Alan Mostow and the First Amendment

Alan Mostow did not major in Political Science nor has he ever held a political office. However, if you care to listen, he can tell you a thing or two about our country's Constitution; especially concerning the First Amendment. The First Amendment of the United States Constitution protects the right to freedom of religion and freedom of expression from government interference. Freedom of expression consists of the rights to freedom of speech, press, assembly and to petition the government for a redress of grievances, and the implied rights of association and belief.

In 1997 Alan Mostow opened the doors to his new club, Trapeze II. It was a day of joy, because Trapeze was essentially his dream club. For a long time Alan had wanted to own a club and before he had even broken ground he had known exactly how it was going to be. What made Trapeze different from other clubs, besides being upscale, was that Trapeze catered to a special clientele known as "swingers". No, Trapeze was not a jazz club, but a safe haven for those in "the lifestyle", or so Alan thought.

In February 1999, the Broward County (FL) Sheriff's Office raided Trapeze II after weeks of an undercover investigation. Along with his business partner, deputies arrested Alan Mostow and approximately 24 club members for lewd and lascivious behavior. One can only assume that the sex police and the Broward County District Attorney must have felt assured that they had themselves an open and shut case. But Alan Mostow is not a man to just roll over and take it up the ass. Matter of fact, if anyone was going to get screwed, it wasn't going to be Alan, his partner or their members. As quickly as the sex police could "cuff and stuff" him, Alan Mostow had already invited them to come back the next night when he reopened.

Alton: How long have you been in the lifestyle and what drew you to it?

AM: I've been in the Lifestyle since 1984. I had a couple of frienAlton that took me to Fire Island, which is in Long Island, New York which was a very open minded island for gays and lesbians. We spent the day there hanging out at a bar. They said would you like to go to a fun club. We said yes. When we went there we saw a lot of open-minded couples kissing and fondling and it took us back a few steps. But when we learned what type of club it was it seemed very interesting and we basically just slowly proceeded into the Lifestyle and we've never turned the hanAlton of the clock back.

Alton: Other than being a businessman, why did you become a Lifestyle club owner?

AM: I became a Lifestyle club owner because I didn't like the clubs I was going to. I felt they were very dirty, they were unkept, the owners really didn't care about the club members. It was almost as if they were strictly in it for the money. They put absolutely nothing back into their facility. I decided after a period of time, I wanted to make a club that I would be comfortable in and I knew that if I felt comfortable other people who I was associating myself with would find it the same way. They would like a classy elegant club. And that is what I've put together now.

Alton: In February 1999 one of your clubs (Trapeze II - Ft. Lauderdale) was raided by the Broward County Sheriff's Office as a result of their undercover investigation. As a club owner, had you considered that this might eventually happen to you?

AM: You always have it in the back of your mind that you might get raided. It's a nightmare, it's a bad dream, you never expect it to happen to you. You always expect it to happen to your competitor. But when it did happen it really did take us by surprise. But I think we had the know it all on how to proceed and move past the raid and continue the club going and actually doing a better job today than we did prior to the raid.

Alton: In a interview with Hustler magazine (02/01) you stated the following in regarAlton to the raid and your arrest, "I remember on that night, I had two reactions. My first reaction was to want to run and hide; we could have folded our tents and gone away. But my second reaction was, hey; we haven't done anything wrong. Goddammit, this is America. If I'm behind closed doors, even if it's with 50 couples, I should have the right to do whatever I like." What made you decide to fight Broward County instead of closing up shop like some of the other clubs had done previously?

AM: Well I believed that what we were doing was the correct thing. This is America, there's the First Amendment, freedom of speech, freedom of expression, etc. etc. I felt that we were over 21, we're consenting adults, we have the right to do what we want to do when we want to do it and where we want to do it. Being in a private club is like being in my private home. I wouldn't expect the government to come into my home and tell me what I can and cannot do. I didn't expect them to come into a private club and tell me what I can and cannot do. They did that and at that point when it went through the court system the courts ruled in our favor.

Alton: Essentially the Florida courts ended up ruling in your favor stating that "The arresting officers cannot go into a club and be retroactively offended at what they saw happening there." According to one of the judges, "Individuals other than the officers must be present in order for the State to prevail." This was an affirmation to Judge Gary Cowart's ruling that the State would have to prove that, "someone other than the law enforcement officers were offended by what they saw at the clubs." Although you were vindicated, has this incident deterred people from coming to your clubs?

