Archives for March 2019

(Brian Joseph | Las Vegas Review-Journal) – A Storey County Commissioner and the owner of the Mustang Ranch brothel filed a motion in federal court this month to intervene in a lawsuit to end legal prostitution in Nevada.

Lance Gilman, who has been in the brothel business for nearly two decades, is seeking to become another defendant in the suit against the state of Nevada, the state Legislature and Gov. Steve Sisolak. . . . Gilman said this month he had to try to insert himself into the lawsuit in order to defend his business interests. . . .

“If you take the entire state and everybody there, the financial damages are significant,” he said, referring to Nevada’s other brothel owners and the working women themselves, who operate as independent contractors within the houses.  Gilman also has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

Charleston’s attorney, Jason Guinasso, who helped lead the unsuccessful campaigns last year to ban brothels in Lyon and Nye counties, is opposing Gilman’s request…

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The Double Shift is a national podcast about a new generation of working mothers.

“It’s not about parenting or kids,” explains show host Katherine Goldstein, an award-winning journalist at the Washington Post and mother, “but the real, three-dimensional stories of moms who work — from the campaign trail to the legal brothels of Nevada and everywhere in between.”

In this episode, Double Shift talks to “moms, madams and experts to explore the perks and pitfalls of being a working mom when your office is a legal brothel,” including interviews with courtesans from the Mustang and Sagebrush ranches.

It’s an extremely well-done program that tells the honest truth about the women who work safely and lawfully in Nevada’s legal brothels.

Click here to access the podcast

(Amy Alonzo | Mason Valley News) – Former Lyon County Sheriff Al McNeil was kept “behind the scenes” while helping with the creation of a 2018 referendum drafted by the anti-prostitution group No Little Girl, according to emails obtained by the Mason Valley News through a public records request to the Lyon County Sheriff’s Office. . . .

In an April 2018 email, a woman working on the referendum question asked Reno-based attorney Jason Guinasso, attorney for No Little Girl, “Is the Sheriff okay with the public knowing he’s on board?”

Guinasso replied, “Ask the Sheriff directly. We may need to keep him behind the scenes.” . . .

McNeil was also involved in gathering signatures to support the referendum, according to emails from Guinasso. He spoke to pastors at Vineyard Church in Yerington, Journey Church in Fernley and Calvary Chapel in Dayton about helping with “kick-off efforts” and confirmed dates and times for meetings with those churches. . . .

However, as the 2018 election approached with visible lack of support for shutting the brothels, McNeil continued to attempt to drum up support for the anti-brothel movement.

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(Amy Alonzo | Mason Valley News) – A Reno attorney is trying to obtain access to women’s applications to work in Lyon County brothels, forms that include Social Security numbers, criminal history, past addresses and emergency contacts.

Attorney Jason Guinasso, in court documents, said the information request is “relevant to an investigation underway by my office.”

Lyon County has thus far denied Guinasso’s requests, claiming the information is not part of the public record. . . .

Lyon County District Attorney Steve Rye said the county is following legislation that recommends keeping the records private. “When somebody comes in and applies for a work card, do they automatically assume all that information is public?”

“Lyon County has it right,” said Mark Wray, attorney for the Lyon County brothels. “Merely because information appears in a record that is public doesn’t mean that all the information in the document belongs in the public realm. There’s no public interest in knowing the name and address of someone who works as a prostitute.”

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(Mohave Valley Daily News) – A bill introduced in the Nevada Senate on Thursday seeks to ban the nation’s only legal brothels by outlawing prostitution.

Republican state Sen. Joe Hardy said brothels have no place in Nevada and attract women with few economic options who get stuck in an abusive industry. . . . Democratic Sen. Pat Spearman also signed on as a sponsor of the legislation, saying the legal bordellos can disguise sex trafficking. . . .

Alice Little, who works at a brothel in Lyon County, said she appreciates Hardy’s concern, but argued the legislation would only harm sex workers like herself.

“At the end of the day, it’s our jobs, our bodies, our consent that should matter,” she said. “I don’t need somebody who has never even met me to be passing judgment about whether my job should or should not be allowed.”

“It’s either going to happen in the streets and in Vegas and in the hotels, or it’s going to happen in a safe, legal atmosphere where women such as myself can feel safe and protected,” said Christina Parreira, a sex worker who formerly worked in multiple brothels.

Parreira, a doctoral candidate at the University of Nevada Las Vegas who also conducted academic research at the brothels, said legal brothel work empowers women to leave pimps and abusive relationships and support their families.

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(Associated Press) – A bill introduced in the Nevada Senate on Thursday seeks to ban the nation’s only legal brothels by outlawing prostitution.

Republican state Sen. Joe Hardy said brothels have no place in Nevada and attract women with few economic options who get stuck in an abusive industry. Democratic Sen. Pat Spearman also signed on as a sponsor of the legislation, saying the legal bordellos can disguise sex trafficking. . . .

Sex workers and brothel backers have promised to fight the Nevada measure. They argue a ban would hurt struggling rural economies and drive women out of a regulated environment and into dangerous street prostitution.

To read full article, click here