How unfortunate that we were made exempt from the new Bowling Green Massage Facility License. Some of you may have seen last week’s WBKO News report, in which I was asked to speak again about the new BG City Massage Facilities License (BGMFL) Ordinance during National Human Trafficking Awareness Month. For those of you who are not aware of this new ordinance, you can read my original blog concerning it here: Illicit Sex Businesses are on the Chopping Block in BG City with New City Ordinance.
This ordinance was originally intended to regulate all massage businesses in Bowling Green, but it will now exempt KY state-licensed massage therapists from yearly inspections and other regulations. I wrote about this in a subsequent blog: Disappointment. In the WBKO interview I did last week, I stated that I believe this exemption is a mistake because it assumes all KY state-licensed massage therapists behave appropriately, which is not always the case. Recent wide media coverage reports prove this out.
I have assisted the police detectives in their inquiries of some of these investigations (determining appropriate massage techniques vs. inappropriate) involving licensed massage therapists, and was unfortunately privy to some of the horrible details of these assaults. I donât know how the police do this day in and day out. I still well up with tears when I think of these poor, yet brave women’s fear and pain. Could a piece of paper on the wall (BG City Massage Facilities License – BGMFL Ordinance) have prevented these sex crimes? No, it wouldnât have. However, a better question, in my mind, is: do perverse, opportunistic criminals open themselves up to regular illuminating inspections and buzz-killing regulations? Again, the answer would be a resounding NO. They hide in the dark and, in this case, behind a legitimate biennial Kentucky State Massage License and now a future âBG City Massage Facilities Exemptionâ that will not require renewal or inspection.
I am by no means a believer in over-reaching, heavy-handed government regulations. In my opinion, asking KY state-licensed massage therapists in Bowling Green to comply with, and not be exempt from, the regulations laid out in the new BGMFL Ordinance is not oppressive. It would be a unique and illuminating privilege for our businesses and BG’s citizenry!
Why wouldnât a legitimate massage therapist want to raise their hand and take on the simple task of filling out a city application, paying a nominal $50 fee, and welcoming a friendly city inspector once a year into their business in order to receive a piece of paper to show the public that they are doing all they can to separate themselves from the evil, cartels that sex traffick women and children (aka. âillicit sex businessesâ desguised as massage therapists – ISBs). Itâs no different than a local restaurant posting its A+ Health Department rating card in the window at its front door. The only restaurants that would want to be exempt would be the ones everyone knows not to eat at.
Immediately after the original ordinance was amended to exempt KY LMTs this past Fall, I emailed the city officials involved to express my concerns about the change. They were very gracious and heard me out. However, they felt it was more advantageous to go with the larger constituency of LMTs opposed to this ordinance. They felt their compliance with the KY State Massage Law was sufficient. I didnât agree, but I understood their position. Iâm not bitter. Iâm just not going to agree that that was the best course of action for our town or for the legitimacy of the massage therapy profession, specifically here in BG. Our state board isnât doing enough to protect our unaware citizens (see the above criminally charged LMT license status reports), but BG City could help by returning the ordinance to its original wording, so local massage therapists follow the rules and aren’t exempt.
One of the commissioners called me directly to discuss my objections and thankfully took my suggestion that the city could give those deemed âexemptâ a certificate to hang on the wall, at least to prove that our businesses had, at a minimum, addressed the new ordinance at the outset and were not intentionally out of local compliance, as would potentially been seen by the absence of a Facilities License. This idea was accepted and is now in play (see note at the end). Although I fear that could become cover for bad LMTs.
We (BG LMTs) are at a moral crossroads here. We were being asked to answer the call of a great evil with very little effort on our part. I am referring not only to those being sex trafficked, but also to BG citizens being sexually assaulted. Thinking of others before ourselves ought to be a constant general norm, especially in a caring profession, such as legitimate massage therapy. Alas, I have faced such vitriol for suggesting this commonly believed ethos among many of my BG LMT peers. That doesnât bother me. I know who I am and to whom I belong. I know how the story ends – and I can celebrate that!!
James 1:2-4 (ESV)2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
Romans 5:3-5 (ESV)3 Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4 and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5 and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us [believers].
2 Corinthians 4:8-9 (ESV)8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed;
1 Peter 4:12-13 (ESV)12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed.
IMPORTANT NOTE
MassageFIX filed for its BG City Massage Facilities License. We did not request an exemption, and we completed the form and wrote a check for that purpose (which they returned with a blue sticky note). We were told that we would be considered âexemptâ because we are âcertified* by the state,â which means we would receive a Certificate of Exemption from the city. We did not get a choice in this matter. We have received that exempt certificate (1/14/26), and it is conspicuously posted in the lobby of our office at 1945 Scottsville Rd., Suite C3, as required by law.
*Kentucky State Licensed Massage Therapists are not âcertified.â We are âLicensedâ just like a doctor, a cosmetologist, a lawyer, a speech pathologist, a PI, a chiropractor, etc.