A nightclub in Taichung yesterday said it has decided to cancel an event titled “Touch Me Party,” tonight after its promotion “caused a poor public perception.”
The night club initially promoted through a Facebook post that it would tonight hold a “Touch Me Party,” where attendees would be given three different colored stickers after entering the premises — a blue sticker invites males to touch a stickered individual, a red sticker invites females to touch a stickered individual and a lip-shaped sticker invites kissing. Females were to be given a discount for entering if they dressed in miniskirts or a dress.
In addition, the stickers would allow anyone to touch them where it was placed, the Facebook promotional post said, which stirred debate among the nation’s netizens.
The cancelation yesterday also came in the wake of a surprise police inspection on Wednesday on suspicion that the night club was hosting parties that might lead to acts of public indecency.
While the inspection turned up no illegal activities, violations of fire safety, building management and sanitation regulations were uncovered, city officials said.
If the violations are not addressed, the city government said it would consider denying electricity and water services to the establishment.
Legal experts said that if the promotion was text-based only, it would be difficult to prosecute under the Criminal Code, but if there were pictures of individuals groping women accompanying it, it could constitute dissemination of pornographic material.
People who attended such parties face no legal charges, but if they were accused of performing lewd actions, they could be charged with public indecency, experts said.
If partygoers were charged, the club owner could face charges of being an intermediary for sex and indecency, experts said, adding that if proven, the charges could put the owner in prison for up to five years.
The nightclub owner said the event was an ongoing monthly event and that there had not been incidents of indecency or lewd behavior to date.
The owner said they had not imagined advertising the event would cause such controversy.
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