Florida Lawmaker to Sex Workers: They’re Criminals, I Don’t Need to Listen

Fromt he article:

On Tuesday, two sex workers spoke before a Florida subcommittee considering a pair of bills that would ostensibly target sex trafficking. They spoke out about how the bills could harm them and urged lawmakers to listen to sex workers, only to then be promptly dismissed as criminals by one of the bill’s sponsors.

Source: Florida Lawmaker to Sex Workers:  They’re Criminals, I Don’t Need to Listen

Criminalizing sex workers to the this degree is so harmful. It also drives everyone so deep underground that you will not be able to find actual trafficking victims.

Plus, Republican Rep. Heather Fitzenhagen is a cold hearted shitbag that has no human empathy at all. It’s like these people want to put sex workers in this “criminal” bucket with no idea on how it works, who does it, and how a lot of people end up doing it. These are human beings engaged in consensual services. One of the gals this jackass insulted was a dominatrix. No sex involved, so that’s not even criminal by her genital-touching standards.

Advertisement

Decriminalizing Sex Work: Some Activists Say It’s Time : NPR

From the article:

Opponents of decriminalization say the multi-billion-dollar industry exploits sex workers. But activists and academics say legalization would protect workers and benefit public health.

Source: Decriminalizing Sex Work: Some Activists Say It’s Time : NPR

This is a really good article and features a law school graduate that was laid off in the recession of 2008, when he started sex work instead. That’s an unusual voice to hear, and he brings up some great points about how the illegality of consensual adult sex work is hurting people.

Sex work between consenting adults needs to be legal. Per the article, Amnesty International supports decriminalization because it allows real trafficking victims ask for help more easily.

The Fight to Decriminalize Sex Work Exposes Old Feminist Divides

From the article:

The complete decriminalization of the sex trade is an approach that has gained traction in recent years, with even groups such as Amnesty International calling for “the decriminalization of all aspects of adult consensual sex work due to the foreseeable barriers that criminalization creates to the realization of the human rights of sex workers.” But as with every successful movement, there has been a backlash, led by longstanding feminist organizations that continue to assert that sex work is, to use the words of Gloria Steinem, a form of “body invasion.” Full decriminalization, no matter the studies that have been conducted, the first-hand experiences of many sex workers or people otherwise targeted with anti-prostitution laws, and the endorsements from human rights organizations, is still seen as a radical idea, and more to the point, one that some feminists believe is antithetical to the needs of women.

Source: The Fight to Decriminalize Sex Work Exposes Old Feminist Divides

My first experiences on my own at 16 where with women that willingly worked in the sex industry. My early friends from that period did it, and they felt empowered by it. One fo them was the fabled dancer who paid her way through schools and got a Phd working one night a week at the Lusty Lady.

As I got older, I knew everything from escorts, cam girls/boys, too dancers. I worked in a sex shop myself. It was always an option on my list if I wanted. For me, knowing so many people that did work in various areas of the sex work umbrella, it was really hard to see it as anything other than people working in a service industry.

The idea that every one of these people are somehow are being victimized, is laughable, when again and again it’s the illegal status of sex work that pushes these people to the margins and makes it possible to victimize them with ease.

I want to be clear, we are not talking trafficking and sexual slavery. We are talking people who chose to engage in sex for pay as a consenting adult with another consenting adult.

As the article points to, there are actual studies that back this the idea that the Nordic model works, and empowers sex workers.

What I found interesting is that TERF’s don’t just harass transgender people, but also seem to show up to stop legalization of sex work. This is because for a lot to transgender people sex work is survival, when so many other jobs are barred to us.

I think I’ll leave a quote from Bianey Carcia in the article:

Bianey Garcia, a former sex worker, trafficking survivor, and a Decrim NY steering committee member added: “As a formerly undocumented trans woman of color, I know what I need to be safe from violence and exploitation. […] And criminalizing our clients, housing, loved ones, and the sex workers we collaborate with to keep each other safe means taking away our only means of survival.”

Texas indicts Cody Wilson on multiple counts of sexual assault of a minor | Ars Technica

From the article:

More than three months have passed since a warrant (PDF) initially went out for Defense Distributed founder Cody Wilson’s arrest. That document detailed Wilson’s alleged sexual assault against a female “child younger than 17 years of age” whom he reportedly solicited through the website SugarDaddyMeet.com. Last Friday, December 28, the State of Texas finally formally indicted (PDF) Wilson. The 3D printed gun advocate now faces multiple charges: four counts of sexual assault of a child, two charges of indecency with a child by contact, and two charges of indecency with a child by exposure.

These charges are all second-degree felonies punishable by up to 20 years in prison and fines of up to $10,000.

Source: Texas indicts Cody Wilson on multiple counts of sexual assault of a minor | Ars Technica

This guy is one of those weird libertarian douchebags that wanted to distribute 3D printed plans to guns. This caused an entire “OH MY GOD!” scare that almost crippled the 3D printing community as everyone freaked out and discussed putting blocks on the 3D printed.

The thing is, while you could 3D print a gun, the industry wasn’t even that far along at the time, and it just wasn’t that feasible. You’d be more likely to hurt yourself than come up with a usable gun.

