ALBERTA COURT STRIPS DOWN DRACONIAN LAW

Topless revues are no longer considered “nude” in Alberta following a long-awaited change to one of Canada’s most draconian nude entertainment laws. “The exposure of female breasts is no longer considered ‘nude,’ ” read a Monday bulletin issued by the Alberta Liquor and Gaming Commission.

The groundbreaking change means Alberta strippers can now approach patrons to receive tips, provided they are wearing a G-string.

Previously, a rule barring topless performers from coming within one metre of spectators meant exotic dancers were able to collect tips only through a “loonie toss” — a uniquely Prairie practice in which patrons throw dollar coins at the performer.

The revised definition also dramatically liberalizes topless dancing across the province. A bare-breasted pole dancer in a Calgary bar, for instance, is now considered legally equivalent to a cover band or a standup comedian.

“That would be fine under the new policy, although it would be subject to any municipal bylaws,” said Tatjana Laskovic, spokeswoman for the province’s liquor regulator.

For years, Alberta’s strict nudity legislation has been the bane of the province’s burlesque performers, whose relatively tame stage shows have been lumped into the same category as exotic dancers.

If burlesque dancers had breasts exposed, they were forbidden to get within a metre of audience members or other dancers, a measure that effectively banned chorus lines.

They were forbidden from using props to make sex jokes. And pasties — adhesive nipple coverings invented to circumvent 1920sera anti-nudity laws — could get an Alberta performer arrested.

“Frankly, when we did pasty reveals, it never felt comfortable; there was a fear of repercussions,” said Raven Virginia, a Calgarybased burlesque performer who has been championing the reform for six years.

“I cried,” she said when she first learned of her victory Monday morning.

In 2010, Virginia’s burlesque troupe, the Garter Girls, was subjected to a raid of sorts when they had a show at Calgary’s Club Paradiso interrupted by a fire marshal, police officers and a liquor regulator.

Ever since, Alberta has been one of the few jurisdictions north of the Rio Grande in which burlesque performers have been forced to take the stage in full bras.

As a detailed policy document told the province’s burlesque industry, the “undersides and areola of the breasts needed to be covered by non-adhesive fabric,” said Virginia.

Alberta’s imposition of strict nudity laws came about relatively recently as a result of political pressure by the 1990s-era Citizens for Decency.

Led by the anti-stripping crusader Audrey Jensen of Red Deer, Alta., the group argued that nude dancing is a “stepping stone” to drugs, AIDS, prostitution and sexual assault.

“This results in acts like rapes, sexual assaults and murders,” said Jensen in a 1990 Calgary Herald article.

As recently as this summer, Alberta officials were defending the strict policy against bare breasts as a “safety measure” to prevent lust-crazed men from assaulting performers.

“Contact with a performer could lead to a sexual assault, you know … when you involve alcohol, the risk factors increase,” Dave Berry, acting vice-president of the liquor regulator’s compliance and social responsibility division, told Alberta Venture magazine in a story published this month.

Alberta’s definition of nude is now limited to “the exposure of genitals … whether the person is fully or partially unclothed.”

Fully nude performing is legal in Alberta, but under a measure first enacted to prevent any possibility of live sex acts, nude performers need to keep a one-metre distance from patrons and fellow dancers.

Provincial liquor regulations also prohibit bar servers from working while topless.

Despite Monday’s rule change, Alberta stripping laws are still a far cry from the likes of Quebec and B.C., where dancers are legally allowed to perform fully nude contact or “lap” dances.

Nevertheless, it is still Saskatchewan that holds the title for Canada’s most restrictive nude entertainment laws.

Under a new round of legislation passed in April, the Wheat Province has a blanket ban on stripping unless done for charity or community benefit.