(Jazmin Orozco Rodriguez | Nevada Independent) – Dennis Hof was found dead at one of his seven brothels almost a year ago. But the death of one of its most outspoken figureheads hasn’t kept the brothel industry out of the headlines — it faced a legislative push to put an end to the industry and a proposal to explore brothel working conditionsthrough a formal study.
Only Tulsi Gabbard Wants to Decriminalize Sex Work, but Other Dems Show Signs of Progress on the Issue
(Elizabeth Nolan Brown | Reason) – A majority of Americans now favor “removing criminal penalties for adults to sell and pay for consensual sex,” with support particularly high among Democrats and younger voters but also crossing party and age lines. Yet most of the Democrats running for president prefer to keep quiet about sex work issues, and only one remaining candidate—Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D–Hawaii)—has publicly expressed support for decriminalizing prostitution.
“If a consenting adult wants to engage in sex work, that is their right, and it should not be a crime,” Gabbard said in a statement this weekend to Reason. “All people should have autonomy over their bodies and their labor.”
Gabbard is the only one to get a good grade on a recent report card put out by the group Decriminalize Sex Work (DSW). “Gabbard supports the full decriminalization of sex work, which removes criminal and civil penalties from adults engaged in consensual acts of prostitution,” the group reports.
California Governor Signs Immunity From Prostitution Arrest Bill SB233
Sex Workers Applaud Governor’s Signature Of SB233 Which Protects Individuals Reporting Serious Crime And Removes Condoms As Probable Cause For Prostitution Arrests
(Maxine Doogan) – The Erotic Service Providers Legal, Education and Research Project (ESPLERP) applauds California Governor Gavin Newsom for signing Senate Bill 233 into law.
Originally sponsored by Senator Scott Wiener, Assembly Members Bill Quirk and Laura Friedman, SB233 picked up two more sponsors along the way: Assembly Members Buffy Wicks and Sydney Kamlager-Dove. This first of its kind legislation protects anyone reporting a serious crime (such as sexual assault, trafficking, robbery, domestic violence, or other violent crime) without being charged with a misdemeanor prostitution charge under California Penal Code 647. It also removes condoms as probable cause for prostitution arrests.
“I was violently assaulted by a predator who targeted prostitutes in 2012,” said Reada Wong. “But when the police found out that I was a prostitute, they lost interest, demeaned me, and threatened to charge me. And then, much later, when the guy was finally charged, he plead guilty. If the police and district attorney had done their jobs when I first reported the assault, the predator wouldn’t have still been out there to assault other women.”
“I was raped by a client in 2001,” said Veronica Monet. “Three weeks later, he stabbed a young woman in the face when she resisted. We were sharing information online so we knew he was a dangerous serial rapist. But when I reported him to the Oakland Police Department they wanted to arrest me for getting raped, because I admitted that I was a prostitute. Then, after three years of pressure on then Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown, I was finally allowed to report this rape without threat of being arrested myself. However, the police still made no attempt to contact this violent predator’s other victims, and he was neither questioned or apprehended. As a result, he is still out there to this day, and remains a serious threat to the safety of all women.”
SB 233 will make it easier for people like Reada Wong and Veronica Monet to report violence – and encourages the police to take assaults against sex workers seriously.
“This is important legislation,” said Maxine Doogan of ESPLERP. “We are very pleased to see Governor Newsom’s signature on a law which enables prostitutes to report rape and assault without fear of being arrested. And now we can do our part in helping the state get to zero HIV transmissions, a goal long held by the California Department of Public Health, without the fear of our carrying condoms being used as evidence for prostitution arrests”.
SB 233 is based on policy supported by the San Francisco Police Department and District Attorney. It’s especially relevant after the passing of Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA), in April of 2018 which has disastrously affected the safety of sex workers. So we applaud our Governor for taking our call for help seriously. Now police can prioritize public health and public safety.
The Erotic Service Providers Legal, Education and Research Project (ESPLERP) is a diverse community-based coalition advancing sexual privacy rights through litigation, education, and research. Contributions to support the court case can be submitted through our crowd fundraiser – www.litigatetoemancipate.com.
No separation between prostitution, politics in Nevada
by Dana Gentry | Nevada Current
[excerpt]
Attorney General Aaron Ford, who is defending Sisolak and the state’s legal brothels in a federal lawsuit filed by former sex workers, is simultaneously prosecuting cases of sexual trafficking initiated by his predecessor, Adam Laxalt. . . . Ford draws a distinction between prostitution and sex trafficking in his motion to dismiss the federal suit against the state.
“There is no conflict between federal law and Nevada law here because federal law does not criminalize prostitution and both Nevada law and federal law criminalize sex trafficking wherever it occurs in Nevada,” Ford wrote in his motion.
