Club Onyx, a popular Houston strip club, was granted a restraining order against the city of Houston after being raided and threatened by police.
The restraining order, granted by U.S. District Judge Vanessa Gilmore, prevents police from executing any further arrests or raids.
“In all ways, Onyx Houston both qualified as a Reopened Service and complied with the requirements and recommendations of Governor Abbott’s Order,” club owner Eric Langan stated in a document filed in court. “Nonetheless, before Onyx Houston has been open even an hour, dozens of Houston Police Department officers and Fire Department officials raided the business.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued an order to open essential businesses with the condition of following safe government-mandated COVID-19 guidelines and operating at a limited capacity.
The owner opened the doors of his establishment on Friday. Langan said he opened the strip club under the stipulation of operating as a full-service restaurant. As most strip clubs do, Onyx serves drinks, appetizers and entrees to its patrons.
Langan, 52, allowed strippers to provide entertainment while 180 patrons ate their meals throughout the night.
“They can take off their clothes if they want to, but I didn’t know the virus is spread through being naked. If it is then I’m in trouble…There’s no putting money in G-strings sort of thing,” Langan told the Houston Chronicle. “They throw money on the stage and girls pick it up after they’re done and bring it to their locker.”
Langan maintains that the club followed social distancing guidelines and was rightfully opened. He has filed a federal lawsuit under his business, Trumps Inc., citing that the police raid and subsequent closure was a violation of rights.
However, Mayor Sylvester Turner is perplexed whether the establishment falls under the essential business authorized to open as appointed by the Gov. Abbott.
“I am asking the state to quickly clarify whether the governor intended for sexually oriented businesses like Onyx to be apart of of [sic] the businesses authorized to open on May 1,” Turner wrote in a statement. “And if not, I am also asking the state via the Texas Attorney General to enforce the state’s order because the city cannot afford to expend its limited resources, i.e. fire and police, to defend the state’s order that a federal judge is now questioning.”
