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October 9, 2020 By Chuck Muth

Mustang Ranch Urges COVID Task Force to Reopen Brothel

(The following is a transcript of testimony delivered by Lance Gilman to members of Nevada’s COVID-19 Mitigation and Management Task Force on October 8, 2020)

Undoubtedly, we are in unprecedented times that have required difficult decisions and challenging choices. We have and do respect the leadership put forth by this task force, the LEAP Committee and Governor Sisolak and his office.

As such, Storey County, its leadership and management team, its businesses and its citizens have implemented the regulations and suggestions that have been put forth by the state to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 and we are proud of the results.

To date, Storey County has had only six cases of COVID-19, all of which have been treated and have recovered.

With that in mind, I implore you to allow Storey County the ability to reopen all of its businesses and fully begin the long recovery from the significant economic damage of this pandemic and its ensuing shutdown.

Specifically, I am asking that you allow the county the ability to reopen the Mustang Ranch, a longstanding economic driver and community steward for our county.

Since the beginning of the shutdown, our state’s leadership has repeatedly reiterated the criteria for reopening businesses in our state.

It has been stressed by the Governor and this task force that decisions on reopening businesses would be made first and foremost on data and the likelihood of getting infected or spreading the COVID-19 virus in a business and/or municipality.

It has been stressed that the data and not the industry or business would be the driving force for closing or keeping a business closed. It has also been emphasized that, for a business to reopen, a sufficient and adequate mitigation and enforcement plan would be needed.

In short, the goal of the shutdown and subsequent reopening was to avoid picking winners and losers but, rather, to minimize the risks of community spread and the burden on our healthcare system.

With those as the guiding philosophies for our state’s COVID-19 response, I am formally requesting Storey County’s ability to reopen the Mustang Ranch.

Working in coordination with healthcare professionals, Storey County leadership, the Storey County Sheriff and law enforcement, Mustang Ranch has developed a significant mitigation and enforcement plan designed to address COVID-19.

This plan has been shared with the Governor’s office, the LEAP Committee, the COVID-19 Task Force, the state’s medical leadership and others and, by all accounts, is sufficient and adequate.

We have received no feedback on why this business continues to remain closed. It is not a business that encourages congregation or large crowds and the proposed mitigation plan further mandates that there will be no crowds or groups at any time at the business.

To date, the state has reopened massage parlors, health spas, martial arts studios, dental offices and a variety of other businesses that involve close contact and one-on-one physical interactions.

Furthermore, there is no data that the services provided at Mustang Ranch are at any higher risk of spreading COVID-19 than any of these other businesses and industries.

Mustang Ranch is a longstanding community steward for Storey County, doing everything from significantly supporting underprivileged schoolchildren and after school programs to providing meals on a regular basis for seniors on fixed incomes and in challenging situations.

In fact, Mustang Ranch has continued to provide significant monetary support to a number of community-based programs during this health and economic crisis.

Additionally, the closure of Mustang Ranch has had dire impacts on the employees and women that work there, forcing them and their families into critical financial circumstances.

For many years, the Mustang Ranch was the only significant economic driver in Storey County, paving the way for our county and region to become the economic development beacon it is now.

The Ranch has been a constant for our community through times of prosperity and adversity, alike. We can identify no reason that the Ranch should remain closed, based on all of the above reasons and the state’s commitment to data-based decisions, not arbitrarily picking winners and losers.

I again implore this task force to immediately give Storey County the ability to open the Mustang Ranch in a safe and healthy manner.

Mr. Gilman is the owner of the Mustang Ranch brothel in Storey County, Nevada

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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