Huffington Post reports that dancing is illegal after 2 A.M. in Des Moines but it's more or less a "blue law." A group found out when they sought to hold an "after hours" party in their own building.
The city council is considering repealing the law, as Des Moines is often perceives as dull. The ordinance dates to 1942 and there is no dancing between 2-6 AM during the week and not til 8 AM on Sunday. This is even true for free dances.
My son is just now reminding me of when he was six and I took him to North Dakota, where we found out that it was illegal to buy toys in grocery stores on Sunday.
The couple pictured at the left is an actual Des Moines couple dancing.
This all puts me very much in the mind of when I lived in Minnesota in the early '70s and in Mankato, there wasn't an actual gay bar but there was a disco called "Trader and Trapper" which was probably the only possible alternative.
The only possible outlets for vice were volleyball/beer parties on the local farms and the adult bookstore, which was one of the only places that was hiring.
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