You know I don’t really do Flickr and all that stuff because I worry about people’s images being out there and I haven’t checked with everyone. So many people asked though, so go to Flickr and see more. You can even download:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pjstarr/sets/72157621188134870/
Seems like there is so much going on in terms of films from our community of sex workers. Claire of NYC showed a few minutes of the footage she shot with sex worker leaders in Central America to a small but appreciative group of SWANK and SWOP members. Its due out in 2010.
With literature from her travels.
SWANK and SWOP-NYC had a strong contingent (leathered, feathered, glittered and gartered) at the Pride March. We patiently waited until almost 3 pm for our section of the march to get moving but then we leafletted hundreds of onlookers as they gasped at our campy, spanking and whipping antics. It sure is tiring marching in those high heels. Next year we need a float with a large luxurious bed so that we can lie down and show them how we work it.
We were sandwiched between the Metro Bears and transgenders from Latin America. Cosy. Furry.
Okay so I feel pretty bad that the sex worker film festival deadline is upon us this month and I only have one puny video submitted.
But I should not feel bad because I had a chance to travel to Brazil in January to be a real live film maker. I was employed by the Karnataka Sex Workers Union to document their meetings about sex work and unionism with my friend Dawn Passar. The video below is the very first snippet that I have forced myself to put together as an opening intro to this film. But what should this movie be called, need something snazzy… need help. Help…
Passerby gasps at the beauty and strong messaging of SWOP-NYC.
Sex worker organizing with the support of allies is taking off in NYC. Yesterday ten members of SWOP-NYC and friends came out to support the rally to stop the false arrests of gay men in porn stores in NYC. Maybe these arrests seem mind-blowing (undercover cops approach men browsing literature in the stores, negotiate sex, at the last moment say “and I’d like to pay you $50” then the handcuffs are out…) to your average person on the street, but sex workers are no strangers to illegitimate policing. Police can pick up sex workers when they are walking home (false arrest), going to the store (false arrest) or when they are working (technically an “okay” arrest but we protest this).
Speakers at the rally organized by a coalition to stop the arrests, came out against the arrests of young people, trans people and people of color. SWOP-NYC cheered in approval when Robert Pinter asked us to keep fighting for sexual liberty in NYC.
Sex workers placards were the most colorful and arousing. We asked the police to keep their laws “out of our ass.”
SWOP-NYC member displays our signs just before the rally started.
In DC at the brunch the day after the First National Sex Worker Rally, someone I very much respect (Serpent Libertine of Red Light District Chicago) told me that she really appreciated the Sex Workers Do Harm Reduction video. She liked the style and the sound. Thanks Serpent and I look forward to collaborating with you in the future!
Wednesday December 17, 2008, sex workers and allies from around the US rallied in Washington DC to commemorate the Day Against Violence Against Sex Workers and to push for sex workers’ rights. The rally was covered in the Washington Post, Newsweek and numerous other media outlets such as the blog My Sex Professor. Photos, recording and editing by PJ Starr.
What is the harm in sex work? Sex workers explain that criminalization and wrong-headed policy approaches are the problem. Sex work is positive, it’s the policy framework that causes harm. What is “harm reduction” for sex workers then? Health services, needle exchange, distribution of condoms… along with fighting against the laws that oppress sex worker communities. These interviews were recorded in May 2008 at the International Harm Reduction Conference in Barcelona Spain.
What is the harm in sex work? Sex workers and allies explain that criminalization and wrong-headed policy approaches are the problem. Sex work is positive, it’s the policy framework that causes harm. What is “harm reduction” for sex workers then? Health services, needle exchange, distribution of condoms… along with fighting against the laws that oppress sex worker communities. These interviews were recorded in May 2008 at the International Harm Reduction Conference in Barcelona Spain.
