Nevada Brothel Association

NBA Staff

By

Religious Crusaders Targeting Tunisia’s Last Legal Brothels

Shereen El Feki of BBC News reported this week that legal brothels in the African nation of Tunisia are on their last legs; victims of “pressure from women’s rights activists and religious conservatives” – primarily Ennahda, Tunisia’s Islamist party.

This mirrors similar efforts by religious conservatives to close legal brothels in rural Nevada.

Some excerpts from the article..

Tunisia has a two-tier system of prostitution. One is made up of government-registered “maisons closes”, or brothels, where female sex workers are authorised by the state to ply their trade. The other involves illegal freelance sex work, where the people involved risk up to two years in prison if convicted.

When Amira, 25, started working in Sfax five years ago, there were 120 legal sex workers. Now she is one of a dozen left.

“We used to make a living for our children, pay our rent. We don’t anymore. Actually, I don’t have anything else. If they kick us from there, where we would go?” …

Over in Tunis, Nadia, a divorcee in her 40s, knows the answer all too well.

She misses her life in the legal system: “It is not the same as when we were in the protected brothel, with a doctor [for weekly medical exams], a female condom and a madam [who kept an eye on proceedings].”

“Now when I get a client I am scared because I don’t have anyone who can protect me or stand by my side. …

Afef, a former madam whose brothel was recently shuttered, explained the difficulties.

“Even if [a former sex worker] goes to work in a restaurant to clean dishes,” she said, “one or two days later, they will say that this woman was working in a brothel and the boss would say: ‘Sorry I cannot hire you.'”

To read the full article, click here

By

New Defendant In Anti-Brothel Lawsuit Is Disability Rights Advocate

(Bree Zender | KUNR) – A federal lawsuit was filed earlier this year by an anti-legal brothel lawyer, claiming sex trafficking is rampant in the businesses. While brothel owners deny this, the suit aims to ban brothels in Nevada. Now, a prospective defendant is looking to add himself to the suit. KUNR Reporter and Host Bree Zender spoke with News Director Michelle Billman about this latest wrinkle.

ZENDER: Yeah, so his name is Russell Greer. He is a disability rights advocate and he lives in Salt Lake City. He’s attempting to add himself as a defendant in this federal lawsuit, and he says that legal brothels are the only place that he can pursue a romantic and sexual relationship. He says because the muscles in his face are paralyzed, that takes him out of a typical dating pool.

Greer started seeing sex workers a few years ago in Utah, where it is illegal. He said to me over Skype that fear of being arrested brought him to the [legal] brothels here in Nevada:

“It really boosts my self esteem. It is nice to be with someone who listens to you and who will touch [you.] There’s meaningful touching. You know, having a fun time.”

As Greer says, this provides him with an opportunity for intimacy that he doesn’t normally have. And by adding his name to this particular lawsuit, he wants to preserve the state’s brothel system so that he can continue to do that.

BILLMAN: Bree, is Russell Greer’s situation common, based on some of the reporting that you’ve done?

ZENDER: So, there are not really numbers for the ratio of people who have disabilities versus people who don’t have disabilities who visit brothels. That’s just not really a number that one can come up with. But, you know, anecdotally, I’ve been covering this topic for about a year now in Nevada, and nearly every sex worker that I’ve spoken to says that folks with disabilites are a good portion of their client base. But we also want to be careful not to generalize because people with disabilities are a wide spectrum of people and not everyone feels the need to visit brothels.

BILLMAN: Bree, remind me about the plaintiffs in this case. Who are they, and what are they arguing?

ZENDER: So, there are three plaintiffs in this case. One of them, the one that’s received the most media attention, is Rebekah Charleston. She was forced into prostitution as a teenager, and one of her traffickers forced her into a legal brothel in Nevada. She says that because prostitution is legal in Nevada, it attracts a bunch of illegal sex trafficking, and a higher illegal sex trafficking trade that isn’t there in other states.

Her lawyer, Jason Guinasso, says that because there are legal brothels in Nevada and they have promotions online, it’s bringing people over state lines, which violates the Mann Act. [That] prohibits people from travelling over state lines for ‘immoral things’–that’s 1910 language–‘immoral’ things, like prostitution.

BILLMAN: And returning to Greer, who wants to become a defendant…he isn’t new to advocating for legal prostitution. Tell me about that.

