The times when those slain by the evil policies of the police state were simply left to rot in the shadows are over. – “The Body Count”
Every year on this day, sex workers around the world gather to mourn our dead, but this year, the observance will be different in two very important ways. You can probably guess the first: Most of the gatherings are likely to be virtual ones, as people choose to physically isolate themselves to ward off disease. The second, however, is far more important: in the two years since the passage of the massive anti-sex censorship law FOSTA, attention and support for sex worker rights has grown dramatically among the general public, the media, and even the parasitic hangers-on who proclaim themselves “leaders”. Increasingly-punitive laws engendered by “sex trafficking” hysteria and the general worldwide rise in authoritarianism, aggravated by pandemic-driven desperation, have produced the effect desired by prohibitionists: dramatically increased violence against sex workers. Most governments have added insult to injury by cutting those they know to be sex workers out of their pandemic relief programs, and even as the “sex trafficking” panic implodes those who have used it as an excuse for violence have redoubled their efforts. Nor has the shift to online forms of sex work (again, driven by the pandemic) allowed sex workers to escape this violence: sociopathic fanatics such as the creeps from Morality in Media and Exodus Cry, in collusion with sociopathic profiteers like Nicholas Kristof, have succeeded in cutting off revenue from the sex workers who sold their content on Pornhub, just as they did with Backpage, and it’s unlikely they will stop there. But sex workers are no longer dying in the shadows, unnoticed and unmourned; social media has given us a megaphone, and FOSTA has galvanized those of our community who never considered organizing before to do so in numbers far too large to ignore. Yes, there are still far too many (including the arch-prohibitionists who recently won the US presidential election) who want sex workers silent, invisible, and preferably caged, enslaved, or dead. And they still hold tremendous power, and have been handed terrifying weapons over the past decade by a gullible public quaking in fear of imaginary bogeymen. But they can no longer commit their atrocities in the dark as they once could. As I’ve said before, we’re in the part where it gets worse before it gets better. But now, many more people than ever before are watching, and increasing numbers of them do not at all like what they see.
What’s the solution?
There is no single “solution”.
But there are many things that any individual can do to weaken prohibitionism, or hasten its demise.
Here are a few that any individual can do:
* Make a financial contribution to an organization that is working to end prohibition. There are many. For example, one is the Woodhull Freedom Foundation, Another is SWOP, which has many affiliates in various cities. Another is The Red Umbrella Project.
Use your google-fu to find their websites.
To find more, visit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_workers%27_rights
* Write letters to all your elected representatives, state federal and local. State politely and firmly your position that prostitution should be entirely decriminalized. Expect to get responses ranging from polite pabulum to moral scolding.
Persist. Write regularly. Never give up. Recruit friends to do the same. An old rule of thumb is that elected representatives consider one letter written by a constituent indicates about 100 constituents share the same opinion.
Write your own letter in your own words. Do not use form letters. Form letters carry much less weight for elected representatives.
* Write “fan” letters to various public figures such as entertainers and movie actors who have spoken in favor of decriminalization. Also write “unfan” letters to entertainers who have spoken in favor of prohibition. Let them know that you will never pay for a ticket to any of their performances again until they change their position.
* Expose prohibitionist hypocrites.. For example, if you can “out” a public figure who advocates prohibition while secretly using services of prostitutes, do it. Join in group which works to do the same.
Remember the examples of “outed” public figures in recent years ranging from Jimmy Swaggart’s professional girlfriends to William Bennett’s compulsive gambling and chain smoking.
Research the crimes of “rescue” organizations. Point out those crimes to your elected representatives.
Public embarrassment can be a powerful tool to use on officials and hypocrites.
* Anyone can be creative. Think. Join locally with others of like mind to think of more ways to disrupt the prohibitionist agenda. You’ll likely meet some new friends.
Remember Arlo Guthrie’s Alice’s Restaurant:
:”Write letters to all your elected representatives, state federal and local.”
A pretty idea, but a total waste of time and energy. Your “representatives” don’t give a flying **** about you, unless you’re a major donor. Your letters will hit the circular file about two seconds after some flunky opens them. You might occasionally get a form letter in “response” but don’t be fooled into thinking that means your efforts have accomplished anything.
So, what will make a difference? Militancy. If enforcers against prostitution start getting shot, that will be noticed. Either legislators will end the prohibition or enforcer thugs will start quitting en masse. Either of those is a step in the right direction.
Don’t know about you, but my friends aren’t interested in committing suicide by cop. And round of ammo that will pierce body armor costs more than a postage stamp.
Back when cannabis cultivation was a felony in California, I had the pleasure of smoking some mighty fine homegrown with Dennis Peron. He started a movement that ultimately decriminalized cannabis in California. He lived long enough (by 26 days) to see state law permit adults to grow a few cannabis plants for personal use.
He had his beefs with what the law became. But he also recognized it was better than the laws that preceded it. I’ve seen him laugh at ideas that weren’t nearly as stupid as taking potshots at cops.
Maybe you’ve heard the saying, often misattributed to Ghandi, “first they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win”.
Try an experiment: Organize your local friends to regularly write letters, or even send emails, to your elected representatives, demanding decriminalization of prostitution. Encourage your friends to organize their friends to do the same.
After you are sure a few thousand letters have been sent to your local politicians, report here whether your politicians ignored you, laughed at you, or fought you.
[…] https://maggiemcneill.wordpress.com/2020/12/17/before-it-gets-better/ […]
[…] https://maggiemcneill.wordpress.com/2020/12/17/before-it-gets-better/ […]