Sex work

“ We hold that no action which does not infringe the rights of others can properly be termed a crime. We favor the repeal of all laws creating “crimes without victims” now incorporated in Federal, state and local laws —such as laws on voluntary sexual relations

— Libertarian Party National Platform, 1972

“ 2.10 Sex Work The Libertarian Party supports the decriminalization of prostitution. We assert the right of consenting adults to provide sexual services to clients for compensation, and the right of clients to purchase sexual services from consenting sex workers.

— Libertarian Party National Platform, 2022

Sexual Assistance

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexuality_and_disability#Sex_work

Libertarian Sex Workers and Sex Workers’ Rights Activists

https://lpedia.org/wiki/Category:Sex_Workers_Rights_Activists

• Wendy McElroy

• Cathy Reisenwitz

Libertarian Sex Workers

• Belle Knox

• Christina Parreira

• Molly Smash

• Aella

• *Comedienne* Mistress Scarlet twitter: @WIMissScarlet

Legalization, decriminalization

• Belle Knox, “Prostitutes Are People, Not Criminals”, Rolling Stone

Consequences

• Rape Rates Go Down as Countries Legalize Prostitution, Rise With Sex Work Prohibition [1]

Destigmatization, normalization

“ I want sex work to be normalized. I want the sex worker to be treated no differently than the butcher, baker, or candlestick maker.

— Long John Lemuria

“ Sex work is work. Normalize it if you care about saving our lives. If you don’t care about saving our lives, continue to spout nonsense about not normalizing it.

— Molly Smash [2]

• Why Sex Work Should Be Destigmatized, Not Just Decriminalized [3]

• https://twitter.com/CathyReisenwitz/status/1601359208892334080
• https://twitter.com/CathyReisenwitz/status/1599873941182431232

• GrandTurion, “Yes, neither racial prejudice nor prejudice against sex workers should be promoted by a libertarian presidential candidate. Excellent point. 👍”

“I want to control you with my morals. I won’t use gov. force, I’ll just keep your job stigmatized, assuring it won’t ever become decriminalized because of this, & allow the street abusers, traffickers, & SW murders to follow through with my hate spewing nonsense to control you”

https://twitter.com/deltaasherhill/status/1601642511399022592

This tweet (and responses) demonstrate why classically liberal ethics of tolerance and laissez faire are necessary prerequisite for libertarian politics to ever take hold. Intolerance leads us in the opposite direction and provides the foundation for the authoritarian state.

https://twitter.com/RobertiLax/status/1465321178441125890 Robert Lax

normalizing it means that at the very least, regardless of your view on whether it’s a good career path or isn’t - that you uphold its legality and the full equal rights of sex workers to consensually participate in society.

https://twitter.com/802libertarian/status/1590763383988441089 Archie

Walter Block

https://cdn.mises.org/Defending_the_Undefendable_2018.pdf

• Former sex worker Kaytlin Bailey on destigmatizing America’s oldest profession

• ’People say porn is degrading for women – but we get aroused just like men’ EXCLUSIVE: Erika Lust, 45, has been working in the adult industry for almost 20 years. She’s here to tell people that women have the right to enjoy porn just as much as men

• Molly Smash, 👏🔥 Thank you Joshua! It appears that for some "liberty-minded" people, comprehending the notion of consenting adults engaging in sex work without causing harm, taking from others, or violating anyone's rights is a challenge. QT: Joshua Reed Eakle "Sex work is work."]

Counter-arguments

• I’m not addicted to anything unless you want to count vaping lol. I’ve worked in the industry for a decade, my sex worker friends do not have any more traumatic childhood experiences than my non-sex worker friends. Such unfounded claims contribute to the dehumanization of sex workers. Which is ridiculous. If individuals like yourself truly believed that every sex worker is either a victim of trafficking or a survival worker, then why do they use such derogatory language and treat them as though their lives are worthless?

• Try to rescue me, that won’t end well for you lol. I have news for you, I don’t need rescuing, I need rights. Even survival sex workers aren’t being trafficked, it’s simply their last means of incomes versus their other options, which might be something, or nothing. The only people who need rescuing are victims of trafficking, who are having their lives ruined by being arrested, getting a criminal record, as a means of “saving them”, and sent back into the street. Meanwhile the resources that could be used to actually rescue them and let them go are being wasted on consenting adult workers.

• Are you familiar with the distinction between normalizing and destigmatizing? Normalizing involves accepting the fact that consenting adults can engage in sex work as a means of livelihood without interfering with the rights of others. Destigmatizing, or advocating for this, entails recognizing the difference between myths and facts, and rejecting the spread of misinformation that contributes to the oppression, violence, and incarceration of sex workers.

Christian view

• Sex work is immoral, but the Bible does not allow the government to punish it. Jesus ate with prostitutes without condemning them, but they left their lifestyles behind to follow Him, whether they ever got married or not. The Gospel is enough to end prostitution without gov force

Books

• Molly Smash, Sexual Liberty: Memoirs Of A Sex Worker’s Fight For Freedom
• Wendy McElroy, XXX: A Woman's Right to Pornography [4]

See also

• https://twitter.com/deltaasherhill/status/1639642210420359171

• https://twitter.com/LearnLiberty/status/1705220950617174219