After decades of fighting abuse from San Diego’s vice squad and finally securing dancers’ rights, Kata Pierce-Morgan turned her “stripper energy” to a new creative outlet – producing shows for San Diego International Fringe Festival that tap into Les Girls history. Plus sex worker-activists turn to Fringe Festivals to use art to advocate for sex worker rights and to challenge stereotypes.

In this chapter:

Kata Pierce-Morgan, poet, activist, former dancer, current owner of Les Girls Theater

Kate McGrew/Lady Grew, singer, activist, sex worker, Fringe artist

Rachel Atlas, Fringe artist, activist, sex worker

Kit Marsh, Fringe artist, sex worker

Cherida Fraser, Fringe artist

Credits:

Beth Accomando, Producer/Host/Video editor

Christopher Maue, Videographer/Lighting Designer

Kurt Kohnen, Sound Designer

Phil Nenna, Designer/Animator

Sanns Dixon, Videographer

Roland Lizarondo, Videographer

Amy Fan and Gaby Moreno, Assistants

David Washburn, Editor

More information at kpbs.org/stripperenergy

#strippers #adultentertainment #lesgirlstheater #sandiegohistory #vice #policeabuse #fighting back #sexworkers #fringefestivals #sandiegointernationalfringe #newzealandfringe #ireland #newzealand

Explicit content.

After more than a decade of sexual harassment, coerced encounters, and psychological abuse by San Diego vice, Kata Pierce-Morgan and her fellow Les Girls dancers were ready to tap into their stripper energy and fight back. If polite society and the legal system were not going to help them end the abuse, then they would take matters into their own hands. If no one was willing to believe a bunch of strippers, then Kata would install video cameras to prove their claims. If the rat pack cops thought they could terrorize them into silence, then they would find their voice and speak up. And if internal affairs refused to take their complaints seriously, then Kata would simply have to come up with a new game plan. Prepare for Chapter 5, Fighting Back, or the Rise of Stripper Energy.

In this chapter:

Kata Pierce-Morgan, poet, activist, former dancer, current owner of Les Girls Theater

John Barriage, lawyer who represented James Morgan and Les Girls in 1980s

Kate Yavenditti, lawyer and co-founder of the County's Task Force on Domestic Violence, also involved with WomenOccupySan Diego and the National Lawyers Guild.

J.W. August, journalist

Pepper, former dancer and cashier at Les Girls Theater

Mel, current manager of Les Girls Theater

Credits:

Beth Accomando, Producer/Host

Christopher Maue, Videographer/Lighting Designer

Kurt Kohnen, Sound Designer

Phil Nenna, Designer/Animator

Sanns Dixon, Videographer

Amy Fan and Gaby Moreno, Assistants

David Washburn, Editor

More information at kpbs.org/stripperenergy

#strippers #adultentertainment #lesgirlstheater #sandiegohistory #1980s #vice #policeabuse #fighting back

Explicit content.

How dare a stripper, a fringe woman, not stay silent and compliant as vice officers sexually harassed her ... and worse. And how dare Kata Pierce-Morgan challenge stereotypes and fight back? But Les Girls Theater had a history of fighting back starting with its owner James Morgan who spoke up against police abuse to a county Grand Jury in the hopes that the California Attorney General would crack down on the San Diego Police Department's Rat Pack. Kata was a midwestern Catholic girl who believed, like her late husband Jim, in not being a silent bystander. Even if you were a dancer at Les Girls. After all, Jim had won a groundbreaking victory over censorship in the late 1960s. But as the 60s became the 70s, Kata and her fellow dancers faced an onslaught of police raids, nude interrogations and coerced encounters.

In this chapter:

Kata Pierce-Morgan, poet, activist, former dancer, current owner of Les Girls Theater

John Barriage, lawyer who represented James Morgan and Les Girls in 1980s

Kate Yavenditti, lawyer and co-founder of the County's Task Force on Domestic Violence, also involved with WomenOccupySan Diego and the National Lawyers Guild.

J.W. August, journalist

Pepper, former dancer and cashier at Les Girls Theater

Mel, current manager of Les Girls Theater

Credits:

Beth Accomando, Producer/Host

Christopher Maue, Videographer/Lighting Designer

Kurt Kohnen, Sound Designer

Phil Nenna, Designer/Animator

Sanns Dixon, Videographer

Amy Fan and Gaby Moreno, Assistants

David Washburn, Editor

More information at kpbs.org/stripperenergy

#strippers #adultentertainment #lesgirlstheater #sandiegohistory #1980s #vice #policeabuse

Explicit content.