ZENDER: A couple of years ago, he filed a business license application in Salt Lake City. He wanted to start his own brothel. The business license was first accepted by mistake, but then was retracted when they found out he was wanting to start a brothel. He sued the state of Utah. The case was dismissed, but he did want to take it to the supreme court [in an attempt] to try to legalize brothels everywhere, really. He compared it to the same-sex marriage case, where a couple was denied a marriage license, and then they sued and took it all the way to the supreme court, and then it was legalized back in 2015. So, he was aiming for that similar projectory for this suit, but not much has been brewing about the suit since then.

BILLMAN: And what’s the status of the suit right now? What else can you tell us?

ZENDER: Sure, so the original defendant, the State of Nevada, is attempting to have the lawsuit dismissed. Storey County Commissioner and Mustang Ranch Brothel Owner Lance Gilman has also added himself as a defendant. He says he wants to preserve the system for the safety and wellbeing of the women who work there. The suit is still in its discovery period, so it’s a period of time where both sides of the suit go and research to try to find evidence to support their cases. Yeah, that’s where it’s at.

By

Proposed Nevada Bill Redefines ‘Prostitutes’ as ‘Courtesans,’ Creates Odd Curfew

(Gustavo Turner | XBIZ) – A Nevada County Commission which has jurisdiction over the legal brothels nearest to Las Vegas has drafted proposed changes to the county code, which include officially discarding the stigmatizing term “prostitutes” in ordinances in favor of “courtesans” and reclassifying “houses of prostitution” as “brothels.”

The legal Nye County brothels are located between Las Vegas and the California state line in the towns of Amargosa Valley, Crystal and Pahrump.

The proposal’s new language redefines “prostitution” as “engaging in any act, for a fee, with the purpose of arousing or gratifying the sexual desire of either person,” which Chuck Muth, an adviser to the Nevada Brothel Association (NBA) criticized as “vague” and likely to be misused by anti-sex work advocates.

“I can see the Jason Guinasso’s of the world twisting that language to include, for example, women who dance in gentlemen’s clubs even if no actual sex act takes place,” Muth wrote. Guinasso is a Christian pastor and alpaca rancher from Reno who has made a local political career stigmatizing all sex workers and conflating legal sex work with human trafficking.

The NBA adviser also pointed out that there are no proposed changes to the prohibition to advertise brothels by “signs” or “print advertising,” in compliance with Nevada state law.

“I hope the soon-to-be convened Brothel Study Committee established by the 2019 Nevada Legislature takes a long, hard look at this issue,” Muth added. “If the business is legal, it should be allowed to legally advertise.”

The “Lockdowns” Controversy

The proposed changes also affect the controversial issue of “lockdowns,” rules supposedly enforced for public health reasons that confine courtesans to brothel property for set periods of time.

“Under the existing Nye County ordinance,” Muth explained, “a courtesan who leaves the property ‘in excess of twenty-four (24) hours’ must be re-tested for sexually transmitted diseases before being allowed to work again.”

This is popularly known among sex workers as “the 24-hour rule.”

The proposed language replaces “the 24-hour rule” with a contrived, thoroughly impractical version of “lockdowns”:

“Courtesans are allowed to leave the Brothel Premises for six (6) hours per ten (10) day medical clearance period during the hours of 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. A Courtesan with a verified medical appointment may leave the brothel premises for up to twelve (12) hours during the hours of 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Any Courtesan who leaves the Brothel Premises in excess of these hours per ten (10) day medical clearance shall be subject to all the medical testing requirements set forth in this chapter and any other applicable State laws and regulations prior to engaging in any act of prostitution.”

Muth and other sex workers advocates are indignant at the new language. “‘Allowed to leave’? For no more than six hours per 10-day period? And only between the hours of 8 a.m. and 3 p.m.? In America?” he wrote.

“If this ordinance passes I will never work in a Nye County brothel again.”

XBIZ spoke with Nevada-based adult performer Charlotte Sartre, who has worked at Nye County brothels.

“I was reading about it this morning,” Sartre told XBIZ. “It’s so stupid. Most brothels in Nye County already have a lockdown rule. Alien Cathouse adheres to the 24-hour rule.”

