Nevada Brothel Association

Chuck Muth

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Brothel Study Committee Members Appointed

(Chuck Muth) – Last week the Nevada Legislative Commission appointed the six members of the Legislature who will sit on the interim committee charged with studying the working conditions for Nevada’s legal commercial sex workers.

The study, proposed by Assemblywoman Leslie Cohen (D-Las Vegas), will include “an examination of the extent to which the rules and working conditions in licensed brothels provide for the health, safety and general welfare of sex workers in licensed brothels.”

The appointed study committee members include three from the State Senate and three from the State Assembly.  Four Democrats, two Republicans.  Four women, two men.  Three from Clark County, one from Washoe County and two rural.

They are…

  • Julia Ratti (D-Washoe)
  • Dallas Harris (D-Clark)
  • Pete Goicoechea (R-Rural)
  • Assemblywoman Lesley Cohen (D-Clark)
  • Assemblywoman Heidi Swank (D-Clark)
  • Assemblyman John Ellison (R-Rural)

Of the six, Sen. Goicoechea and Assemblyman Ellison represent districts in which legal brothels currently operate.  Legal brothels are not allowed in Clark and Washoe counties.

The study committee will likely hold its first meeting some time in late September and is likely to appoint Assemblywoman Cohen to serve as the committee chair.

The group will likely conduct its study through next June or July and then begin the process of recommending possible legislation for the 2021 legislative session.

Of primary interest, as outlined in the bill creating the study and articulated during hearings on it, is the nature of the contractual relationship, rules, and working conditions of the independent businesswomen who choose to work at the brothels and the brothel owners.

The committee is also directed to study…

“The adequacy of oversight and regulation by the State and licensing and law enforcement units of local government with respect to the health, safety and general welfare of workers in licensed brothels.”

In that regard here are three areas the committee should put at the top of its list for examination…

1.)  Closing a loophole in the law that potentially allows the work card applications of commercial sex workers at Nevada’s legal brothels to be released to the public.

Those work card applications – which include private information, such as social security number, home address and other contact information – should be considered confidential, just like the applications to obtain a work card for gaming and liquor establishments.

In fact, the confidentiality for these women is even more important due to the nature of their work.  After all, liquor store clerks and blackjack dealers aren’t usually targets for stalking, harassment and sexual assault.  Commercial sex workers are.

2.)  Eliminating and/or changing state law and ordinances which perpetuate the social stigma associated with commercial sex work.

Despite brothels being legal in parts of rural Nevada, certain wording, phraseology, limitations, requirements and restrictions unique only to this industry contribute to a community perception that these professional women are “second-class citizens.”

Eliminating the stigma associated with LEGAL commercial sex work in Nevada would go a long way toward improving the “health, safety and general welfare of workers in licensed brothels.”

3.)  Along those same lines, the study committee should review provisions in state law that discriminate against legal brothels when it comes to advertising.

Despite being a legal, licensed and heavily regulated industry, Nevada’s brothels suffer from severe restrictions, embedded in law, on their ability to market their services, unlike every other legal business in the state – including gaming, liquor and marijuana, as well as other sex-related businesses such as gentleman’s clubs and escort services.

Indeed, state law even goes so far as to make it unlawful for a legal brothel to include in any “display, handbill or publication” the “address, location or telephone number of a house of prostitution” or “identification of a means of transportation to such a house,” or even “directions telling how to obtain any such information.”

Seriously?  In 2019?  Does Google Maps know about this?

Such limitations and restrictions on a legal business which perpetuates the stigma absolutely harms the “general welfare of workers in licensed brothels” and should be revised.

With those items in mind, let the study begin.

Mr. Muth is president of Citizen Outreach, a limited-government grassroots advocacy organization, and government affairs counsel to the Nevada Brothel Association

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Legal sex worker gives talk on risk at Rotary Club of Lancaster

(Hurubie Meko | Lancaster Online) – The Rotary Club of Lancaster got some business advice Wednesday from a legal sex worker in Nevada.

Alice Little, who said she earned over $1 million last year working at the Moonlite Bunny Ranch, talked to the Rotarians about risk management and fee setting.

It’s not that the Rotarians are looking to support legal sex work in Lancaster County.

Tom Gemmill, the club’s program chair, invited Little to speak after hearing her in a podcast about new books and economics, he said.

The book being discussed was called “An Economist Walks into a Brothel and Other Unexpected Places to Understand Risk” by Allison Schrager.

“Now, who isn’t going to listen to that podcast,” Gemmill said. “It was really fascinating.”

