With the coronavirus hitting a market which has still not recovered from SESTA/FOSTA and the Backpage seizure, sex work has taken a double whammy in a two year period, and it is most adversely affecting those of us who have the least power, influence, and resources. Still, for us survival sex workers—people who work just… Continue reading Coronavirus and the Predictable Unpredictability of Survival Sex Work
Author: Laura LeMoon
Laura LeMoon is a writer, sex worker and HIV researcher based in the Seattle area. She has worked with organizations such as St. James Infirmary, International Rescue Committee, and Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee (DMSC) in Kolkata, India on sex workers' rights issues, and she is one of the founders of Safe Night Access Project Seattle (SNAPS). She is never found without her beloved elderly rescue dog, Little Bear.
Bareback: Re-Opening The Dialogue On Safer Sex In The Age of U=U
Bareback sex feels fucking amazing. I know, we’re not supposed to talk about that. We’re not supposed to talk about bareback fucking without following it up with that ubiquitous “but use a condom!” statement. However, many communities face significant barriers to condom use and have very legitimate reasons for foregoing them—and these are the communities… Continue reading Bareback: Re-Opening The Dialogue On Safer Sex In The Age of U=U
Cyntoia Brown and the Commodification of the Good Victim
Imagine at the age of 16 being sex trafficked by a pimp named “cut-throat.” After days of being repeatedly drugged and raped by different men, you were purchased by a 43-year-old child predator who took you to his home to use you for sex. You end up finding enough courage to fight back and shoot… Continue reading Cyntoia Brown and the Commodification of the Good Victim
We’re Not Crazy For Doing This: Sex Workers With Mental Illness
Most people have some form of a lurid narrative about drugs, exploitation, childhood abuse, and mental illness come to mind when they imagine the life of a sex worker. However, sex workers’ relationships to their identity are far more complex and difficult to characterize than that trite narrative allows for. When it comes to sex… Continue reading We’re Not Crazy For Doing This: Sex Workers With Mental Illness
Are You There, God? It’s Us, Sex Workers
Many people think of whores as being as far from God as possible. We are seen as “fallen women,” people whose moral deficiency has put them at odds with God. When God, morality, and religion are discussed in tandem with sex work, these conversations often promote religious dogma which serves to justify the marginalization of… Continue reading Are You There, God? It’s Us, Sex Workers