49 Years Ago
In June of 1976, Golden was concerned about a new massage parlor that had opened at 1418 Ford Street (map). Within days after its opening, Mayor Crawford said he had received 60-70 complaints about the business. A week later, he reported that he had received “far more.”
Denver had fought the existence of massage parlors by passing an ordinance stating that massages were illegal when provided by persons of the opposite sex. The Captain of the Denver Vice Squad said that “all they (massage parlors) really are are houses of prostitution.” Lakewood soon enacted a similar ordinance. Edgewater followed suit but added amendments making it “legal for people like barbers to give head massages and wives to massage their husbands.”
(Which makes one wonder what “people like barbers” might encompass.)
On June 28, 1976, approximately 55 people attended the City Council meeting to object to the Golden Touch Massage Parlor. They presented Council with petitions containing 289 names. They passed the ordinance making massage by people of the opposite sex illegal, though they added the amendment saying that a wife could massage her husband.
(Which makes one wonder whether a husband could massage his wife.)
The attorney for Golden Touch filed a brief challenging the ordinance, saying that it was "overboard, establishes constitutionally impermissible presumptions and is vague and indefinite." He added that it "violates the defendant's right to the equal protection of the laws under the 14th amendment" and "interferes with the defendant's constitutional right to operate a business."
In July, the business was served with two summonses for violating the ordinance and by early September, they had closed their doors “for lack of business.” Other Colorado cities continued to pass anti-massage ordinances, though standards were often more relaxed in unincorporated areas.
In December of 1977, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled that the anti-massage parlor ordinances were unconstitutional. In January of 1978, Golden’s city attorney recommended that Council repeal Golden’s ordinance.
