Last August, the Texas Supreme Court upheld the “pole tax,” otherwise known as the Sexually Oriented Business Fee, a $5-per-patron tax on strip club customers, and in January, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the case, letting the law stand. Collected at the door along with the cover charge, the tax is intended to fund… Continue reading Pole Taxes Not “Genius”
Category: Politics
Secret Service Agents Sacrifice Reputation For Prostitutes: Their Romanticism Goes Unheralded
Most American news outlets worked themselves into a froth this weekend over the allegations that 11 secret service agents were relieved of duty because they (or at least some of them, but not all) hired sex workers while in Colombia. The situation’s elements do indeed seem pretty juicy, particularly since they allow journalists to combine the… Continue reading Secret Service Agents Sacrifice Reputation For Prostitutes: Their Romanticism Goes Unheralded
Best Sex Writing 2012: The State of Today’s Sexual Culture
Best Sex Writing 2012: The State of Today’s Sexual Culture is the seventh installment in the series. Started in 2005, the annual compilation of journalism and personal essays on a wide range of sexuality issues are presented as a collective reflection on current sex culture. Whether opposing the various ways in which we criminalize sexuality or… Continue reading Best Sex Writing 2012: The State of Today’s Sexual Culture
Quote of the Week
[I]n a culture trashy with raunch yet clenched with righteousness, the sex worker persists and insists. She is lamented by some feminists, lauded by others, lectured by religious groups, legislated by governments; monitored by health services, spurned by mortgage brokers, envied or condemned by friends, invited to write memoirs by publishers, assisted by outreach services;… Continue reading Quote of the Week
The Texas “Pole Tax” and the Myth of Secondary Effects
This past August, Texas’ Supreme Court upheld the 2007 “pole tax.” Also known as the “stripper tax,” it is a $5 per patron entry fee that is supposed to go towards low-income health insurance and assistance for victims of sexual assault. Currently there are an estimated 169 strip clubs in Texas (according to TUSCL, it’s… Continue reading The Texas “Pole Tax” and the Myth of Secondary Effects