“But for fuck’s sake,” she added. “Only leaving between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m.? And only six hours in a ten-day period? It’s nuts!”

“If this ordinance passes I will never work in a Nye County brothel again. That’s how stupid it is,” Sartre concluded.

A final version of the bill is expected to be introduced at the county commission meeting on October 15, and a vote is expected at the November 19 meeting.

To read the proposed changes, “A Bill proposing to amend Nye County Code Title 9, Public Peace, Morals and Welfare, relating to Chapter 9.20, Prostitution; providing for the severability, constitutionality and effective date thereof, and other matters properly relating thereto,” click here.

By

Legal Option for the “Sexually Frustrated Men”

(Chuck Muth) – A disturbing videotaped police interview of Alek Minassian – the man who drove a rental van into a crowd of people in Toronto, killing ten – was released to the public by the trial judge last week.

According to a report in The Guardian, Minassian “told police officers that he was a virgin who had never had a girlfriend” and “belonged to an online subculture of sexually frustrated men” who are “unable to get laid.”

“Minassian told police that his interactions with women left him embarrassed and angry,” The Guardian reported.  “He described a Halloween party in 2013, where he tried to speak with young women, but was often ignored or laughed at.”

His trial is scheduled for February.

Minassian said he’d been “radicalized” around the same time that Elliot Rodger, described as an “involuntary celibate,” murdered six people and killed himself at the University of California, Santa Barbara in 2014.

In a video produced before his rampage, Elliot said “he wanted to punish women for rejecting him, and punish sexually active men because he envied them.”

This is all so unnecessary.

First, the desire for sex is a strong and powerful human need that is not restricted to attractive, charming individuals.  The abolitionists’ screed that society can “end demand” is folly at best; deadly at worst.

There are all manner of men desiring sex who “can’t get laid” in a bar or nightclub for a variety of reasons: elderly gentlemen, men with disabilities, unattractive men and socially awkward men.  What’s their option?

Well, in Nevada we have legal brothels.

I’ll never forget the afternoon that late Assemblyman Dennis Hof and I returned from a campaign event to his Moonlite Bunny Ranch brothel.

Sitting in the parlor on a sofa next to an extremely attractive woman was a young man who appeared to be in his 30’s and clearly afflicted with at least a mild level of autism.  When he saw Dennis, his face lit up like a sunburst and broke out in a smile a mile wide.

As was Dennis’ way, he sat down and talked with the young man for a while.  Asked how he was doing.  Asked if he was being treated well.  And just had a nice conversation like a pair of good friends over a beer at happy hour.

After the encounter, Dennis explained to me that the young man’s mother brought him to the ranch every month or so – where the guy was treated like royalty by everyone there.  They doted on him hand-and-foot and made the guy feel like the most important person on the planet.

That should be illegal?

Did his mom pay for the privilege?  Absolutely.

Was it worth every penny to provide her son the joy of such intimate companionship he otherwise wouldn’t have in his life – if even for just a few hours?  I think the answer is obvious.

Now, this might not be the solution you would choose in a similar circumstance.  But who are we – society – to judge the decision of this individual’s mother?

And what if this option had been available to Rodger and Minassian in Santa Barbara and Toronto?  What if we ENCOURAGED such experiences instead of stigmatizing them?  Would the innocent people slain by their hands be alive today?

We’ll never know.

There’s a LOT more to Nevada’s legal brothel story than meets the eye.  Let’s hope the Nevada Legislature’s Brothel Study Committee looks beyond the abolitionists’ puritan propaganda and considers the WHOLE picture.

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

By

Good, Bad and Ugly of Nye County Brothel Law Update

(Chuck Muth) – The Nye County Commission has drafted a series of updates and changes to its county code as it relates to the operation of legal brothels (Chapter 9.20 Prostitution).  Here’s some of the good, bad and ugly…

THE GOOD

The Commission proposes changing a pair of terms used in the code which will make the language both more accurate and less stigmatizing.

The term “house of prostitution” is being changed to “brothel.”

Along the same line, commercial sex workers in legal brothels will no longer be referred to in the ordinance as “prostitutes,” but “courtesans.”  An important distinction, especially since intellectually dishonest prohibitionists regularly try to fool the public by conflating legal commercial sex work with the illegal variety.

