It’s 10pm at the Blue Flame Lounge in West Atlanta, and the girls on the late shift are getting ready to start work. In the main room, customers flourish wads of dollar bills and shower them over the dancers, evoking whoops of cheers and applause. Atlanta is as famous for its strip clubs as New York is for its delis.
They are the beating heart of the city, setting the latest trends in music, film, and fashion. They have been immortalised in songs, films, and documentaries. It’s where rappers cut their teeth, Hollywood stars stop for a drink, and many others go to live out their wildest fantasies or simply enjoy some wholesome Southern food.
Yet for all their contribution to the economy, the voices of the women who tirelessly work to make that magic happen are rarely heard. Inside one of Atlanta’s most iconic venues, Heaven, 25, takes a break from her performance to speak to i about what she wants from the upcoming US election . She is shortly followed by Leo, 24, with whom she started working at the club around the same time – just over a year ago.
Politics is rarely discussed with the other girls, and almost never with customers, Heaven says. But this election is too important not to, she adds. “It’s the elephant in the room at the moment,” she says.
Heaven came to Atlanta after a stint in New York with her fiancée, who was stationed there with the military. She had trained as a dental assistant but struggled to find work, leading her to the Blue Flame. “Th.