Then, this guy went out ands slept with a girl that was under 17, and it was kinky as hell. He fled to Taiwan, before coming back and turning himself in. If I recall, he feels this was an entrapment sting because of his obsession with 3D printed gun parts. It had nothing to do with meeting her through sugardaddymeet.com.

My favorite part of his bullshit in this article was this:

Beyond that evidence, Travis County Magistrate Judge Tamara Needles signed off on a few additional search warrants. One from September 26 (PDF) asked for permission to seize photo evidence of Wilson’s groin and upper leg area, since the alleged victim initially told authorities she and Wilson exchanged nude photos and the affidavit states Wilson has a “uniquely identifiable skin condition.”

He’s fired one defense team and replaced them, and his defense is that he thought she was 18. Seriously? Even 18 year olds look dangerously childlike to me. I’d also submit if you are meeting on sugardaddymeet.com? You aren’t an innocent. Sorry, not sorry. Douchebag.

He’s got enough funds to be out on a $150,000 bail despite initially fleeing to Taiwan. What the fuck?

The Dangerous Trend of LGBTQ Censorship on the Internet

From the article:

In October, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit that works to defend free speech and user privacy, reported that in recent years “policy restrictions on ‘adult’ content have an outsized impact on LGBTQ+ and other marginalized communities.” Over the past few months alone Recon, a fetish dating site for gay men, saw their Youtube temporarily suspended and reinstated only after a Twitter backlash and negative press coverage (this has happened more than once); Naked Boys Reading saw their Facebook page temporarily banned, a decision that was reversed after the organizers accused Facebook of “queer erasure; and many queer YouTubers like Amp Somers of Watts the Safeword, have seen their content flagged and their exposure limited in YouTube’s algorithm.

“When queer youth can’t access sex education and find representation in what they’re being taught, they feel they don’t belong,” Somers told OUT. Watts the Safeword creates lighthearted, non-explicit sex education videos about kink and BDSM. “They feel they aren’t entitled to proper safe forms of sex and will be forced to turn to less trustworthy means of learning about sex.”

In October, Facebook was revealed to be blocking many LGBTQ+ ads as part of its new advertising policy. The company told the Washington Post that many of these blockings were in error, but such errors show problems with algorithms that disproportionately flag queer content. Facebook’s LGBTQ+ record is hardly spotless — queer artists, performers and the trans community have battled its “real name” policy for years.

Source: The Dangerous Trend of LGBTQ Censorship on the Internet

This action by Tumblr isn’t by itself. There has been an internet-wide crackdown on “adult” content, that is also erasing LGBTQ content. It also forces sex workers to have no access to community or safety to congregate and organize. And why do I care about those together? Because there is so much stigma against my own community of transgender individuals that a lot of us end up doing sex work because getting hired is nigh impossible.

I also don’t really think I have ever understood the moral panic about letting two fully consenting adults do what they want to do together, be that paying and providing sexual services, filming sex, or just being all queer in a jolly rainbow of good time.

I feel that Tumblr is a big deal because it was one of the last bastions where you could find queer trans sex. It was the first place I found community with other transgender individuals. It’s the only place I found porn made by transgender people for transgender people.

You certainly cannot find sexual information anywhere else unless you count the endless steaming pile of shit that is the “tranny” or “shamale” porn on regular sites.

Pornhub, Xhamster, XVideo, and all the rest might have a “gay” button you can flip, but I assure you it is still very much straight porn. You can look for trans anything there, but it’s a fetishization of transgender women. Transgender men aren’t don’t even exist at all, which I don’t know if I should be sad or grateful for.

I see again and again, in the transgender communities I frequent a lot of requests by transgender folks and their cisgender partners, asking for information on sex and how to do it respectfully. The best place to see this is in porn created by transgender individuals. That is almost impossible to find, but on Tumblr it was aggregated in transgender tags.

As Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, and all the big platforms move to comply with FOSTA/SESTA, they are taking the opportunity to shake off all us dirty queer folks, too, I guess.

 

 

Want To Know Why Tumblr Is Cracking Down On Sex? Look To FOSTA/SESTA – The Establishment

From the article:

Last week both Tumblr and Facebook announced changes to their terms of service, severely limiting sexual expression. Tumblr opted to remove adult content, while Facebook amended their policy on sexual solicitation to effectively ban talking about sex at all on their platform. As a queer person and a porn producer/performer, it has been a scary week.

But what’s behind it? Is it Apple’s removal of the Tumblr app from their store, is it payment processors again? Yes, in part, but this isn’t the whole picture.

I’ve been in this line of work three years and have seen platforms cave into demands to remove sexual content from payment processors, but this feels different to me. Facebook already didn’t allow sex workers on its platform, and I don’t believe Tumblr is beholden to PP’s the same way sites like Patreon are, because they aren’t charging their user base the same way.

So why clamp down now, and why did the announcements come so close together? To my eyes the answer lies in the twin-headed anti-sex demon that is SESTA/FOSTA.

