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May 25, 2019 By Chuck Muth

Why the Brothel-Banners Hide in Plain Sight

(Chuck Muth) – A pair of anti-brothel crusaders, Melissa Holland and Laila Mickelwait, inked a column on Friday that once again demonstrates exactly why they hide behind blog posts, social media and videos…

Like vampires, the light of day kills their arguments.

Indeed, when brothel-banner Julie Bindel went head-to-head against UNLV brothel researcher Christina Parreira in a BBC-hosted debate last month, Parreira cleaned Bindel’s clock. Shot down every one of her arguments like Tom Cruise shooting down those Russian MiG’s over the Indian Ocean in “Top Gun.”

It’s also why, during last fall’s campaign in Lyon County, Nevada to ban legal brothels there, the ballot question sponsors refused to debate the issue in a series of townhall meetings with Alice Little and Ruby Rae, a pair of legal courtesans at the Moonlite Bunny Ranch.

They KNEW Alice and Ruby would rip their arguments to shreds if they were actually forced to back up their misrepresentations and propaganda.

Which is why Holland, Mickelwait and others hide behind blog posts and videos.  Their arguments and claims simply can’t survive scrutiny and cross-examination.

For example, Holland and Mickelwait started off yesterday’s disinformation blog post thusly…

“Forty-eight years ago prostitution was legalized in Nevada and as a result, Nevada has developed into a breeding ground for sex trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation.  In fact, Nevada has the highest rate of prostitution in the country – its illegal sex trade is 63% higher than the next highest state.”

First off, prostitution wasn’t legalized in Nevada.  What actually happened is that Nevada allowed rural counties to legalize, license and regulate brothels if they so chose.  Brothels were NOT legalized in Clark and Washoe counties – where Las Vegas and Reno are located.

As such, it’s a darn-near criminal misrepresentation to claim that “Nevada” is a “breeding ground” for sex trafficking when those highly-questionable statistics are actually based on Las Vegas and Reno where legal brothels are banned.

Buy, hey, why let facts get in the way of a false argument designed to create mass hysteria, right?

Next comes the claim that “legal prostitution increases the demand for prostitution.”

Oh, puh-lease.  The nearest legal brothel to the Las Vegas Strip is almost 90 minutes away.  Which means most clients and providers of consensual adult sexual interaction opt for the risk of engaging illegally in their Las Vegas hotel room rather than spend three hours driving back-and-forth in a car.

The notion that a legal brothel located an hour-and-a-half away “increases the demand” for sex-for-fee services is laughable on its face.

Of course, no hysteria-inducing propaganda campaign is complete without invoking “the children.”

“In Nevada alone,” Holland and Mickelwait blubber, “there is a demand for over 20,000 innocent women and children sold online every year.”

Source?  Back-up?  Substantiation?

None.  Of course.

“In order to abolish sex trafficking, we must eliminate the demand for prostitution,” the Disinformation Duo continues.  “The demand elimination strategy is the only way to put pimps and traffickers out of business.”

First, you’re never going to “eliminate the demand” for paid sex.  That’s why it’s called the “world’s oldest profession.”

Secondly, the “demand elimination strategy” has never worked and never will.  Let history be your guide.  Remember “prohibition” on alcohol and gaming?  And how’s that “war on drugs” thing worked out?

You’re barking up the wrong tree, ladies.  As failed social experiments go, your “demand elimination strategy” is right there at the top of the list.

They did get one thing correct, though, when they argued that “women in prostitution shouldn’t be arrested.”  Which, ahem, is exactly the case when it comes to Nevada’s legal brothels – which they’re trying to shut down!

But then they go on to argue that, instead, the clients “should be arrested and their crimes should be felony-level offenses.”

Um, why should a consensual act between two adults be illegal for one party but not the other?  Makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

This ridiculous proposal is what’s called the “Nordic model” – a thoroughly discredited idea that supporters trot out as some kind of silver bullet that’ll cleanse society and usher in a new Era of Moral Nirvana.

It’s a future best viewed through rose-colored glasses while riding a unicorn.

“Legal prostitution in Nevada has brought severe harm to the women and girls who’ve been pulled into prostitution over the last 48 years,” Holland and Mickelwait conclude.  “It’s time to end the toxic prostitution industry in Nevada. It has to stop. Now.”

Because (heads up Las Vegas Convention & Visitors Authority): “Nevada is not safe for women.”

Except…

That opinion isn’t shared by the grown, adult, consenting women who actually work in Nevada’s legal brothels.  Here’s just a small sampling of their take on the subject…

• “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.” – Ruby Rae

• “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.” – Paris Envy

• “We are human beings who chose to do sex work of 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.” – Kiki Lover

• “Sex work is definitely not my last resort or my only option – it is my CHOICE. I’d like to continue to have the opportunity to make that choice legally.” – Christina Parreira

• “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.” – Alice Little

Adds Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI)…

“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.”

Exactly.

I thought we were supposed to trust women?  “My body, my choice,” right?  So, um, who’s gonna save these women from the “saviors”?

Mr. Muth is president of Citizen Outreach, a limited-government grassroots advocacy organization, and government affairs counsel to the Nevada Brothel Association

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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