Chuck Muth, government relations counsel for the Nevada Brothel Association, bristles at the conflation of legal sex work and the illegal trade.
“Are you saying the presence of legal brothels in rural towns like Elko and Ely is fueling demand for commercial sex services in Las Vegas and Reno?” asks Muth. “You can’t blame that on the legal brothels. They’re not allowed to advertise. The advertising ban is in state law.”
Bernie Sanders Ducks Sex Worker Questions
Excerpt from Las Vegas Review-Journal, July 7, 2019
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders hosted a public town hall that drew more than 550 and a private roundtable meeting with veterans in Las Vegas.
Sanders’ progressive platforms met with support, but several pushed the candidate to take stance on protecting sex work.
One woman asked for his stance on sex work, noting the candidate has firm stances on other personal liberties and freedoms. She said she hoped he would not equate sex work with human trafficking.
As he has when previously asked about the topic, Sanders said he would have to study the issue.
Another man then pressed him on sex work, asking him not to defer on the issue.
Sanders clarified he did not equate sex work and human trafficking, but he said he does not yet have answers for every question.
Nevada’s “New” Brothel Industry Rises from the Sagebrush
(Jeremy Lemur) – Will 2020 be the year of the sex worker? As a movement to decriminalize prostitution gains unprecedented traction in New York and Washington D.C., and Democratic hopefuls such as Kamala Harris and Tulsi Gabbard speak openly about their support of sex workers, the 2020 presidential election may be the first to include the decriminalization of prostitution as a talking point.
Just this month, Democratic lawmakers in New York State introduced a highly publicized bill that seeks to make it legal to engage in the consensual sale of sex. If more states follow New York’s lead, sex worker rights will certainly become a key issue during the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries.
With Nevada’s unique status as the only state in the union that has successfully legalized prostitution in the form of regulated brothels, Nevadans can expect the eyes of the nation to be on them as pundits look to a bona fide, time-tested example of legalized prostitution in America.
This past year, Nevada’s sex industry faced its own political challenges.
In 2018, anti-sex work activists sought a referendum to ban brothels in Lyon and Nye counties and, in early 2019, a bill aiming to shut down the state’s licensed bordellos was introduced in the Nevada Senate. Furthermore, the brothel industry’s most famous spokesperson, controversial Moonlite Bunny Ranch owner Dennis Hof, died suddenly in October, creating a perceived void in pro-brothel leadership.
In a cosmically appropriate way, Hof’s death occurred at the perfect time. He went out on top, brilliantly executing the last in a long line of publicity coups: running for Assembly and not only beating established politicians in the Republican primary, but also winning the seat posthumously.
Perhaps more significantly, Hof died during a sea change in the country and in Nevada. The women-empowering #MeToo movement was running full tilt and Nevada’s Legislature was about to make history as the first with a majority of female lawmakers. It was time for fresh voices to surface, and they did.
In the wake of Hof’s demise, a “new” Nevada brothel industry was revealed – the real brothel industry. An industry made up of the hundreds of women that practice their trade as sex workers and female sex industry leaders throughout the state.
Shortly after Hof’s death, the female proprietor of Bella’s Hacienda Ranch in Wells, Nevada formed an advocacy organization, the Onesta Foundation, with a mission to provide sex industry awareness and education.
A refurbished Nevada Brothel Association was also established. Founded by three women, two legal sex workers and the current owner of the Bunny Ranch, the association pushed hard against the anti-brothel campaigns, holding town hall meetings, championing the merits of legal prostitution through blog posts and social media, and generally making it clear that Nevada’s sex workers will not be silent when their livelihood is questioned.
Madams and sex workers from brothels like the Mustang Ranch and Sheri’s Ranch rose to the occasion and defended their position at legislative hearings and via news outlets.
These women prevailed triumphantly. The brothel ban referendum in Lyon County was rejected by 80 percent of voters and a similar effort to ban brothels in Nye County failed to get enough signatures on a referendum petition. The ill-fated bill to criminalize brothels statewide also foundered in the Legislature.
As 2020 approaches, and sex workers across the United States bravely fight against tremendous stigma for the right to lawfully practice their trade, Nevada’s ever-evolving legal prostitution experiment nears its 50th year. Thanks to the women who are (and always have been) its lifeblood, the Silver State’s sex industry appears as contemporary and forward-thinking as ever.
The women of Nevada’s brothels just might influence legislators in other states to seriously consider changing laws pertaining to the consensual sale of sex because lawmakers can no longer ignore the power of sex worker voices in Nevada and throughout the nation.
Mr. Lemur is a communications professional and legal prostitution advocate living in Henderson, Nevada. In the past decade he served on staff at the Moonlite Bunny Ranch, Sheri’s Ranch, and other brothels in Lyon and Nye counties.