(Suzette Cole) – In a recent media interview, Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak was asked about reopening the state’s legal brothels. Riley Snyder reported that the governor “said it’s not on his radar.”
While re-opening Nevada’s legal brothels may not be on the governor’s radar, it’s certainly on the radar of over 600 employees and women who have lost their jobs and income; some of whom have been forced back into the illegal market where no safety precautions are followed or enforced.
The brothel shutdown not only hurts those who have lost their incomes, but also counties’ tax revenue which includes hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees and licenses yearly.
It’s also dried up donations from the brothels who are the biggest donators to various local charities that have historically been supported. In Lyon County alone just some of these are:
* Animal parks
* Food banks
* Sheriff’s Ark Program
* Boys and Girls Club
* Dayton High School
* Toys for Tots
Continuing in his interview, Gov. Sisolak said…
“I don’t know how you social distance in a brothel. I know that they advocate to me that they test for sexually transmitted disease. That’s different than testing for COVID and having people skin against skin. That’s why I have the problem with some of the contact sports.”
In response…
1.) There are all manner of one-on-one personal service businesses that have been approved for re-opening in which there is little-to-no social distancing, including…
Massage therapists, dentists and hygienists, blood donation centers, plastic surgeons, makeup artists, tattoo/piercing parlors, waxing, facials and threading, hair salons, nail salons, barber shops, cosmetologists, tailors, medical spas and tanning salons.
2.) According to multiple health professionals and organizations there has been no link found between sexual activity and the transmission of COVID. For example…
- National Institutes of Health (NIH): “Covid-19 is not transmitted by sex.”
- William F. Marshall, III of the Mayo Clinic: “There is currently no evidence that the COVID-19 virus is transmitted through semen or vaginal fluids.”
- com: “Let’s be clear: COVID-19 is not contracted directly from sex.”
3.) Again according to various health professionals, COVID is absolutely not transmitted “skin against skin.”
- The Centers for Disease Control (CDC): “Infections occur mainly through exposure to respiratory droplets.” Not skin-to-skin.
- The World Health Organization (WHO): “COVID-19 spreads between people…via mouth and nose secretions.” Not skin-to-skin.
- The Queensland Health Department: “(COVID droplets) can’t get in through other parts of your body like your skin or your hair.”
4.) While testing for sexually transmitted diseases is, in fact, different from testing for COVID, Nevada’s legal brothels are uniquely experienced in administering and following medical testing protocols and can readily adapt to any recommended or required COVID-related testing.
5.) While it is not feasible for participants of contact sports to wear masks while engaged in the activity, it is absolutely feasible to do so for sexual activity occurring in a licensed, regulated legal brothel.
A government ban on sex is not only unenforceable, but potentially harmful mentally and socially.
“During this extended public health emergency, people will and should have sex,” notes the Vermont Department of Health. “Consider using harm reduction strategies to reduce the risk to yourself, your partners, and your community.”
Furthermore…
As attorney Deanna Forbush noted in recent testimony to Nevada’s COVID-19 task force, we’re not going to kill the virus by killing the economy. ALL businesses need to be re-opened, with appropriate safety protocols in place.
Nevada’s legal brothels have submitted detailed safety measures that meet or exceed those in place for other in-person service businesses. And no data exists indicating the services provided by the brothels pose any higher risk of spreading COVID-19 than these other businesses.
Additionally, brothels do not engage in group activity. It is a one-to-one service. And while Gov. Sisolak has now approved gatherings of up to 200 people – not including employees – our protocols call for not more than 10 clients within our facility at a time.
The current government shutdown orders have created winners and losers and discriminate by applying different standards to similar industries. All Nevada’s legal brothels are asking for is to be treated equally on a consistent, level playing field with everyone else.
Ms. Cole is CEO of four legal brothels in Lyon County, Nevada and president of the Nevada Brothel Association PAC
