LOS ANGELES — Calling attention to bias and discrimination against sex workers, marches for International Whore’s Day will be held on Saturday in Los Angeles, New York, Washington, Chicago, the Bay Area, Austin and Las Vegas.
Along with Gizelle Marie, Kristen Diangelo, Maria Louise Roman, Tara Coccinelle and others, Jessica Drake will speak at the Los Angeles Let Us Survive Rally at 3:30 p.m. at Boardner's, 1652 N. Cherokee Ave., Hollywood, Calif. 90028.
Siouxsie Q said: “Sex workers have waited far too long for this moment, but time is officially up for the violence the U.S. government has brought to our workplace. The current administration has signed into law a piece of legislation that has taken away the most important tool our community had for survival in this country. We can stay silent no longer. Sex workers everywhere, allies, advocates and anyone who has ever enjoyed or profited from our industry: we need you to show up on Saturday, and most importantly after Tuesday, June 5, and every election moving forward. Sex workers vote. We deserve better than the folks who are currently in office.”
“This issue is very personal to me and so many others who depend on sex work to survive.” Drake said. “I am thankful to Antonia Crane, Siouxsie Q, Ian O’Brien, Bella Bathory, Mia Little, Riley Reyes, Lotus Lain, and all the organizers of the International Whore’s Day March for raising awareness about the dire issues facing sex workers — most recently SESTA/FOSTA. This is the perfect time for allies to show up and lend their support. Sex work is work, and sex worker’s rights cannot be denied.”
All allies of sex workers are invited to attend the event. The march will bring together sex workers, sex worker rights advocates, civil rights advocates, freedom of speech advocates, members of the ACLU, APAC, Sex Workers Outreach Project, Free Speech Coalition and many others in an effort to combat bias, discrimination and hate toward sex workers and others who face discrimination.
Sex workers can be adult film stars, dominatrixes, strippers, escorts, madams, exotic dancers, webcam models, phone sex operators and many other workers who engage in consensual sex work.
The march comes in support of International Whore’s Day which commemorates the occupation of Église Saint-Nizier in Lyon, France, by more than 100 sex workers on June 2, 1975, in protest to their inhumane working conditions.
Sex workers are often denied housing, medical insurance, credit, even the ability to open a bank account because of the source of their livelihood. Sex workers are also often at risk of losing their children in custody battles due to the nature of their profession. Legislation is often passed under the guise of “protecting sex workers and stopping human trafficking” yet in practice, those laws can put an already marginalized population at further risk.
For more information about the march in Los Angeles and other cities, click here.