With Dallas Sexually Oriented Businesses' Hours on Chopping Block, Employees Worried for Future
Seated in her recliner in November, Avi Colunga had just finished feeding her infant when she saw the “horrify[ing]” news. Since 2018, Colunga, 25, has worked at XTC Cabaret in Dallas as an entertainer. Before that, she had bartended. But scrolling through Instagram with her daughter Xeppelin in her lap, Colunga came across an article about a proposed Dallas ordinance that could upend her life.
Some on City Council were pushing for sexually oriented businesses (SOBs) to close from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m., peak hours for an industry fueled by night owls. Soon, Colunga reposted the piece and sent it to a couple dancer friends, who seemed in disbelief that the city was considering the measure.
Many Dallas dancers are also young mothers, she explained, and some attend school during the day. Others work nights to make a living as they attempt to get their own businesses off the ground.
On Monday, Colunga said she might have to go back to bartending. She’s also spent some time working for Amazon, but those hours are long, draining and hard to keep up. Aside from having more freedom, Colunga also makes more dancing than she does in an hourly job. She can work three nights and spend the remainder of the week caring for her daughter, who’s around 8 months old.
Read more: https://www.dallasobserver.com/news/with-sexually-oriented-businesses-hours-on-chopping-block-employees-worried-for-future-13279863
