Legal brothels in Nevada on the wane
Brothels are less popular than they once were. Photo/Russell and Sydney Poore
By John M. Glionna and Javier Panzar, Los Angeles Times
When Lamar Odom was found unconscious Tuesday inside a Nevada brothel, he’d wandered far off the beaten path of adult entertainment culture, back into an analog version of an increasingly high-tech sex-play universe.
Like Wayne Newton and mobsters wielding tommy guns, the antics of the world’s oldest profession smack of a bygone era in Nevada. Brothels are under siege, more and more considered outdated and distasteful — even in the only state to sanction prostitution.
Legalized in Nevada in 1971, these so-called pleasure dens, many believe, are on their last legs.
“These brothels are really a relic of the past. Even here in Nevada, they’re relegated to what we call the cow counties,” said Nevada state Sen. Richard S. “Tick” Segerblom. “The urban areas have an appetite to abolish them. And given the state’s rapid urbanization, there’s really little popular support left for these businesses.”