It's no longer illegal to dance near a church in Henryetta, Oklahoma

2/22/2017 - The Henryetta city council has voted to abolish a 40-year-old law that forbid citizens from dancing within 500 feet of a church.

The forgotten ordinance from 1977 came up when a resident sought to host a Valentine's Day dance insider marketplace. The location of the proposed dance is a mere 250 feet from the Henryetta United Church of Christ.

Some residence warned the business owner that her event could be targeted by local law enforcement. When the business owner approached the city council about changing the law, she was told a vote could not be held until after Valentine's Day. In response, the business owner cancelled her dance event.

According to published reports, some of the elders in the town were actually afraid to change the law. They claimed that this could open the doors for bars to be built on their main street and that "dancing causes a lot of undesirable things."

Despite some opposition, the city council voted recently to overturn the no-dancing ordinance.