ocicat for bringing I-901 to my attention. If this passes, all bars and restaurants in Washington will be going smoke-free on January 1st. Here's my take on this. How many of you are artists? Do you paint? Are you a photographer? Are you a writer? Did you go to school and spend lots of money to improve your skills as an artist? Well if so, how would you like it if the only way you could ever display your art or make a living as an artist is by breathing in other people's noxious and toxic smokey fumes? I mean you literally have to choose, do and show your art from your home where no one will see it...or share it with your community but only while breathing in crap that has been proven to be a serious and potentially fatal health risk.
I didn't just get up into a cage one day at a club and suddenly become good enough to be paid for it. Believe me I tried. I didn't get the job until I took belly dancing to improve my skills and spent hours practicing what I learned. And I spent over $2,000 so that I could attend the country's most prestigious pole dancing school (that was about the total cost when you add up tuition, the cost of driving to Los Angeles and back, the income I didn't make so that I could take the time off to do this, and the cost of living in LA for a month so that I could attend the school). Dancing is an art form and I paid to improve my skills as an artist. And after paying I invested in the equipment necessary to practice at home and continue to improve at this. Dancing is art, that's why there are schools for it and different degrees of dedication and skill.
I want the same privilege as all of you other artists out there; painters, photographers, graphic designers, writers, etc. I want to be able to share my art with my community and make money at it without being subjected to toxic smoke the entire time. But I can't. Because there are no non-smoking clubs in this town that employ pole dancers or cage dancers. Why do the rest of you have a right to make a living at your art without being poisoned? Don't I deserve the same privilege?
