Dozens of LGBT activists, community organizers, and supporters gathered Thursday at the U.S. Court for the Eastern District of New York to protest the prosecution of Rentboy.com. The protest comes a week after Homeland Security’s raid on the popular escort website.
“We’re here today to condemn the raid and to demand that all criminal charges be dropped,” demonstration organizer Bill Dobbs said. “Today we raise a flag, we raise a cry for the decriminalization of sex work.”
Behind Dobbs an array of protesters marched in a tight circle, many waving colorful signs spouting slogans in favor of decriminalization: “Sex work is real work!”; “Sex workers’ rights are human rights!”; “Stop the war on sex!”; “We see your sex panic!” They also shouted, “One, two, three, four—hey, feds, here come the whores! Five, six, seven, eight—we’re here to fuck the state!”
“They call us criminals,” Red Umbrella community organizer Jenna Torres said. “But the real crimes are gentrification and criminalization. We’re criminalized for existing. We use the sex trade to provide for ourselves and our families, and online advertising creates a safe space for all of us.”
“Protecting sex work will save lives,” LGBTQ National Task Force operations manager Janice Thom continued. “The fact that all of this is coming out of a U.S. court is not good. That this is coming out of Homeland Security is troubling. These people are not terrorists.”
“This is a wake-up call about the strange powers Homeland Security has,” Dobbs later said. “This raid has triggered anger. This is a moment with great momentum.”
Moving forward in the coming weeks, protesters and organizers hope to use this momentum to stage a town meeting to further educate about and demonstrate for the decriminalization of sex work.