Meanwhile, the king of Tampa strip clubs can't get arrested in this town
By BRADY DENNIS
Published June 8, 2003
Call Joe Redner what you will - pervert, patriot, philanderer, philosopher, politician, instigator, intellectual, self-promoter, humanitarian, hypocrite, publicity hound, male pig, exploiter, criminal, genius, idiot, narcissist, zealot, hero.
He'll say only this: He is what he is, take it or leave it.
The 62-year-old king of Tampa strip clubs sat down recently to talk about the Supreme Court, his need for acceptance, his affection for the city's new mayor and how he finally earned his GED:
Q. You've been fighting to run strip clubs for more than 25 years. Do you ever think, The heck with it?
A. No. Fighting the wrongs of government, the stupidity of the government - that's my life. I don't want to go do anything else. It's very fulfilling. It gives me a reason to get up in the morning.
Q. The First Amendment protects freedom of speech, and you are a huge advocate. Exactly what kind of speech is conveyed by dancing naked?
A. It sure says things to me, all kinds of things. It stirs me up sexually. It stirs me up politically. It makes me feel good. It makes life more enjoyable. And I have a right to an enjoyable life, as long as I'm not harming somebody else.
Q. How much have you spent on lawyers over the years?
A. I don't know. It's like putting a product out, a box of cereal. Lawyers are like the box. You gotta have them in my business. It's built into the cost.
Q. You once said you were sorry when Justice William Brennan retired. How do you rate the current Supreme Court?
A. The Supreme Court is a work in progress as far as sexual communication. The big surprise is Clarence Thomas. (Antonin) Scalia is right of Attila the Hun. He thinks sex is bad, period. Thomas was with him at the beginning, but he's moving away from Scalia. And Sandra Day O'Connor, she acts on evidence - you put up proof, we'll look at it. That's our whole system: evidence and argument.
Q. A HARTline spokesman said naming a trolley stop Mons Venus would be like naming it "Turgid Erect Member Station." Do you think that name would be okay, too?
A. I don't think they're the same. I don't think anybody would pay $100,000 to name a . . . train station the "Turgid Erect Member Station." That is a sexual connotation. The Mons Venus is not a sexual connotation. It's a name.
Q. What would you have done if not this line of work?
A. I'd be dead by now. I was a drunk and into drugs. I wasn't satisfied with my life. I didn't like my life. I didn't have any purpose, so I drank. When I found a purpose, I stopped.
Q. What do you think most men want more than anything else?
A. Acceptance. It's a natural thing.
Q. What about most women?
A. The same.
Q. How much would you say you have in common with your typical customer?
A. Nothing. I never went into those clubs. I want acceptance. There's not really any acceptance there. You walk away, and they'll never think of you again.
Q. You once said that you couldn't get married because you're a philanderer. Is that still true? Will it ever change?
A. Well, I have a philanderer's mind. But lately, I've been busy doing other things. Am I going to get married? Absolutely not. I don't think marriage is a natural state. I think it goes against nature.
Q. You believe in a god or a religion?
A. No. I am a secular humanist. I don't like to say atheist, because you can be a good or a bad person if you're an atheist. A secular humanist, by definition, his concern is humanity and doing things to protect it, to further it and help it.
Q. What do you read?
A. Law. And psychology. I like books like The True Believer by Eric Hoffer. Things about life, about society. Not fiction. I like it, but I don't have time to read it.
Q. What do you watch on TV?
A. Everything. I like a good emotional movie.
Q. Boxers or briefs?
A. Briefs.
Q. According to state records, you've been arrested 65 times in Florida. Ever get tired of trips to jail?
A. Do you get tired of going to your job? It's like going to work. It'll be done, you bond out, you go home.
Q. Any interesting moments in jail?
A. I got my GED last time I was in.
Q. Do you get along with guys there?
A. I don't put up any resistance to the guards. That's not my fight. I've spent 65 days in jail. I've spent 50 days in jail. I've spent five months in jail. And another time I can't remember. Being in jail made me appreciate my freedom even more, which made me come out and fight harder, which landed me back in jail.
Q. According to state records, you haven't been arrested since 1990.
A. They won't arrest me anymore.
Q. Why not?
A. I don't have any idea. The last time (after the six-foot lap dance ordinance), I don't care what I did, they would not arrest me. I went in there and cussed them. I did everything I could.
Q. Are you happy with your public image?
A. No. If people really knew what I was like, I'd be in office. Anybody who deals with me personally will tell you I'm the most honest and have the most integrity of anybody they've ever dealt with. That is a fact.
Q. Will you ever run for public office again?
A. Yeah, the next time. What's next? County commission? Financially, I'm just exploding, so I can do that without a problem. I have a lot of time to do a lot of things.
Q. Do you like the new mayor?
A. Yes, I do. I think Pam Iorio is going to take our city in the right direction. She may present herself different than I do, but I don't think we think that much differently. She might not like that.
Q. Hooters and Victoria's Secret have become mainstream these days. Are people coming around to your way of thinking?
A. Is the country getting more liberal as far as sex? Yeah, sure. How come? Because eating and (sex) are the strongest urges in humanity.
Q. What's your epitaph?
A. Question authority. It's one of my favorite sayings.
