SwingFest in Full Swing in Fla., Despite Police Encounters of '99
There are two rules at this year’s SwingFest: no public nudity at the hotel pool, and no hitting on hotel staff.
But because of the failure of two 1999 raids on South Florida clubs (there were 55 arrests and no convictions), no one is worried about similar enforcement efforts at this year’s swinger-oriented event, at a ritzy Hollywood, Fla., hotel, reports the Miami Herald. It is expected to attract attendees ranging from porn star Mary Carey, who is hosting this year’s SwingFest, to doctors and lawyers.
There is no word on whether CLE credit is offered for the seminar on Legal Issues Affecting Swingers Clubs. Other offerings including Writing the Perfect Online Profile, and seminars featuring instruction on pole dancing and bondage for beginners.
However, there was one set of attendees who were subjected to enforcement action after interviewing Carey and noting the length of rope and supply of vibrating underwear in a woman’s open tote bag—the Herald’s reporting team. Although they had previously received media credentials from the event’s marketing director, they were ordered to surrender their video footage and escorted from the Westin Diplomat Resort by hotel staff, the newspaper writes.
“This is a private event, and we have to respect the privacy of individuals attending the convention,” Michelle Shulman, a hotel public relations manager, said afterward.
Courts held that the 1999 private club arrests by Broward County sheriff’s officers for lewd behavior (public sex) were lacking, because the conduct had to be offensive to at least one person present who wasn’t a police officer, the newspaper notes.
