Editing Joe Redner

{{update|date=May 2025}}
'''Joseph R. Redner''' (born 1940 in [[New Jersey]]<ref name="dob">{{citation |title=He's the ultimate outsider |first=Janet |last=Zink |date=March 25, 2007 |url=http://www.sptimes.com/2007/03/25/Hillsborough/He_s_the_ultimate_out.shtml |periodical=[[St. Petersburg Times]] |accessdate=2007-10-23}}</ref>) was the long-time owner of the Mons Venus, a nude strip club in [[Tampa]], [[Florida]], and is known as the father of the nude [[lap dance]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Does nude-club king's cash come dressed like the rest? |url=http://www.cair-florida.org/ViewArticle.asp?Code=CM&ArticleID=533 |publisher=Council for American-Islamic Relations |accessdate=2006-11-12 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071023125545/http://www.cair-florida.org/ViewArticle.asp?Code=CM&ArticleID=533 |archivedate=2007-10-23 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Redner has been engaged in legal battles with the [[Tampa City Council]], which has tried to place restrictions on the strip club since the 1980's.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://filmschool.fsu.edu/warrenreport/2001/01-26-01.html
 |title=Announcement of film of strip club owner/freedom fighter Joe Redner
|publisher=Florida State University Film School
|accessdate=2006-11-12 
|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20040710110254/http://filmschool.fsu.edu/warrenreport/2001/01-26-01.html |archivedate = 2004-07-10}}</ref>  Mons Venus and Redner have filed suits that have reached the Supreme Court and have become case law in many court cases.  Redner ran for County Commissioner as an independent in 2006. During that run Redner had a chair thrown at him on the ''Bleepin Truth LIVE'' in a debate with a Republican pundit. The clip from the show was carried on 300 TV stations across the country, giving Redner a tremendous boost in name recognition in the process.  Redner's website, ''[[The Voice of Freedom]]'', was initially created to inform citizens of his ongoing legal battles with the government, but later expanded to cover other First Amendment issues.  He is a host of a weekly, live call-in TV program entitled ''First Freedom TV'' on Tampa Bay Community Network (TBCN.org), a local Tampa Bay area [[Public, educational, and government access]] (PEG) [[cable TV]] channel.

In a [[Federal government of the United States|federal]] [[lawsuit]] filed against [[Hillsborough County, Florida|Hillsborough County]] commissioners after they banned the county itself from recognizing gay pride displays,<ref>{{citation |title=Hillsborough bans county from recognizing gay pride |date=June 16, 2006 |accessdate=2007-03-28 |url=http://www.sptimes.com/2005/06/16/Hillsborough/Hillsborough_bans_cou.shtml |periodical=[[St. Petersburg Times]]}}</ref> Redner included the statement that he is [[gay]].<ref name="out">{{citation |title='Out-front' and now, openly, he's out |first1=Jennifer |last1=Liberto |first2=Justin |last2=George |periodical=[[St. Petersburg Times]] |url=http://www.sptimes.com/2005/12/13/Tampabay/_Out_front__and_now__.shtml |date=December 13, 2005 |accessdate=2007-10-23}}</ref> In an earlier version of the same suit Redner, did not mention his sexual orientation and had previously never mentioned it publicly. His fight against the ordinance has pitted him against local politician [[Ronda Storms]] on many occasions.

Mons Venus and Redner won a large verdict in an [[eminent domain]] case when property was taken for a freeway.<ref>{{cite news
|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/stories/2005/08/08/daily17.html
|title=Adult club owner wins big in eminent domain case
|publisher=Tampa Bay Business Journal
|accessdate=2006-11-12
|date=2005-08-08
}}</ref>

On March 6, 2007, Redner garnered the number two spot in a six-person race for Tampa City Council, District 1, and faced the incumbent chairperson in a runoff March 27, 2007.  Joe Redner lost the election gaining 44% of the vote.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sptimes.com/2007/03/28/Hillsborough/Miller_fights_back_ch.shtml |title=Miller fights back challenge by Redner |accessdate=2007-03-28 |date=March 28, 2007}}</ref>

Redner has appeared on ''[[Live Prayer]]'' to debate his beliefs and defend his business.<ref>"On my television program one night in May 2004, I deviated from my normal format which is to take live phone calls from viewers, giving them Biblical counsel for their problems and praying for them. I had as my guest Joe Redner, a Tampa businessman who is also the long-time owner of a famous strip club in Tampa. My purpose for having Joe on my program was to allow him to share his beliefs and why he feels owning and operating an adult establishment is acceptable. I am well aware that Joe has been debating this issue legally and morally for over 30 years and has his "talking points" down pat. I am also very aware that he views Christians as his enemy and the people who are "out to get him.""
[http://www.liveprayer.com/ddarchive3.cfm?id=2198 Live Prayer Daily Devotional for June 1 2005] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927225849/http://www.liveprayer.com/ddarchive3.cfm?id=2198 |date=2007-09-27 }}; Accessed 08-23-2007</ref>

== Medical marijuana case ==
{{Out-of-date|section|date=March 2023}}
In 2018, Redner made headlines again when he sued the [[Florida Department of Health]] for the right to grow his own marijuana. Redner is in remission from [[lung cancer]], and his doctor recommended [[hemp juice]] as part of his treatment. Florida passed medical marijuana via a [[Florida Amendment 2 (2016)|constitutional amendment]] in 2016, but juicing is not one the methods approved by that law, so Redner sued to be able to grow and juice his own. On April 17, 2018, the judge in the case lifted a stay which will allow Redner to begin growing marijuana while the case proceeds, a decision the Department of Health said it plans to appeal.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://floridapolitics.com/archives/261479-judge-lifts-stay-in-joe-redner-home-grow-m|title = Judge lifts stay in Joe Redner 'home grow' marijuana case|date = 17 April 2018}}</ref> Upon appeal, Redner lost the case in April, 2019. The Florida 1st District Court of Appeal found "that ‘use’ does not mean ‘grow’ or ‘process,’ as Mr. Redner argues,” the court said.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://health.wusf.usf.edu/health-news-florida/2019-05-29/court-again-rejects-joe-redners-pot-arguments|title = Court Again Rejects Joe Redner's Pot Arguments|date = 19 May 2019}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20010201152400/http://voiceoffreedom.com/  'Voice of Freedom']
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20160906043424/http://www.votejoeredner.com/ Joe Redner for State Senate]

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[[Category:1940 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Tampa, Florida]]
[[Category:American LGBTQ businesspeople]]
[[Category:American entertainment industry businesspeople]]
[[Category:Strip club owners]]