Gemmill said he asked Little to speak about how she mitigates risk in legal sex work versus the risks that exist in illegal sex work. He also asked her to talk about fee structures.

About 100 people gathered at the Farm and Home Center in Lancaster to hear Little speak via a YouTube chat.

Last year, Little said she made about $1.2 million dollars from bookings at the brothel. And after splitting 50% of her earnings with Moonlite Bunny Ranch — the industry standard — her income still qualified her as the highest earning legal sex worker in the country, she said.

Nevada law allows the exchange of sexual services for money, but only through “a licensed house of prostitution.”

Working in her industry has taught her how to assess potential risks and appropriately mitigate those risks as her celebrity status has changed, she said.

Often, people overcomplicate what risks exist in achieving their business goals, Little said. She said it is a better practice to focus on existing issues, rather than speculating on future difficulties.

“In order to make a proper risk management plan, you have to first zero in on what risks you are specifically managing and cross off the list anything that isn’t a potential threat at that time,” she said.

As an example, Little talked about physical threats against her last year.

Last summer, when a ballot advisory question threatened to overturn the legalization of prostitution and ban brothels in Lyon County, Little joined an opposition movement and advocated against the measure.

Her political involvement raised her risk profile, she said.

“During that time last summer, I received no less than three different death threats,” she said.

To mitigate her increased risk, Little said she started taking different routes home, carrying pepper spray and overall becoming more cautious.

Once the ballot advisory was defeated, her risk of immediate danger dissipated and she no longer needed to take those measures, she said.

Gemmill said many attendees gave him positive feedback after the event.

The speaker event is held weekly. The next three meetings will feature Barbara Altmann, Franklin & Marshall College president, Don Brown, scholar in residence at Widener University, and Russell Redding, Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture secretary.

Two men leaving the Farm and Home Center on Wednesday said they found Little’s speech very informative and interesting.

And from what Little described about her work, they thought that legalized prostitution seems to have more protections for the women who work in it.

When asked if they would support a measure of legalization in Lancaster County, they both answered “No.”

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Some Cheerful News from the “War on Sex” Frontlines

(Chuck Muth) – There are reasons for commercial sex workers to be in an extra celebratory mood this Independence Day.

In politics they call it “Big Mo’” – when momentum swings from one campaign to another.  And in the War on Sex, the momentum has decidedly shifted in the direction of commercial sex workers.

As Thomas Jefferson, Founding Father and author of the Declaration of Independence we celebrate today, wrote…

“The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others.  But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.”

Similarly, the religious beliefs of some that fee-for-sex between consenting adults is immoral does not make it injurious to anyone else; it doesn’t pick anyone’s pocket or break anyone’s leg.  As such, government should butt out.

And there are signs this Independence Day that some elected officials are starting to agree.

In Queens, New York, a young, relatively unknown public defender running for district attorney shocked the political establishment by winning last week.  Her platform included a pledge that the DA’s office would stop prosecuting commercial sex transactions between consenting adults.

Of course, until state law is changed such relationships will remain officially illegal.  However, a bill to change that has also been introduced in the New York Legislature.  And while the bill’s prospects are a longshot, it’s still a step in the right direction.

In addition, a similar effort to end the criminalization of prostitution has also been introduced in Washington, DC – where politicians and lobbyists have elevated “fee for service” to an art form in which only taxpayers get screwed.

In California last week the State Assembly passed a bill that, as Maxine Doogan of the ESPLER Project described, “prohibits the arrest for prostitution of people who witness or are a victim of specified and serious crimes, and prohibits the use of condoms as evidence of sex work.”

The bill now moves to the state Senate.

And on Tuesday Hawaii passed a bill that tosses prostitution convictions for “those who avoid additional convictions for three years, even if they can’t prove they have been victims of sex trafficking.”

A small victory, but a victory nonetheless.

It’s also noteworthy that an effort to kill the only system of legal prostitution in the United States died last month.

A state senator introduced a bill to shut down Nevada’s legal rural brothels – which have been operating successfully and safely for almost 50 years.  His effort failed when the Legislature adjourned without the bill even getting a committee hearing, let alone a vote.

Admittedly, these are incremental steps toward ending criminal penalties for commercial sex work.  But Big Mo’ is clearly on the side of those who embrace Thomas Jefferson’s “live and let live” attitude.

And that’s something to celebrate on this Fourth of July.

Mr. Muth is president of Citizen Outreach, a limited-government grassroots advocacy organization, and government affairs counsel to the Nevada Brothel Association

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Sex Workers Cheer Political Earthquake in Queens

(Chuck Muth) – When was the last time a local race for district attorney made national news?