The fact is, whether you like it or not, commercial sex work in licensed brothels is LEGAL.  And the women who work there are professionals in a legal business.  They deserve to be treated with the appropriate respect.

On the other hand, the proposed new definition of “Prostitution” is still problematic…

“Engaging in any act, for a fee, with the purpose of arousing or gratifying the sexual desire of either person.”

Vague.  I can see the Jason Guinasso’s of the world twisting that language to include, for example, women who dance in gentlemen’s clubs even if no actual sex act takes place.

THE BAD

No changes are being proposed to the advertising prohibition ordinance.  The following language remains…

“No signs may be placed anywhere in the County advertising the brothel or associated businesses on the same property.  No print advertising is allowed anywhere in the County…”

Now, to be fair, such advertising prohibitions are enshrined in state law (NRS 201.430), so the county is only complying with state-dictated restrictions.  But two wrongs don’t make a right.

And it’s simply wrong for state law or county ordinance to restrict the advertising of legal businesses.

Gentlemen’s clubs are allowed to advertise on billboards.  Ditto licensed marijuana businesses.  And liquor stores.  And gambling houses.  Often using images of scantily-clad women in sexy poses with explicitly suggestive wording.

For example, consider the wording on this Las Vegas billboard on U.S. 95 near Henderson…

The World Famous
Little Darlings
Totally Nude
Las Vegas
18+

1000’s of Beautiful Girls,
3 Ugly Ones,
And Lots Of…(picture of a cat)

Gee, I wonder what that’s supposed to mean?

How is this considered appropriate and acceptable for a major highway billboard, but a tastefully-produced billboard advertising a legal brothel isn’t?

Or walk down the Strip in Las Vegas on any given evening and look at the print advertising being handed out by “flippers” promoting “Girls to Your Room.”  Ditto those extremely provocative “Girls to Your Room” mobile billboards driving up and down the Strip.

Trust me.  Those ladies aren’t going to rooms for Bible study!

I hope the soon-to-be convened Brothel Study Committee established by the 2019 Nevada Legislature takes a long, hard look at this issue.  If the business is legal, it should be allowed to legally advertise.

THE UGLY

Perhaps the biggest complaint that sparked the establishment of the Legislature’s Brothel Study Committee is the issue of “lockdowns.”

“Lockdowns” are rules established confining courtesans to brothel property for long periods of time.

Under the existing Nye County ordinance, a courtesan who leaves the property “in excess of twenty-four (24) hours” must be re-tested for sexually transmitted diseases before being allowed to work again.

This is, at best, arbitrary.  A sex act – or, for that matter, multiple sex acts – can easily be completed in less than 24 hours.  So, if the interest is in protecting the public health, why 24 hours before re-testing instead of, say, 24 minutes?

Which still is all it would take to hop in your car and drive to some remote desert location for a “quickie.”

Fortunately, the existing 24-hour language is being scrapped.  Unfortunately, the proposed new language isn’t any better…

“Courtesans are allowed to leave the Brothel Premises for six (6) hours per ten (10) day medical clearance period during the hours of 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.  A Courtesan with a verified medical appointment may leave the brothel premises for up to twelve (12) hours during the hours of 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.  Any Courtesan who leaves the Brothel Premises in excess of these hours per ten (10) day medical clearance shall be subject to all the medical testing requirements set forth in this chapter and any other applicable State laws and regulations prior to engaging in any act of prostitution.”

“Allowed to leave”?  For no more than six hours per 10-day period?  And only between the hours of 8 a.m. and 3 p.m.?  In America?

Now, to be clear, an important distinction needs to be made here.

We’re not talking about the private rules of a private business as established between the private business and a Courtesan working under an agreement as an independent contractor.

What we’re talking about here is the GOVERNMENT locking down and restraining the freedom of adult women working in a legal business to come and go as they please even when not working.

Again, you CANNOT make the argument that this “lockdown” rule is to protect the public health since it is perfectly possible to pick up an STD while away from the Brothel Premises for less than six hours.

Add to that the fact that if a Courtesan did leave the Brothel Premises for whatever period of time and DID pick up a sexually transmitted disease, subsequent brothel clients are still protected thanks to legally-enforced mandatory condom use at all brothels.

And consider this…

WebMD reports that some 20 million cases of STD’s are reported every year – with HALF of them coming from young people between the ages of 15-24.  So if public health is really the concern, why not similarly “lock down” teenagers?

