Why You Should Be Angry at The Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry

You should be angry at them even if you aren't a dancer. You should be scared and worried. I reported many Minnesota strip clubs to their organization, in addition to privately litigating. They did not help me with any of them. Rather, they called me to tell me that they didn't have enough resources to pursue an investigation. This should upset strippers, because it means the state of Minnesota does not care about them. It means that your tax dollars are not investigating exploitative workplaces, because of an alleged lack of resources.

Citizens who aren't strippers should be worried too. The state of Minnesota does not investigate strip clubs, and their lack of interest is a symptom of a larger problem-- one that says women's issues don't matter. It's one that says subversive workplace environments aren't as deserving of regulation.

I wrote to Al Franken about this, and received an automated response, asking me to donate to his campaign. I was put on an annoying mailing list that usually asks me for money. Al Franken has demonstrated that he also doesn't care about stripper labor rights. It's unfortunate that dancers must rely on private litigation only, but that's the way it is in Minnesota. It's unfortunate that all citizens aren't protected under the law in the state of Minnesota.