Duluth restricts karaoke bars (Lilburn: salons, rent, houses)

[ATLTJL]

With little fanfare, the city of Duluth overhauled its alcohol ordinance.

Most of the changes were liberal and pro-business, further loosening restrictions on alcohol and trying to make the area attractive for bars and taverns.

However, one little blip I noticed is that the city is barring karoke bars from having private or locked rooms and all singing would have to be done in public areas.

This pretty much confirms something I have been suspecting for a long time: some karaoke bars provide "hostesses" for prostitution. I only suspected it because this practice appears to be very closed and only open to other Asian, and specificaly, Korean people, but it seemed like it was going on to me. So one one hand, I'm for this overhaul. Even though I don't have a moral or ethical problem with prostitution, that doesn't mean I want it in my own backyard. I think we should have designated areas for prostitution and people can decide whether they want to live by them or not. Since I never decided to live by it, I don't want it in my area even though I don't care if other areas feel like they want to allow it.

The other side of the coin, though, is that as Americans, we think of karaoke as grabbing a number, waiting to be called, then going on stage and singing in front of everyone. In the Asian culture it's much different. You rent a room with a bunch of your friends and just pass around mics and you just sing with each other, not in front of strangers. So this new overhaul could be seen as an attack on the way that Asian people like to sing karaoke.

What do you think about this? Or do you even have an opinion? I don't have a huge problem with it, especially since most karaoke bars are in unincorporated Gwinnett anyway, but I do think the city could have done something like requiring all karaoke rooms to have doors that are at least 1/2 transparent glass or something like that. Surely they could have done something to curb the prostitution and still allow private singing.

I'm drawing a lot of conclusions here, though. Maybe it wasn't even to address prostitution, I just can't imagine why else they would care if there were locked karaoke rooms.

Alcohol Changes Finally Passed by Duluth Council - Duluth, GA Patch

[StAubin]

Gwinnet is a hub for human trafficing, that could have something to do with it if prostitution is a problem in karioke bars.

[cwkimbro]

I'm not sure. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, but I think we might be approaching a subject with cultural differences might be confused.

I traveled Singapore for work for 5 weeks. It is like a huge Asian melting pot (actually a very interesting city!). I saw alot of karaoke bars, including ones with private spaces. They were common. They were also diverse. Some were in bars, but some were in malls for family parties.

Karaoke seems to be kind of a big deal and I can also see where a group of friends might want privacy to drink, sing, and joke around. But that isn't a cultural value by itself, they have many more public karaoke bars and many of the places with private rooms also have public spaces.

I will admit though... I don't think any of these places need locked doors.

[tonygeorgia]

Originally Posted by StAubin

Gwinnet is a hub for human trafficing, that could have something to do with it if prostitution is a problem in karioke bars.

Men are looking for sex not alcohol when they go to those bars so the law is stupid. That's like banning ky jelly to prevent rape

[ATLTJL]

So are you saying the karoke bars will simply stop serving alcohol so they will be karaoke only areas and not be subject to the law?

I'm not sure how to interpret the law, but it does call them karaoke bars, so maybe you could offer karaoke without being a bar.

Still, I think there are enough karaoke bars that offer sex outside the city limits to where it would make more financial sense to eliminate the private rooms than to eliminate the alcohol. Although, the way most of these joints are set up, they are just a maze of private rooms. I wonder if maybe they took the doors off the rooms if that would be enough to satisfy the law or if they have to do major renovations.

Incidentally, Duluth has been cracking down on massage parlors as well. They seem to be very concerned with keeping the sex trade outside the city limits. I kind of view it like putting security lights or an alarm on your house. It's not going to keep a serious criminal out, but if other houses in the neighborhood are easier targets, who would bother with the more protected one? You can never stop the sex trade, but as long as it's much easier outside the city limits, it doesn't make any sense to tangle with the city when all you have to do is move a few miles away.

[cwkimbro]

I want to be fair to all arguments

but before we step across the cultural barrier.

Do we have any "proof" that karaoke bars are causing a problem?

To me this is a reminder of alot of anti-business laws Lilburn use to have. Many anti-Alcohol + karaoke, games, darts, pool, etc...

At the time it was squarely targeted at preventing new businesses from moving in that were mainly serving to minorities.

[arjay57]

Well, I'm glad I got in one last version of Blue Bayou before they shut everything down.

[jazzcat22]

I'm so naive---I would never have thought that there was prostitution in a karaoke bar! But if it's happening and as long as prostitution is illegal, then I guess it's okay to have that law. I wonder if legitimate massage businesses are allowed to have locked doors (not that there would be any reason to---just a closed door).

ATLTJL, thanks for the link to the article about changes in Duluth alcohol laws. We were in downtown Duluth for an outdoor screening of a movie. My husband bought a growler, but was not allowed to sample any of the beers. Looks like that was changed two days later! The growler store couldn't even hand a cup---my husband had to pick it up himself so that the growler store wouldn't be "serving" him beer!

[fzx]

Karaoke bars with separate rooms sound like a hotbed for prostitution. However, all karaoke bars in China are set up that way. Some might have shady biz but others are perfectly legit.

To Chinese, may be to koreans and Japnese as well, it is not a custom for people to sing in front of strangers. Think how shy Asians are. In addition, in general, Asians do not have good voices (may be I am biased). If you force them to sing in public, most of them would prefer keeping silent.

If the county want to stop illegal acitivties, please start with massage salons first.

[Caleb Longstreet]

You are worried about someone yelling, "Me Love You Long Time....I give you evryting big boy (thank you SNL)??? I'm more worried about the horrendous Kareoke singing going mainstream in the common areas!!! Much like it's illegal for me to remove my shirt in public, some folks should never, ever consider singing in public....

The world would be a better place....