Cropping out the top.
Local businesses in Virginia Beach are set to remove “vulgar” clothing from their boardwalk displays in an ambitious drive to make the tourist hotspot more welcoming for families.
The Virginia Beach City Council signed off on a resolution on Tuesday to clean up the commercial areas close to the beach by eliminating the suggestive, pun-laden shirts and hot pants from sight.
The council claims the city’s major thoroughfare, which houses most of the resorts and restaurants, has become inundated with the humorous garments, contradicting the beachtown’s mission of being a “family-friendly” vacation destination.
“Along Atlantic Avenue, there has been a proliferation of indecent and/or vulgar t-shirts and displays in storefronts displays. The proliferation of such displays creates an unwelcoming environment for the very families to whom the City markets itself and the City’s residents,” the council said in its resolution.
During Tuesday’s hearing, council members argued the vulgar attire contributed to the obscene environment on the streets of the city. But conceded the criminal charge of obscenity was hard to judge, leaving the decision up to business owners.
“Because the standard for criminal enforcement – obscenity – is a difficult standard to reach, the City Council desires voluntary action by retailers,” the resolution stated.
Virginia Beach announced it welcomed 14.1 million visitors in 2023 with the tourists spending $2.5 billion across the city, according to a tourism study.
The debate has divided tourists and locals on what should and should not be displayed for the public’s view.
“There’s a place for it. You know the humor. I get it. I respond well to it, and it makes me chuckle,” tourist Michael McCue told WAVY.com. “I’m not here to police that, but, you know, you see it around and I see them differently now as a dad.”
One 18-year resident doesn’t have a problem with the clothing and believes the lewd phrases deliver customers to the shops.
“I don’t think they’re that offensive,” Perry Clay told the outlet. They’re trying to spur business things like that. I haven’t been offended.”
The resolution, passed by the council during the meeting, requests that businesses in the boardwalk section of the city strive for a friendlier environment.
“Considerations: The attached resolution requests Oceanfront retailers, along Atlantic Avenue and elsewhere, to voluntarily remove indecent and/or vulgar t-shirts and displays from storefronts,” the resolution states.
“The City Council herby requests that Oceanfront retailers, along Atlantic Avenue and elsewhere, voluntarily remove indecent and/or vulgar t-shirts and displays from storefronts.
The council “strongly encouraged” the local shop owners to take a public position supporting the family-friendly environment initiative.
Council members and local shop owners have spent several years exploring the possibilities of banning the garments outright.
“Some of my constituents, as well as colleagues on City Council and members of the community in general, have objected to these vulgar T-shirts being displayed and sold,” Councilman Worth Remick said. “It doesn’t present a great image of our city.”
The resolution is the second time the city council has passed such an article targeting vulgar clothing.
Officials passed a similar motion in 1992, discouraging local shops from having lewd products.
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