Coquitlam secondary school petition to shut down strip club
Posted January 16, 2013 5:45 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
NEW WESTMINISTER (NEWS1130) – Grade twelve students at Dr. Charles Best Secondary School in Coquitlam are starting a petition to have the Paramount Gentlemen’s Club in New Westminster shut down.
Coquitlam Councillor Selina Robinson supports the students and will join them on Saturday when they gather at the Sixth Avenue and Sixth Street intersection in New Westminster from noon until 3 p.m. They’ll be collecting signatures and informing the public about why the issue is important to them.
The students have recently been discussing the objectification of women in their Social Justice 12 class and as part of it they are required to take some sort of action on an issue they are passionate about.
“Its sexualization of women is problematic for them and so they are very interested in raising attention and awareness about those activities and encourage the City of New Westminster to not permit those activities in that city,” says Robinson.
Entry for Paramount Gentleman’s Club is 18 years old and the club does not serve alcohol but students from the school have attended the joint. That’s now causing some concern for their peers.
“I just want to encourage the adults in the community to support these young people in expressing themselves and encouraging them to continue to do so,” adds Robinson.
The owner of the Paramount Gentleman’s Club in New Westminster says those involved in petitioning to shut down the establishment have not contacted him.
The owner, who wants to go by Steven only, says he only found out about this through media this morning when he arrived at work.
“I just wish the teacher of this class and the councillor for Coquitlam would have called me and opened up some dialogue so we can discuss what the issues are they had against the club so we could respond. Then they could make an educated opinion of my club and then decide,” says Steven.
He says his employees are now nervous about losing their jobs. For most of them this is their only source of income.