Les Girls Theater scored a victory in the censorship battle but that only intensified an escalating war with the police who found new ways to harass the Les Girls dancers. They routinely endured a climate of fear as vice cops would arrest them but not file charges.

In this chapter:

Kata Pierce-Morgan, poet, activist, former dancer, current owner of Les Girls Theater

Pepper, former dancer and cashier at Les Girls Theater in the 1980s

Sid Kassouf, former employee at Show Place

James Morgan, original owner of Les Girls Theater, late husband of Kata

John Barriage, lawyer who represented James Morgan and Les Girls in 1980s

Kate Yavenditti, lawyer and co-founder of the County's Task Force on Domestic Violence

J.W. August, journalist

Credits:

Beth Accomando, Producer/Host

Christopher Maue, Videographer/Lighting Designer

Kurt Kohnen, Sound Designer

Phil Nenna, Designer/Animator

Sanns Dixon, Videographer

Amy Fan and Gaby Moreno, Assistants

David Washburn, Editor

Explicit content.

Kata Pierce’s life changed when she met James Morgan, a Texas Baptist Republican who challenged censorship and police abuse of power. Both Kata and Jim refused to be silent bystanders and that had consequences. Find out how a raid on Jim’s Left Bank establishment led to him opening Les Girls Theater and staging what was referred to as “The Censorship Play.”

In this chapter:

Kata Pierce-Morgan, poet, activist, former dancer, current owner of Les Girls Theater

Bobbi Rogers, former dancer at Les Girls Theater and performer in “Let in All Hang Out”

Pepper, former dancer and cashier at Les Girls Theater in the 1980s

Sid Kassouf, former employee at Show Place

James Morgan, original owner of Les Girls Theater, late husband of Kata

Credits:

Beth Accomando, Producer/Host

Christopher Maue, Videographer/Lighting Designer

Kurt Kohnen, Sound Designer

Phil Nenna, Designer/Animator

Sanns Dixon, Videographer

Amy Fan and Gaby Moreno, Assistants

Marc Biagi, actor reading James Morgan

David Washburn, Editor

More information at kpbs.org/stripperenergy

#strippers #adultentertainment #lesgirlstheater #censorship #sandiegohistory #floatingcastle #nudiecutieexpress #navy #1970s

Explicit content.

Do you know what stripper energy is? Let three women who worked as dancers at Les Girls Theater in San Diego expose you to the naked truth about what being a dancer was like in the 1960s, 70s and 80s. While dancers today may bristle at the term stripper, Kata Pierce-Morgan embraced it in the 1970s and fought against the stereotypes with what she calls “stripper energy.”

In this chapter:

Kata Pierce-Morgan, poet, activist, former dancer, current owner of Les Girls Theater

Bobbi Rogers, former dancer at Les Girls Theater and performer in “Let in All Hang Out”

Pepper, former dancer and cashier at Les Girls Theater in the 1980s

Andromeda Breeze Bradley, featured dancer from “No Regrets”

Credits:

Beth Accomando, Producer/Host

Christopher Maue, Videographer/Lighting Designer

Kurt Kohnen, Sound Designer

Phil Nenna, Designer/Animator

Sanns Dixon, Videographer

Amy Fan and Gaby Moreno, Assistants

David Washburn, Editor

Explicit content.

Join me under the neon glow of the historic Les Girls Theater for “Stripper Energy: Fighting Back from the Fringes.” Former dancer and current owner of Les Girls Theater, Kata Pierce-Morgan, provides unlimited access to a half century of archival material that uncovers a dark chapter of San Diego history from the 1970s and 80s.

Kata has been turning chapters from her life and the history of Les Girls into politically charged performance art for San Diego International Fringe Festival. Her consistent theme has been, never be a silent bystander. This year she premieres “No Regrets,” a music and burlesque show set in the late 1960s when vice raided the Left Bank Nightclub, which was the precursor to Les Girls Theater.

Prepare for sassy strippers, corrupt cops, and a fierce activism launched from the unlikely stage of a strip club.

Explicit content.

Links (not sure if you need links but I need them for KPBS web):

San Diego International Fringe

https://sdfringe.org/

No Regrets

https://sdfringe.org/events/golden-corpse-presents-no-regrets/

Les Girls Theater

https://www.lesgirlstheater.com/