You see how absurd this is?

It should also be pointed out that no such “lockdown” policies have existed at any of the legal brothels in Lyon County for over 20 years; nor are any such policies proscribed by Lyon County ordinance.

The Courtesans there come and go as they please.  Many leave daily to attend school at colleges and universities.  Others take days off.  Some even go home every night so they can fix their kids breakfast and send them off to school in the morning.

And there’s never been even a hint of a public health danger in all that time.

Again, what a private employer and an independent contractor agree to in a private contractual relationship is one thing.  That’s between two free and consenting adults.

But to inscribe such “allowed to leave” rules in a government ordinance is just plain wrong.

There’s lots more in the proposed ordinance update; good, bad and ugly.  But let’s wrap up with this…

If you’d like to read and review the entire proposed ordinance, click here

A final bill is expected to be introduced at the county commission meeting on October 15, 2019.

And a final vote on the final version is expected to be held at the county commission meeting on November 19, 2019.

The public may comment on this proposal at any of the commission meetings in person.

Or if you’d like to submit your comments online, providing they are submitted by 5:00 p.m. PACIFIC on September 27, 2019…

Click here

Please keep your comments respectful, on point and without the use of profanity.

Mr. Muth is president of Citizen Outreach, a limited-government grassroots advocacy organization, and adviser to the Nevada Brothel Association.  His views are his own.

By

Nevada’s sex worker voices must be heard

(Alice Little) – I recently read an article by The Nevada Independent titled “At Mustang Ranch open house, Gilman says he wants ‘better respect’ for brothel industry.” The piece featured perspectives on Nevada’s legal brothel industry from a brothel owner and one of his managers. The brothel owner opened the doors of his brothel to the media to illustrate his transparency in light of an upcoming brothel study to be conducted by an interim committee appointed by the Nevada Legislature.

The article talked about the owner’s legacy, his perspectives on decriminalization vs. legalization, and how he and his staff are just thrilled to have the committee scrutinize brothel operations. The piece is embellished by photographs of the owner and manager, and of the lavish brothel rooms and amenities. Sex workers, however, are nowhere to be found.

Now, I’m pretty sure that when the journalist visited the brothel, there were sex workers present. After all, what is a brothel if not an establishment where sex workers ply their trade? Certainly, it would have been possible to include the perspectives of women currently working in the bordello. But, for whatever reason, no legal prostitutes were even mentioned in the piece, let alone quoted.

As a highly accomplished sex worker currently working in Nevada’s legal brothel industry, I take issue with this exclusion of sex worker voices.

The study to be conducted by the interim committee is “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.” Clearly, in order to appropriately conduct this study, the committee will be required to interview the women whose welfare the committee aims to protect. Likewise, I feel that journalists should also take into consideration the views, opinions, and perspectives of Nevada’s legal sex workers when writing a story about the brothel industry.

Just as a shopping mall is comprised of dozens of individual retail outlets under the umbrella of the shopping center, a legal brothel is fueled by the independently contracted sex workers that provide services under the umbrella of the brothel license holder. Without the stores in the mall, the shopping center would be an empty building devoid of customers and revenue. Similarly, a brothel without sex workers is worthless.

As a Nevada sex worker, I do not “work for” a brothel owner. I partner with him or her and agree to pay the owner a percentage of my revenue in return for the opportunity to work in a regulated legal system. I am my own person with my own voice and views — and no brothel owner speaks for me or on behalf of any sex worker.

This upcoming study is about more than just revisiting brothel regulations – it’s about shattering stigmas and smashing outdated perspectives on Nevada’s sex industry. We cannot get an accurate picture of prostitution legalization without the involvement of the legal sex workers. Without us, there would be no industry — just a lonely brothel owner sitting at the bar of an empty building. Talk to sex workers. Interview sex workers. And, most of all, respect sex workers for being the independent and autonomous professionals that we are.

Alice Little is a licensed sex worker at the world famous Moonlite Bunny Ranch legal brothel in Carson City, Nevada and an intimacy and sexuality coach in the U.S. She is an outspoken advocate for sex worker rights and champion for an all-inclusive sex-positive society.  This column was originally published by the Nevada Independent on September 2, 2019.