NEW ORLEANS - Three dancers have filed a federal lawsuit alleging that a law requiring performers in New Orleans strip clubs be at least 21 years old is unconstitutional.

The lawsuit comes about a week before state officials have said they'll begin enforcing the new law statewide.

The dancers say the law will rob them of the ability to express themselves, in violation of the First Amendment guarantee of free speech. They also claim the law unfairly targets women, citing a clause that defines strip club performers as "entertainers whose breasts or buttocks are exposed to view." That definition, they claim, does not prohibit the same conduct by men who are between the ages of 18 and 21.

NOLA.com/The Times-Picayune reports a hearing has not been scheduled on the lawsuit.