Pinned

A Socialist, Feminist, and Transgender Analysis of “Sex Work”

January 2020, Los Angeles: After two years of organizing, AF3IRM Los Angeles & allies win an ordinance to place regulation of illicit massage businesses in the hands of county public health officials rather than criminal law enforcement, which is a much-needed step away from police raids and towards survivor-centered solutions.

CW: Rape

Dear Sister Comrades at Red Canary Song and the NYC DSA Socialist Feminist Working Group,

My name is Esperanza and I am a socialist, a feminist, a transgender Latina woman, and a survivor of the sex trade. I am writing to you as comrades in the struggle for socialism and as sisters who have presumably shared the experience of being prostitutes. I prefer…

“Our body, our life, our class, our struggle!” An analysis of prostitution from the PMLT

I was given permission to share this analysis of the sex trade by the Partido (M-L) De Los Trabajadores, a Marxist-Leninist communist party in Spain. Given the recent discourse, I was struck by how principled and deep this analysis went and how it corrected the ideological and theoretical line on…

The Need to Link Arms With Every Oppressed Sector: An Exclusive Conversation With Rey Valmores-Salinas

This interview was originally published on March 20th, 2021 at Twink Revolution and has been reposted here with permission. I conducted this interview to capture the analysis and voice of anti-imperialist LGBT activists. The interview remains incredibly relevant to all organizers attempting to do mass organizing in their own regions.

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The problem with the phrase “sex work is work”

I wanted to write a quick note about my issues with the phrase “sex work is work.” It is one of the most common rhetorical devices used by sex trade expansionists. I’m increasingly seeing people responding to any critical take on the sex trade by blurting out “sex work is…

The Problem with Sex Trade Expansionary Feminism, A Response to Kate

Land and women are not for conquest

Women of the AF3IRM Hawaiʻi chapter on the all-women frontline, defending elder protectors from arrest and Mauna Kea from desecration. The colonization of Native women’s sacred bodies is directly linked to the colonization of sacred Native lands and waters. AF3IRM fights for repossession of and self-determination over all territories lost to imperialism, capitalism, and patriarchy — Land and women are not for conquest.

Dear Kate,

I am deeply sorry to hear what happened to you. The experience you describe is truly terrifying and I think there is something to be said in that we both became politicized, and not simply victimized, from our experiences. Your letter infuriates me. Not because you disagree with…