Facebook Page about Event Sept. 5th 1pm And the announcement about it Press Release Sept. 5th 1pm
?FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 3, 2015 Contact Maxine D. Phone: 415265330two Email: ?info (AT) espu?ca.org (AT)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
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.
The Erotic Service Providers Union (ESPU) is by and for those who labor erotically to gain agency through industrial organizing for our occupational, social, and economic rights through affiliating with organized labor. Founded Nov. 2004 in San Francisco, California, ESPU is supporting the suit filed March in U.S. District Court against California’s antiprostitution statute, because it violates fundamental Constitutional rights. Individuals can support that lawsuit at Fundraising HERE.
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