AM: Actually it helped our business. It actually doubled our business, because I think what it told the public is that it is okay to go to a club like this, it is okay to express yourself, there is no reason to hide...

Alton: For fear that the sex police are going to come in and expose you.

AM: Yeah, because again, a sheriff's office or police department can be offended by anything. If they went in to any club and saw two people hugging each other or being a little more intimate, a police officer could sit there and say they were offended and then that couple would be arrested. So who are the police to sit there at any time to judge somebody? A police officer was never elected to judge my morality...

Alton: Only to enforce the law.

AM: That's right, to enforce the laws of the land. And some laws, yes are ambiguous and they do have to be changed because they could be looked at either way. I never felt we did anything wrong. I always felt we were in the right and luckily we had some judges that believed in the First Amendment and sided with us. And that's the way it should have been.

Alton: You've talked about the trauma this incident caused your family, especially one of your daughters who was sixteen years old at the time. Looking back now, was it worth it? If so, why?

AM: Was it worth my daughter being harassed and beat up upon because of what her daddy did? No. Sometimes I look back and it wasn't worth it. Was it worth it to teach her principles and to fight for what you believe in and to fight for what is right vs. wrong? Yes, it was worth it. It wasn't worth her being picked on or beat up or told things or falsehooAlton about what her father does and about her mother. No, that hurt. That I would not wish on my daughters in any shape or form. But it was worth it to tell them and to show them to fight for what you believe in; don't bend don't back down, because if you are right overall you will prevail. I think that's the best thing I could have taught my children.

Alton: Since then have you and your daughter talked about this? Did she learn those lessons? Have you talked about this since the raid and the court's decision?

AM: Yes. She's proud of what her dad did. And I'm proud of my daughters for standing beside me and having to put up with the media and the ridicule from their classmates and even some neighbors. They stood tall, stood behind their father and what more could you ask for.

Alton: By now you are no doubt well schooled on Florida State law. In preparation of opening your new club here in Atlanta, have you "boned up" on Georgia State law?

AM: No, what I did was boned up on making sure that I've dotted every "i" and crossed every "t". Hopefully Atlanta is smart enough to sit there and realize what the First Amendment is all about. What private clubs do is private and to leave well enough alone. If that haven't they should read up on case law in Florida before they take a step forward and do something wrong, because its going to be very costly for them.

Alton: If legal problems do arise here in Atlanta, do you expect to have the public support that you enjoyed in Ft. Lauderdale?

AM: More than ever. I believe that people today in America are fighting for their freedoms. I think people are sick and tired of being stepped on for things that are really meaningless to them. Live and let live.

Under the First Amendment, the right to assemble allows people to gather for peaceful and lawful purposes and implicit within this right is the right to association and belief. However, this implicit right is limited to the right to associate for First Amendment purposes. As for what those purposes are within the color of the First Amendment are debates as old as the Constitution itself. And as we all know, the Supreme Court interprets the extent of the protection afforded to these rights.

But let's put aside that debate for now if we can. A key point some may be overlooking is our right to privacy. In order to observe "lewd" behavior the Broward County undercover sex police had to join Trapeze; which they did using false identities. Joining requires one to read and sign a membership application and to pay a membership fee. As if these small technicalities weren't HINT enough, one might also assume that undercover sex cops sent in to a private club to observe "lewd" behavior, would no doubt also observe numerous posted signs warning of the possibility of sex on the premise. Guess they should have been painted on a big rock or brick.

If law enforcement agencies can come into a private club under false pretenses and judge what is and is not "lewd" behavior, what is stopping them from waltzing into your bedroom, borrowing your handcuffs and hauling you and your mate away for doing the two minute horizontal rumba? In the case involving the Broward County sex police, their two undercover cops (one male, one female) went so far as to disrobe (got naked) in order to blend in; as if one of them didn't stick out. Did they ever think that someone might have thought they were offensive? Maybe someone should ask them how they could arrest others for doing in private what they, and many of their fellow officers, probably do in private as well? And besides, "where did they hide their badges?"