Answer: This morning.

With 99 percent of precincts reporting at the time of this column, Tiffany Cabán is leading in the Democrat primary for Queens district attorney in New York by 1,090 votes, with some 3,400 absentee ballots still to be counted.

But with a six-candidate field, it’s unlikely the runner up, Melinda Katz – Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s and the political establishment’s pick – will be able overtake the 31-year-old insurgent, who declared victory Tuesday night.

And while this race probably wasn’t on the radar screen for 99 percent of the American electorate, it was a closely watched race by commercial sex workers.  Why?

Because Cabán, a public defender, ran on a platform of comprehensive criminal justice reform.  And she said that if elected she would issue a memo “on day one” instructing her attorneys to stop prosecuting sex workers and/or their clients.

Cabán added, however, that her office would continue to maintain a hard line against non-consensual sex trafficking and sexual assaults.

In other words, she hasn’t bought into the puritan propaganda of prostitution abolitionists who falsely equate voluntary “sex work” with involuntary “sex trafficking.”

“Through decriminalization,” Cabán said in a recent interview, “you make it safe for survivors and victims to go to law enforcement and be the witnesses needed to hold these traffickers, who are doing harm, accountable.”

If Cabán goes on to win the general election in November, BuzzFeed notes “it would mark one of the biggest successes for the sex work decriminalization movement that, after years of struggling to gain mainstream traction, has growing popularity and political influence across the country.”

Still, declining to prosecute cases isn’t the same as changing the law – though the New York Legislature is currently mulling just such a bill.

“When we talk about decriminalization, we’re talking about consenting adults,” said Julia Salazar, who introduced the bill in the Senate. “Anything that involved children or coercion are things that we feel very strongly need to remain in the penal code.”

The bill was expected to face an uphill battle, but it’ll be interesting to see if Cabán’s stunning victory shifts the political landscape to any significant degree.

Currently, prostitution in the United States is only legal in a handful of licensed and regulated brothels in rural Nevada, but not Las Vegas and Reno.

Mr. Muth is president of Citizen Outreach, a limited-government grassroots advocacy organization, and government affairs counsel to the Nevada Brothel Association

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Slixa: Sex Work Decriminalization: What. A. Week.

(Kate D’Adamo | Slixa.com) – The last week has been a testament to the movement towards global decriminalization of sex work. It may have gone by fast, but it’s been truly incredible few days.

In The United States:

Today, the NYC-based coalition DecrimNY will introduce the most comprehensive decriminalization bill in the country’s history into a state legislature. The bill would strike laws which criminalize selling, buying and promoting, among others, from the New York penal code. While the coalition doesn’t anticipate a vote this session, the introduction alone is a milestone moment.

Last Monday, DecrimNow, a coalition of sex workers, allies and advocates based in DC, re-introduced a bill to repeal a number of statutes which criminalize the sex trade in the district. The bill already has four co-sponsors, and the coalition has a growing list of allies and supporters. One thing that makes this bill unique is that because the District of Columbia is not a state, once the bill passes the city council, it will have to go through Congress – which means this is a fight which will not only take local advocates, but sex workers and co-conspirators from every state to fully realize.

Bill would decriminalize sex work in DC

Should prostitution be decriminalized? DC Councilmember David Grosso thinks so and has introduced a bill that would decriminalize sex work in the District. Grosso says sex workers would be better…

In Nevada, a bill which would have banned brothels in the state officially failed.

This Tuesday, California is holding a hearing on a bill which would offer immunity from prostitution charges for those who have been victimized or witness to victimization in the course of trading sex. If you’re in CA – find your rep, call, and ask for their support!

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Brothel Workers Relieved Bill to Ban Prostitution Failed

Legislation that would have banned legal prostitution in Nevada did not pass in this latest session. At the Mustang Ranch in Storey County, that was cause for celebration.

(Chris Buckley | KTVN.com) – Legislation that would have banned legal prostitution in Nevada did not pass in this latest session. At the Mustang Ranch in Storey County, that was cause for celebration.

“We all cheered for a couple of weeks, we all celebrated immensely,” said Madam Tara Adkins. “It was terrifying for all of our ladies and our staff who have been with us for years; it was very scary for everybody.”

Dennae, who as been a Courtesan there for three years and in the industry for more than a decade, says the Mustang Ranch is the best place she’s ever worked.

“I should have come here years ago,” she said. “I would be heartbroken if it closed; it’s so much more than just sex here, we’re caregivers. We touch so many lives and I love this job.”

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