Yeah right, says Kenton County Attorney Garry Edmondson.

Four Covington "gentlemen's clubs" make that argument in a lawsuit challenging a new Kenton County law regulating sexually oriented business. The suit, filed by Cincinnati lawyer H. Louis Sirkin, who has defended Hustler publisher Larry Flynt and successfully challenged laws regulating adult businesses across the United States, says Kenton County's new ordinance violates sexually oriented businesses' freedoms of speech and expression.

Edmondson says the clubs' complaint can be summed up in the lawsuit's description of Patsy Hiatt, a performer at Club Venus on East Fifth Street in Covington.

"In order to better express herself and to convey her message to the ordinance, Ms. Hiatt appears in various states of undress during her performances," the lawsuit says.

"In addition, Ms. Hiatt participates in conversation drinks or conversation dances with patrons. These conversations offer her the opportunity to discuss current topics with the customers, to get to know her audience better, and to receive feedback and constructive criticism regarding her dance performances."

"How do you write that with a straight face?" Edmondson asked. "That paragraph serves to show just how frivolous this complaint is. Ask the community what they think the women are talking about when they sit in a booth in the dark wearing negligees or pasties and G-strings."

Sirkin and his clients say Edmondson's comments show his lack of knowledge and insensitivity about how adult clubs operate.

Kenton County has five adult clubs - all in Covington - down from a high of 12 about 10 years ago.

E-mail cschroeder@enquirer.com