Helping Captives hold men’s revival at Deja Vu amid dancer protest

Hundreds of men gathered inside the Deja Vu strip club Saturday night. But instead of doing what men had done in the space for decades, they brought a cross and held a revival.

It was the first event of the space’s new owners Helping Captives, a Spokane Valley Christian organization focused on the victims of human trafficking. Leaders plan to transform the property into the headquarters of their organization and an outpatient facility. According to its website, Helping Captives provides “residential, trauma-informed, therapeutic stabilization services to adult female victims of human trafficking.”

Built in 1938, the building housed a strip club beginning in 1989 until closing last year. Helping Captives currently operates its office and thrift store at 14415 E. Sprague Ave. in Spokane Valley.

“We’ve had women come into our office crying and upset and all needing escape out of the life. And we didn’t have a facility or a place to be able to provide that for them because we were set for long term care for girls and other communities,” said Caleb Altmeyer, the found of Helping Captives. “So we’ve been praying and praying for a space that would be our headquarters and an outpatient facility.”

As news of the purchase went viral earlier this week, not everyone was happy with the change. Former performers and employees of the strip club were “heartbroken” by the news and the way their profession was being characterized as a place of exploitation and human trafficking. A promotional poster described the gathering as a “men’s revival and stage smashing.”

“The stage smashing itself is so disingenuous. To say we’re turning this place of exploitation into a place of God is not right when we were all there consensually” said former Deja Vu dancer Ashe Ryder. “My profession is highly stigmatized in Spokane. People think we’re all drug users – we’re all crack whores. That’s not what we are.”

Approximately a dozen of the former employees protested the revival and stage smashing.

Altmeyer later distanced himself from the stage smashing language, although the stage was still removed Saturday night in a private ceremony. According to Altmeyer, the event’s purpose was not to degrade dancers who performed at the club but to give a sense of closure to men who attended the club in the past and regret their actions there.

“This is not a female stripper bashing party. This is a lot of broken men who want to heal,” he said. “Many of these men had attended the club and were addicted. Through the revival, they hope to make a change and dedicate themselves to Jesus Christ.”

According to Altmeyer, the event came about when the men of Bear Paw Bible Camp asked if they could hold a prayer service at the former strip club. Through this event and others, Helping Captives hopes to raise $900,000 over the next six months to pay off the building and lot next door.

Speaking at the revival, Altmeyer told the crowd of several hundred men that their purpose was not to “be hating on dancers” but to “dedicate the building to God.

“This is about women that have been sex trafficked and forced into the sex industry to have a place to finally call home, to be able to help them have freedom,” he said. “We got to – we’re going to take out a stronghold – we’re going to take out an alter of our community. However, the very women that we’re trying to reach, they might not see it like that. They might see it like we’re bashing them. And I’m not cool with that because we want to reach them. We want to love them.”

In the midst of prayer, the men carried a large cross across the former VIP room to replace where a stripper pole used to be.

Attending the revival, it was not the first time Ike Whitiker had been to Deja Vu. While in the midst of experiencing what he described as alcohol and sex addiction, he had gone to see the women who performed there. By returning to Deja Vu, he hoped to “glorify God,” support Helping Captives and find healing for himself.

“When I was addicted, that was a place I visited. And it took me to dark places. So I’m here for what it’s going to stand for now and turning into, which is getting women out of human trafficking,” he said.

Whitaker added he holds no animosity toward the women who performed at the club or the stage they performed on.

“Will it bring healing to me and many others? Absolutely. I know what God has done in my life. I know how he has transformed me and I know a lot of men who have similar stories will really benefit from this place being turned into a lighthouse for our community and especially for women who have been caught in human trafficking.”

In his remarks at the revival, Altmeyer described the strip club being built by men to be a place of “exploitation and hate.”

Bear Paw Camp owner and pastor Jason McQuinn described the club as “full of sin” and an example of how Spokane has become “spiritually dry.”

“I believe that this is the first of many of theses places to fall. This is the first domino. And tonight we’re going to worship so hard that it’s gonna fall. And the rest of them are going to fall. Men will rise up and lead our families,” McQuinn said.

“The first shots of the war are being fired. And the voices of the demons that have been in these walls – Jezebel! We’re calling you out. You overplayed your hand. You are no longer welcome in this building, in this city or this region,” McQuinn prayed. “Delilah! Your time is up! We’re serving you and all the other demons around here an eviction notice.”

Some of the former Deja Vu strippers described being hurt by some of the promotional material of the revival and rhetoric characterizing Deja Vu as a place of exploitation.

Ryder first began dancing at Deja Vu in 2018 and continued to do so until it shut down. Describing it as “near and dear” to her heart, Ryder loves her occupation and misses having a place to do it in Spokane.

“I think (Altmeyer’s) intentions are good. We don’t want trafficking to happen among sex workers. But I think the way that it is being publicized and sensationalized has been very hurtful. I’ve seen the public opinion through Facebook comments about how we’re sinners. And it does hurt to hear those stigmatizing words,” she said.

According to Ryder it “hurts her heart” and “feels vile” to see a celebration around the destruction of the Deja Vu stage.

Former Deja Vu performer Lila Kate said her “heart dropped” when she saw the promotion of a stage smashing event.

“It’s seems like they’re saying its such a terrible place where nothing good has happened. That’s not true. It was our safe space. It was our home,” she said.

Ryder also loved her job at Deja Vu and loves to continue to perform as a dancer.

“I’ve made great lasting relationships with some of the customers I’ve encountered. And some of the closest people I’ve met on this earth have been the amazing dancers I’ve worked with. It’s hard to explain if you’re not in the industry. But we all have a sisterhood that I would not give up for anything.”

Citing 2021 data from the National Human Trafficking Hotline, Ryder said less than 1% of trafficking victims are found in strip clubs.

“Unfortunately, abolishing safe spaces for women to engage in consensual sex work increases the likelihood of them being trafficked or pimped,” she said.

Ryder is also an organizer with Strippers are Workers, an advocacy group pushing for safety regulations and labor protections for strip club dancers in Washington state.

According to Ryder, their protest has the goal of putting a human face to the dancers of the club and providing education to the attendees about sex work. Near the end of the night of the night the protestors and organizers of the event did meet. The former employees presented Altmeyer with bedazzled crosses they hoped could be given to the trafficking victims they helped. The two sides cried and prayed together.

After the “heart to heart conversation,” Ryder said she was thankful Altmeyer apologized for the way the event was promoted and that they admitted to being uneducated on many of these issues.

“This event should not have been publicized. But I was glad to hear that they understand that we are here by choice and that for a lot of us our work is the way to escape negative situations,” she said.

After the conversation, Altmeyer said it was “the most important thing that happened tonight,” while admitting that he had “no idea” how much the building meant to the women who worked there.

“Just them taking the time out of their day. Those women could have been super offended and instead they gave us a gift. That’s the only time I’ve cried tonight. It’s so beautiful,” he said through tears.

Editor’s note: This story was changed on Feb. 4, 2024. An earlier version did not include Lila Kate’s first name.