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(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.

(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

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.

(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

(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

(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.