Guam - It could be political suicide for the Democrat lawmaker to take this one on, but Vice-Speaker B.J. Cruz is no stranger to controversy.  He says Bill 314, which paves a path for relocating adult entertainment establishments out of Tumon and into an industrial area, is imperative to preserving the family friendly environment for Guam's largest industry - tourism.

Cruz's bill comes after a slew of investigative reports done by KUAM News last year on Guam's massage parlors.

The owner of Dare Me Boutique said, "Families they don't really come to our store, only some people that need our stuff come here, but not all for them, even kids and women don't come here, tourists don't come here."

Cruz's latest bill has controversy written in red for adult entertainment store owners like this particular shopkeep, who wished us to keep his identity concealed.  He said, "It gives the territorial land use commission five years within, which to find an area M1 or M2 which is a heavy or light industrial zone where all of these can be moved out to. It's giving everyone down there now fair warning."

The Guam Hotel and Restaurant Association, the Japanese Guam Travel Association and the Guam Visitors Bureau all lobbied heavily for Bill 314. Deputy Director of GVB Ernie Galito says adult establishments in Tumon hinder his agency's ability to brand it as a family-friendly destination.  "The proliferation of some of the adult signage along San Vitores Road doesn't really depict what Guam really is. We are a family destination full of opportunity, full of culture and there are lots of things here to do, but we don't necessarily agree with how they display their messaging," he explained.

The bill says that adult entertainment facilities include adult bookstores, adult video stores or novelty stores, steam rooms or bath houses, and modeling studios.  While tourism representatives argue that instituting a red light district outside of Tumon will ensure local businesses can take advantage of Tumon's prime real estate, adult entertainment store owners told KUAM that the economic implications for their businesses could be dire.

Dare Me Boutique's owner continued, "If we move out of this place here, we'll have a lot of problems because we stay here a long time and have customers here for some time and right now business on Guam is getting slow, slow, slow, slow."

And the owner of another adult entertainment shop, Playboy II (who also wished to remain anonymous) says that if businesses move to Harmon, it will be bad for business.  "It's going to affect a lot of us because there will be a lot of competition because this is a small area, so if they move up here it will affect a lot of us, too.  But like I said, in the first place it's up to them."

The vice-speaker had his staffers draw a map of all the adult establishments in Tumon from the Hilton down to the Nikko Hotel.  "They found 19 massage parlors in Tumon, 7 strip joints, six adult porn shops and 29 'buy me drinkie' bars.  I thought, 'I don't care what the political ramifications are, it's imperative that we've got to protect Guam. I'm chairman of tourism. We've got to protect Tumon.'"

While it's unclear whether or not lawmaker will support this very controversial bill, store owners are united in their thought that you cannot legislate lifestyle.