The good news is that today's rally at Market & Castro was a great success!
The weather couldn't have been better, lots of people came out -- at least 100. We had some wonderful speakers, including adult star Lance Navarro, a nun from the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, adult porn director Mr. Pam, "Whore next door" columnist Siouxsie Q from the SF Weekly, Erotic Service Providers Union leader Maxine Doogan and several more. Having a mic and sound system made it easy for everyone to be heard.
People brought awesome signs, which were visible all over Harvey Milk Plaza, along with some help from the nudists and the anti-mandatory-vaccine folks who were out doing their thing, and we got some good messages chalked on the sidewalk as well.
Finally, supporters at the rally gave generously -- passing the hat raised $538 in cash, plus about 60 Euros!
The bad news is that all this money which people gave us to support decriminalization will not be used for that purpose.
We will not be able to spend that money to help the victims at Rentboy.
We will not be able to donate the money to help fund the ESPLER lawsuit.
We will not be able to spend it on helping anyone.
Why not? Because virtually all the funds were STOLEN from us!
Because we had amplified sound at the protest, the city government RIPPED US OFF with a $535 permit fee! Plus, when organizer Mark Sade originally sought to have the event at Civic Center, he had to pay $58 just to APPLY for a permit. We ended up not getting or using that permit when the location changed. But the authorities told him he can't get the money back, that the fee is non-refundable.
We were out there using our First Amendment rights to speak out against the government's abusive anti-prostitution crusade, and the same government steals virtually all the money that we raised!
This is basically no different than if a group of sex-negative prostitution opponents had come up after the rally and held Mark and Maxine up at gunpoint and demanded they hand over the cash. The people who are oppressing us, are not allowing us to use the public space that OUR TAX DOLLARS HAVE ALREADY PAID FOR, to exercise our FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS, unless we pay them hundreds of dollars in extortion money!
It's an outrageous racket, and it's hurting our cause, and we should not sit back and quietly allow this OUTRAGE. I didn't hear about it until after the event, or I would have said some choice words about it during my speech. That's why I'm writing this now.
Please write/call/talk to "your" SF Supervisors, and tell them this is UNACCEPTABLE. Our movement does not have the resources that we can afford to be ROBBED BY THESE BULLIES. We need to stand up and call them out on their blatant disrespect for and violation of free speech. Don't vote for any politician who supports First Amendment Extortion!
Love & Liberty,
((( starchild )))
Press Release that was sent out for the rally:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 3, 2015 Contact Maxine Doogan Phone: 4152653302 Email: info@espu-ca.org @espunion
Laborors of Love and Erotic Service Providers Union comdems US Government Raid On Rentboy.com and demands full decriminalization of all aspects of sex work.
What: Rally to Demand US Government stop criminalizing adults private lives and get your priorities straight.
When: Saturday September 5, 2015 1pm-2:30pm
Where: Harvey Milk Plaza, Castro Muni stop at Castro and Market Streets San Francisco
San Francisco, CA, Sept 3, 2015 — The Erotic Service Providers Union (ESPU) stands with all erotic laborers this Labor Day Holiday to condemn the US Government's recent raid on another adult website. In the wake of Amnesty International’s recently adopted policy calling on governments to decriminalize the selling and buying of sex services among consenting adults, the US government has acted to the contrary and brought charges against 7 employees of Rentboy.com. In June of 2014, the US government had seized Myredbook.com, another adult website that primarily hosted ads by women for men. This Labor Day weekend, in protest of the Homeland Security seizure of Rentboy.com, a primarily male to male adult website, we stand with the other groups rallying in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles, united to say: Enough!
“While for many in the industry, adult services are a means to an end, for me, it is my passion and my career,” said Lance Navarro. “Through my work, I have helped many wonderful men work through their issues by simply providing a safe and judgement free space. I've developed a great clientele over the years and therefore the Rentboy shutdown isn't hurting me as much as it is others. For those that are just starting out or that depend upon new clients, this shutout will mean that many guys will be unable to pay their rent, feed themselves, and may even have to turn to working on the street.”
“Users of Rentboy and similar websites realize that what happens between consenting adults should be their private business”, said Mark Sade, an adult industry professional and lecturer. “We finally realized how ridiculous sodomy laws were, but we still haven’t fully grasped that senators have no reason to stand in our bedrooms and regulate how and why we have sex.”
Everyone supports laws against forced labor but the best way to deal with these problems is to prioritize decriminalizing sexwork and provide access to equal protection under the law. Only then will we see the eliminating of stigma as well as the necessity for third parties as a means of protection from law enforcement intrusion. Criminalization puts the livelihoods, health and lives of sex workers in jeopardy. It’s time for our federal justice system to get its priorities straight and it’s time once and for all to decriminalize sex work.
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