealed them or stopped enforcing them. At the height of his mayorship, Rudy Giuliani vows to clean up up New York with his infamous "broken windows" policing strategy, which takes a zero-tolerance stance on low-level crimes. He also revives the Cabaret Laws , which by this point have fallen dormant. One of the most quotable opponents was the Rev. When boys and girls hold each other, they get sexually aroused.
You can believe what you want, but one thing leads to another. The event made front page news from New York to China, including a feature in People magazine. To infuse the project with realism, he flew to Oklahoma City, rented a car, and drove to Ardmore and Elmore City.
He stayed for a week, talking to Oklahomans about their lives. Upon his return to Los Angeles, he tweaked the dialogue, filling the story with details. The curious name of Ren — portrayed by Kevin Bacon in the movie — is an amalgam of the first names of prom organizers and junior class officers Rex Kennedy and Leonard Coffee.
In , the town made national headlines again when it re-created the famous prom on its 30th anniversary. The next year, it hosted its first Footloose Festival. In , dancers in garb ranging from camo to pink tutus did the Elmore City version of the Harlem Shake. Lee was crowned and changed out of her glittery silver contest dress into a mini-skirt and pink Elmore City T-shirt to wander among the hot dog-eating and pie-eating contests, lawnmower races and contests for best chicken dance, electric slide, line dance, wobble dance, cupid shuffle and twist.
Not a bump or grind was seen. Parents danced with children, little girls ran around with hula hoops and teenaged boys stood awkwardly around the perimeter of the makeshift dance floor. The date for the festival was set for April A time to laugh, and a time to weep. A time to mourn, and a time to dance. And there was a time for this law, but not anymore. See, this is our time to dance. But it was not the only town making headlines as prom prohibition came to an end: at least four other Oklahoma towns made national headlines when they lifted dancing bans.
For 66 years, dancing was not allowed in the town of Ames. For example, in New Hampshire it is illegal to collect or carry away seaweed at night, and in Kentucky all public officials and lawyers must take an oath stating that they have never fought in a duel with deadly weapons.
In Fort Smith, Arkansas, the colloquially nicknamed Footloose ordinance has outlawed public dancing on Sundays, until now that is. The ban on dancing has finally been repealed, leaving residents free to cut loose on Sundays at last. The ordinance basically outlawed public dancing by barring the operation of dance halls or any public place with dancing on Sundays.
The emergency clause in the ordinance stated that public dancing on Sundays "greatly endangers the public health, safety and welfare. There is no word on whether or not citizens of Fort Smith also kicked off their Sunday shoes and held a huge dance in celebration. Although the law was put into effect way back in , it eventually earned its nickname for the film starring Kevin Bacon and Lori Singer.
It is easy to see why as this law has some obvious parallels to that film.
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