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Archives for May 1987

May 30, 1987 By NBA Staff

Nevada Brothel Owners Back Jail Terms For Infected Prostitutes With AM-AIDS Testing

(Brendan Riley | Associated Press) _ Prostitutes infected with AIDS who continued to solicit customers would face prison terms of up to 20 years under legislation which is supported by brothel owners and state health officials.

The target isn’t so much the state’s legal brothels, but prostitutes who work illegally in Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe and other resorts where the brothels aren’t allowed.

The bill, awaiting a floor vote in the state Assembly, originally would have made the offense punishable as attempted murder. In its latest form, it is regarded as having a good chance of passage.

Assembly Judiciary Chairman Bob Sader, whose committee unanimously endorsed the amended version, said the target is prostitutes who are ″trying to make a buck in a reckless manner.″

Jim Conkey, head of the AIDS education project at Truckee Meadows Community College, said the bill would be a legal tool for dealing with prostitutes who heedlessly infect others with the deadly virus.

However, Conkey criticized legislators for failing to deal with two of the most critical issues: the question of an AIDS carrier’s privacy rights and the prevention of discrimination.

State Health Administrator Larry Matheis, who endorses the legislation, said it would not change the manner in which Nevada’s 37 legal bordellos operate in outlying areas of the state.

″From a public health perspective, it’s exactly what’s going on now,″ he said, adding that prostitutes are tested for any sexually transmitted diseases before they can work in the houses and are tested every month while employed.

After a year of about 4,000 AIDS tests, ″there have been no women working as prostitutes in a brothel who have tested positive while working,″ said Matheis. ″If they did, by regulation they would be removed from employment.″

He said eight women who tested positive on their initial tests for exposure to the AIDS virus were refused employment.

The new legislation ″targets a group whose behavior presumably puts them at a higher risk,″ Matheis said. ″It requires them to get the screening and then imposes legal sanctions.″

Russell Reade, who quit a career as a biology teacher and sex-education coordinator in a Northern California high school to buy a Nevada bordello five years ago, is one of the strongest advocates of the bill.

Reade is co-owner of the Chicken Ranch near Pahrump and spokesman for the Nevada Brothel Association which represents more than half of the brothels in the state and three-fourths of the 400 or more legal prostitutes.

″We’re setting an example for the whole world,″ said Reade. ″Nevada has had the gumption to stand up and legalize prostitution and say that until you show us a better system, then leave us alone. And the wisdom of that is paying off.

″Every other state has prostitution but they have no control over them. And Nevada has control over it.″

Reade has required condoms at his Nye County brothel since 1985. County officials recently required the same protection in other houses, he said.

Matheis says Nevada’s per capita rate of acquired immune deficiency syndrome cases ranks 32nd among all states. The state has had 84 confirmed cases, involving 82 men, mostly homosexual or bisexual, and two women who were intravenous drug users. Of the 84, 53 have died.

Bordellos have existed around Nevada since its mining camps boomed in the 19th century. They now are tolerated or allowed by local ordinance in 11 of the state’s 17 counties, all of them in outlying rural areas.

State law prohibits prostitution in Clark County, encompassing the Las Vegas Strip. And anti-brothel ordinances exist in the Reno-Carson City area and in Douglas County, which includes the Stateline casino area at Tahoe.

Filed Under: In the News

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Suzette Cole, CEO, Moonlite Bunny Ranch

“Prostitution is the oldest profession and will not go away.  Nevada has been doing it right since 1971 when we took it out of the criminal’s hands and put it into a highly-regulated industry.  As an added benefit, there has never been a case of HIV/AIDS in the history of legal brothels here…and you can’t say that about any other profession in the United States.”

John Stossel, Syndicated Columnist

“We don’t have to cheer for prostitution, or think it’s nice, to keep government out of it and let participants make up their own minds.  It’s wrong to ban sex workers’ options just to make ourselves feel better.”

Steve Chapman, Syndicated Columnist

“Prohibition doesn’t eliminate the harms generally associated with prostitution, such as violence, human trafficking and disease. On the contrary, it fosters them by driving the business underground.”

Christina Parreira, UNLV Researcher/Sex Worker

“Sex work is my CHOICE.  I’d like to continue to have the opportunity to make that choice legally.  We don’t need protection. We’re consenting, adult women.”

Washington, DC Councilman David Grosso

“We need to stop arresting people for things that are not really criminal acts. We should arrest someone for assault…but when it’s two adults engaging in a consensual sex act, I don’t see why that should be an arrestable offense”

New York Assemblyman Richard Gottfried

“Trying to stop sex work between consenting adults should not be the business of the criminal justice system.”

