Strippers who held up a banner in protest Wednesday in the Ohio House failed to keep lawmakers from trying to crack down on adult entertainment clubs.
The dancers' sign read "Talk is cheap. Speech is priceless." But House lawmakers voted 73 to 24 to pass a plan that would ban strip club customers from touching dancers. It would also ban full nudity in nightclubs after midnight.
The strippers and their clubs owners are battling the efforts of an influential conservative Christian group called Citizens for Community Values. The group brought the issue to lawmakers through voter petitions.
The bill still would have to be reconciled with a stricter Senate plan that would require dancers and patrons to stay six feet away from each other.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)