 One resident, noting that gay strip clubs often distributed condoms and personal lubricant free to customers, denounced the clubs as "pleasure pit[s]".Kathryn Pearson-West, a Ward 5 community activist, accused Graham of "picking on" a new council member (Thomas was in his year as Ward 5 council member) and low-income people.Some Ivy City residents argued that racism was at issue, that the city would never have considered putting a cluster of gay strip clubs in a white neighborhood.