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February 8, 2020 By Chuck Muth

Brothel Battle Royale: Gilman vs. Guinasso

(Chuck Muth) – Matt Bieker of Reno News & Review inked an excellent, comprehensive column this week on the Mustang Ranch, one of Nevada’s legal brothels located just outside Reno in Storey County.

Mr. Bieker took advantage of an open house tour hosted by Jennifer Barnes and Tara Atkins, the operation’s managing madams, in conjunction with the release of a new video, “The Power of Human Touch,” which tells the oft-overlooked aspects of the legal commercial sex industry in the state.

“Adkins and Barnes have worked at Mustang Ranch for almost 20 years, and believe courtesans offer services that go beyond just the act of selling sex,” Bieker wrote.

“Adkins mentioned a mother of an autistic man who brought him from New York to Reno for an appointment.  And a regular who started coming to the ranch after an accident left him paralyzed from the neck down.  Many of these clients aren’t looking for sex, the madams said, and those who are regard the ranch as a judgment-free space.”

Nevada is the only state in the country that allows legal brothels to operate, but only in a handful of rural counties.  Prostitution is still illegal in Washoe and Clark counties, home to Reno and Las Vegas respectively.

Nevada’s brothels are licensed, taxed and heavily regulated by the counties in which they operate.  The women who work independently at the various ranches are required to undergo an FBI background check, obtain a work card from the local sheriff and pass regular medical tests to protect them and their clientele from sexually transmitted diseases.

There has never been a single case of AIDS/HIV traced back to a legal Nevada brothel.

Not good enough, say brothel bashers.

“The idea that they are providing some sort of a therapeutic service like a massage or something, it’s just that PR firm trying to put, you know, lipstick on a pig, essentially,” Jason Guinasso, a creepy Reno lawyer who has labored unsuccessfully for years to shut the industry down, told Bieker.

Guinasso maintains “that the correlation between the legal sex industry in our state and illegal sex trafficking are inextricably linked.”

Absurd.  That’s like saying the correlation between legal drug stores (e.g., CVS and Walgreens) in our state and illegal drug trafficking are inextricably linked.

But to give you an even better idea of just how deranged the “thinking” of this guy and his disciples is, get this…

On Thursday Guinasso tweeted out a link to a “Dirty Dozen” website naming Nevada as a “major contributor to sexual exploitation” because of our legal brothels – despite the fact that every woman who works in one does so of their own free will.

But these sex-obsessed crusaders went even further by bemoaning the election results of a recent Guinasso-led ballot initiative…

“(N)early 81% of the voters in Lyon County, Nevada voted to keep brothels legal in 2018. This made 81% of Lyon County citizens complicit in the sex trade, and therefore complicit in the sexual exploitation – and even sex trafficking – of countless women.”

Got that?

It’s not just the vermin who are actually involved in illegal sex trafficking; it’s the average voter – many of whom are churchgoers, by the way – who are guilty of sexual exploitation simply for voting to live and let live when it comes to Nevada’s legal and safe brothels.

We’re ALL sex traffickers now!

Lance Gilman, owner of the Mustang Ranch, “believes brothels are an easy target for anti-trafficking campaigns,” but points out that “the real threats come from unlicensed establishments where the connection to the sex trade is already implied.”

“For example,” Gilman told Bieker, “it’s rampant in the massage industry” where “there’s no oversight” and “no work cards.”

“And the other thing that happens,” he continued, “is so much of the trafficking takes place, like, for example, in Las Vegas and the hotels. The criminal element has found a way to make an incredible amount of off-tax money by operating at something that’s so much in demand.”

Exactly.  Nevada’s high rate of sex trafficking is fueled almost entirely by Las Vegas – where legal brothels are PROHIBITED and the nearest legal brothel is an hour-and-a-half drive away.

Indeed, it’s the ABSENCE of legal brothels in Clark County that fuels the illegal market there, not the legal brothels in neighboring Nye County.  In fact, illegal prostitution is practically non-existent in counties where brothels are legally operating.

Gilman favors regulating prostitution “just like gaming” to protect both the women who work in the industry and the public.

“It should happen within four walls, with strong oversight and administration by the government, so that the right people get involved and the right controls are involved,” Gilman argues.  “(None of the women are) going to be hurt on our watch. That doesn’t happen in the outside world. They’re vulnerable.”

In Lance Gilman’s world, the women who work voluntarily in the legal commercial sex industry are safe.

In Jason Guinasso’s world, women working in the illegal commercial sex industry, including minors, are often in it against their will, abused, physically assaulted and even killed.

In an intellectual battle royale between Gilman and Guinasso on this issue, the Mustang Ranch business owner would crush the creepy Reno lawyer any day ending in “y.”

Alas, we’ll never get to see it.

Guinasso is a “keyboard warrior” who does all his “fighting” on social media and in paper lawsuits.  If he ever DID “man up” and agree to debate Gilman one-on-one/face-to-face on this issue, he’d have to be outfitted with a pair of Depends under his mom jeans.

Boy, would I ever pay good money to see THAT!

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.

Filed Under: Blog

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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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