Protesters Against Nudity Playing ‘Show and Tell’ in East Texas Town : Feud: The morality of sex-oriented businesses is under scrutiny in Longview. Some bars now advertise “fully clothed” waiters.

The proliferation of sex-oriented businesses in this Bible Belt town has protesters photographing patrons and local bars advertising “fully clothed” waiters.

In addition to regular topless bars, Longview has all-nude, bring-your-own-booze joints and the East Texas Chicken Ranch, a nude steakhouse named after the inspiration for the Broadway hit “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.”

But residents of this oil-rich town surrounded by pine trees don’t want that link to fame, or anything else the nude spots might bring.

“We don’t need this. Longview is becoming a big joke. Do we want to be known as the best nudity place in Texas?” said Evelyn Scott, a member of Citizens Against Pornography in Texas, or CAP-IT.

This summer, the group began regularly photographing and videotaping customers going in and out of the nude spots and writing down license numbers.

Protesters also record when the customers go in, who they are with and their vehicle descriptions, said Bruce Edge, a CAP-IT spokesman. They haven’t yet done anything with the information, but are considering taking out newspaper ads.

“If we allow it to continue, it would mean more of them and a total moral decay of the community,” said Edge, a candy store owner.

CAP-IT has had some success: An all-nude strip club and a nude tanning salon closed in July.

And some bars have been trying to attract customers by advertising “fully clothed waiters” and “fully clothed dart tournaments.”

But disc jockey David McBride thinks protesters have crossed the line.

“I’ve never seen such petty, low-class tactics as here in East Texas,” he said. “I’ve never seen people so self-righteous in my life.

“The only way someone can be offended by an establishment like this in Longview is to pay a cover charge and come in.”

Less than 10 years ago there wasn’t a stripper to be found here.

Some theorize Longview’s prime location contributed to the increase in nude establishments. It’s the only town of its size--70,000 people--on the highway between Dallas and Shreveport, La., where casino gambling was recently approved.

“That’s what they’re going for. You get your gambling in Shreveport, but on your way back you get your sexual interests fulfilled,” said Paul Anderson, minister of the North Side Baptist Church.

Gregg County also has liquor sales, unlike the surrounding dry counties.

Today there are about a dozen nude establishments in town.

The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission can only regulate businesses with licensed liquor sales, and state law doesn’t allow totally nude clubs to have liquor licenses. So in Longview it’s bring your own.

Longview and other Gregg County towns recently passed ordinances and regulations requiring fees and restrictive zoning for nude clubs. Some establishments have sued.

“If someone is going to try and push me out of town, I am not going to go for it. I am here for the long haul,” Chicken Ranch owner Andy Anderson told the Longview News-Journal after filing suit.

“People should have better things to worry about. There has been everything from whorehouses to gambling casinos to you name it up and down East Texas since God knows when,” he said.

CAP-IT has received some civil liberties complaints about its tactics, but “that same law that protects them, protects me,” Edge said.

Edge said CAP-IT only wants to make the community a better place. But the town remains divided.

“It has been humorless in Longview lately,” Mayor I. J. Patterson lamented. “I can’t even afford to have a flat tire in front of that Chicken Ranch.”