TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The Florida Legislature approved a bill with an amendment that will raise the minimum age for strippers to 21 years old.
The bill was filed in December but wasn’t passed until March 5 in the Senate and on Friday in the House, which was the last day of the legislative session.
Currently, state law allows performers and other employees of adult establishments to be 18. The bill is being promoted as a piece of anti-human trafficking legislation.
Representative David Borrero, R-Doral, said minors and undocumented immigrants are targeted at strip clubs.
“Strip clubs are safe havens for sex trafficking,” he said. “We ought to be on the side of young girls who are barely legal.”
Representative Michele Rayner, D-St. Petersburg, said if there are no controlled environments, like strip clubs, young girls will be pulled into “private parties.”
"Once again, this House, this body, is trying to legislate what women can and cannot do with their bodies. And it's overwhelmingly a lot of men who are trying to do that," she said.
Rayner ended up voting for the bill, but three other Democrats voted against it.
The bill would also revise a hotline number to be included in human trafficking awareness signs and extend a future repeal date of the direct-support organization for the Statewide Council on Human Trafficking.
The council has 15 members including law enforcement officers, prosecutors, legislators and other experts to develop and coordinate state and local law enforcement and social services responses to combat human trafficking.
If an adult establishment knowingly employs someone younger than 21, they commit a first-degree misdemeanor and if they allow them to perform while nude, they commit a second-degree felony, which is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
It will go into effect on July 1 if Gov. Ron DeSantis signs the bill.