U.S. Sen. Cory Booker

“Yes, sex work should be decriminalized.  As a general matter, I don’t believe that we should be criminalizing activity between consenting adults, and especially when doing so causes even more harm for those involved.”

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders

“I think the idea of legalizing prostitution is something that should be considered…(and) certainly needs to be discussed.”

U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris

“When you’re talking about consenting adults, I think that, yes, we should really consider that we can’t criminalize consensual behavior, as long as no one is being harmed. … We should not be criminalizing women who are engaged in consensual opportunities for employment.”

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren

“I believe humans should have autonomy over their own bodies and they get to make their own decisions. … I am open to decriminalizing sex work. Sex workers, like all workers, deserve autonomy and are particularly vulnerable to physical and financial abuse.”

U.S. Rep. Tulsi Gabbard

“If a consenting adult wants to engage in sex work, that is their right, and it should not be a crime. All people should have autonomy over their bodies and their labor.”

Gov. John Hickenlooper

“Legalizing prostitution and regulating it, so there are norms and protections and we understand more clearly how people are being treated and make sure we prevent abuse, I think it should be really looked at.”

Mike Gravel, former Alaska Senator

“Sex workers are workers, and they deserve the dignity and respect that every worker deserves. For too long, we’ve denied them that. Sex workers, not politicians, should lead the way in crafting sex work policy.”

Prof. Ronald Weitzer, George Washington University:

“Unlike illegal street prostitution in many other places, Nevada’s legal brothels do not disturb public order, create nuisances, or negatively impact local communities in other ways. Instead, they provide needed tax revenue for cash-strapped rural towns.”

Prof. Barbara Brents, UNLV author, “State of Sex”:

“Teams of scholars…have concluded that Nevada’s legal brothels provide a far safer environment for sex workers than the criminalized system in the rest of the United States.”

Prof. Sarah Blithe, UNR author, “Sex and Stigma”:

“Discussions of legal prostitution are rife with misinformation.  Academic work and popular press publications alike often conflate legal prostitution in the United States with illegal prostitution.”

Lee Herz Dixon:

“Do I think eradicating legal prostitution from all Nevada counties will erase the practice of the oldest profession in the state, or break the nexus of drugs, crime, and exploitation of the vulnerable? I do not.”

Journalist Michael Cernovich:

“It’s empirically proven that criminalizing sex work allows children to be sex trafficked more readily as they are afraid to turn to authorities and wonder if they will be arrested.”

Enrique Carmona:

“We need to put aside moralistic prejudices, whether based on religion or an idealistic form of feminism, and figure out what is in the best interests of the sex workers and public interest as well.”

Ruby Rae, professional courtesan

“In the brothels, we have the choice, always, to say which clients we will say yes and no to. We have staff that would never let a man hurt us, and we have a clientele that do not come here to hurt us.”

Kiki Lover, professional courtesan:

“We are human beings who chose to do sex work on our own free will. We get treated with respect and like family at the brothels. It’s a job just like any other job. We sell a service that all humans need.”

Paris Envy, professional courtesan:

“I’m not ‘exploited.’ I’m not ‘trafficked.’ I’m not ‘brainwashed.’ I don’t need to be ‘saved.’ I’ve freely chosen this line of work, which is a legal, private transaction between consenting adults.”

Alice Little, professional courtesan:

“It’s ILLEGAL sex work that exploits children. It’s ILLEGAL sex work that traffics. It’s ILLEGAL sex work that sees women exploited and abused by pimps.”

Jim Shedd, Nevadan

“Prostitution should be licensed, regulated, taxed like any other service industry.  There are many single or widowed men and women who should be able to take advantage of such services provided by consenting adults for consenting adults. Let’s act to at least reduce illegal sex trafficking and other sex crimes by creating safe and legal outlets for paying adults who wish to use them.”

Paul Bourassa, brothel customer:

“Some people are just never given a chance in the dating scene, so brothels offer those of us with no experience a chance to learn what it’s like to be on a date.”

Lewis Dawkins, brothel customer:

“It’s not always about sex. Little compliments and encouragements offered by the ladies help build my self-confidence. It’s a business, yes. But the ladies care personally about their clients. That means a lot.”

Brett Caton, brothel customer:

“I think brothels provide an important function in society. Legal ones give a safe outlet to their customers and for some men it is the only way they get so much as a hug.”

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The Nevada Brothel Association PAC is a coalition of legal brothel owners, brothel workers, brothel clients and brothel supporters dedicated to defending a woman’s right to choose professional sex work as a career, protecting the public’s health and safety, and preserving Nevada’s rich live-and-let-live heritage.

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Carson City, NV  89721

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