Source: Want To Know Why Tumblr Is Cracking Down On Sex? Look To FOSTA/SESTA – The Establishment

This is the best take on the Tumblr/Facebook/Instagram crackdown that I’ve seen.

The problem is that the way posts are being flagged is arbitrary, and hits sites with LGBTQ subjects, and just sex workers discussing how to survive.

I really like this write up, because it shows that SESTA/FOSTA did nothing to help sex trafficking victims. If anything, it made it harder to reach them and help them.

 

New York State Senators Take Aim at Rape Shield Laws

From the article:

In the New York State Senate, two bills have the potential to make it easier for sex workers who have been the victims of sexual assault or sex trafficking to get a fair trial.

Source: New York State Senators Take Aim at Rape Shield Laws

This is important. We need laws that protect all victims of sexual assault and sex trafficking.

The Stigma of Doing Sex Work While Pregnant

From the article:

Over the summer, Maxine Holloway shared a photograph of her growing baby bump on Instagram, excitedly announcing in a caption, “I’m pregnant!” The accompanying image showed her reclining in a floral swimsuit with the near-universal hand-on-belly pose. But then the caption diverged from the usual cliches of a social media pregnancy announcement: “Due in December, I’m feeling great and excited to keep working throughout my pregnancy.”

Continuing to work through a pregnancy doesn’t usually need to be defended, but Holloway is a sex worker. She understood that the very fact of doing her job while gestating a human would expose her to criticism, judgment, and condemnation.

Source: The Stigma of Doing Sex Work While Pregnant

Oh, now this is a good article. Real human beings get pregnant, and do sex work. It’s an economic issue. You have to make money to pay your bills. She can’t just quit until she’s not.

Read this interview to get an idea of ow this shakes out for women that participate in sex work.

Trolls Warn They’re Reporting Sex Workers to the IRS

From the article:

On Friday, some dude with a name I won’t repeat here because he doesn’t deserve the attention took to Facebook to urge his followers to report to the Internal Revenue Service sex workers who charge for premium Snapchat access. “Need to get rid of them, or they need to pay taxes if it’s real work,” he wrote. That post, which now has over a thousand comments, is being credited with launching the charmingly titled #ThotAudit, in which a crew of trolls is giddily calling for folks to tip off the IRS to individual sex workers for not reporting their income from social media.

Source: Trolls Warn They’re Reporting Sex Workers to the IRS

This is a real thing. It’s still making waves amongst idiots. I got into it with a guy that seriously thought pay for Snapchat photos could make “At least $100,000” a year. . . That takes some special kind of stupid to think any gal, anywhere, can just pick up Snapchat and make six digits.

I’m thinking that most sex workers are not making that much money, either.

What I saw when I watched these idiot’s gleefully scream across forums was that none of them have a working accounting knowledge of taxes or how it works.

This is just a vile attack on women. That’s all. Here is a quote from the article where they asked about this latest idiocy.

Maggie McNeill, a sex worker and writer, told Jezebel, “Several of us were as amused by this as we were disgusted.” Amused, she explained, because of “its impotence,” and disgusted “by its ugliness.” McNeill continued, “It’s just a new retread of the ‘criminal sluts’ male fantasy of sex work: that we’re all ‘loose women’ who are too lazy to do ‘real work’ and make a killing without paying taxes.”

In truth, one of the sex workers highlighted as a potential target in a #ThotAudit Reddit thread recently took to Twitter to shrug that, uh, guys, she pays taxes on all of her Snapchat income, because of course she does.

Similarly, Siouxsie Q, an activist and porn performer, told Jezebel that “most sex workers I know are very aware of their tax responsibilities.” She also pointed out that the Adult Performer Advocacy Committee, a non-profit that advocates for porn performers’ rights, has given free tax workshops for years. As porn performer and writer Lorelei Lee put it on Twitter, “Oh my god get over yourselves, sex workers already pay our taxes wtf stop it already.”

Gamergate, incels, alt-right, and now #thotaudit. These people are dangerous morons.

Sex Workers Pioneered the Early Internet—and It Screwed Them Over – Motherboard

From the article:

“Businesses have looked at our industry, the adult industry, as the means to financialize,” Doogan told me. Many of these same corporations, including PayPal, continue to be hostile toward the adult industry today, once leaving many sex workers little recourse or legal protection. Faced with anti-human trafficking lawsthat continue to make traditional banking increasingly problematic, many in the adult industry now turn to cryptocurrency as a way to pay for online ads, or accept payment for live cam shows, and history repeats itself.

Most recently, the Fight Sex Trafficking Online Act (FOSTA) took away many of the freedoms that sex workers fought to build online in the first place, by making it harder for them to advertise and work online. Following the bill’s passage into law, some sex workers were pushed back onto the streets, important advocacy gatherings were canceled out of fears of legal retribution, and sites like Craigslist Personals and others were shut down.

Source: Sex Workers Pioneered the Early Internet—and It Screwed Them Over – Motherboard

Even banks will turn down porn stars. I remember reading about a very high earning porn star, who could not get a bank to give her an account because she was a porn star. I mean, what the fuck. That is less ethically ambiguous than what half the wall street financial guys are doing to people.

This is a good article.