Sex Work Is Election Work — An Issue Michigan Advocates Say Is Lacking in the 2024 Campaign Cycle
The $5 billion industry politicians avoid
Sex workers have played critical roles in politics throughout history, even beyond headline-grabbing stories involving former president and current convict Donald Trump.
From facilitating voter registration to engaging politics via content creation, the sex worker industry, which generates upwards of $5 billion a year, has had a major influence on U.S. constituents.
Regardless of that influence — and how in-demand sex work is — sex workers consistently find themselves shut out of policymaking and bombarded by archaic policy on federal, state and local levels, especially in Michigan. Yet, despite being bullied and excluded during such turbulent political times, sex workers continue to advocate not just for their rights but also the rights of others through voter empowerment.
Bipartisan bills did more harm than good
In 2020, Donald Trump signed into law the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking and Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (FOSTA-SESTA). This bill intended to combat sex trafficking by removing online platforms like Backpage, which many sex workers used to screen clients for safety. It also pressured search engines and social media platforms to censor content. The law, sponsored by then-senator Kamala Harris, jeopardized the livelihoods of sex workers, according to industry leaders like Meoldie Garcia, co-director of New Moon Network, which advocates for sex workers by channeling critical funds into grassroots networks. .
“FOSTA-SESTA [outlines] destabilizing consequences for all adult industry professionals,” Garcia said. “[It] effectively [erased] their ability to advertise or be found online.”
Shane Lukas, owner of advocacy-led brand agency A Great Idea, said it was a "killer for a lot of folks," adding, "[It] did a lot of damage.”
In Michigan, local sex workers have experienced an elevation in physical danger and higher exposure to STIs. Zee St. James of Answer Detroit, a sex worker justice collective in Michigan, found themselves having to make riskier choices for work rather than using online resources to screen clients. “It’s harder to find clients,” they said. “I’ve found myself making the choice to engage in unprotected oral sex for extra money with clients I have seen before, instead of having to find additional clients who could be violent, or undercover cops.”
Michigan state law permits police officers to postulate as clients soliciting services from sex workers and charge them with prostitution. Such procedures might seemingly contradict the Michigan penal code, which defines prostitution as anyone over the age of 16 who solicits, accosts or invites another person to commit prostitution or an immoral act, and also holds anyone liable for aiding, assisting or abetting sex work. Once arrested, many suspects endure rigorous physical examinations without their consent.
“Michigan is one of nine states with mandatory testing for HIV, hepatitis and other STIs when someone is arrested or charged with prostitution-related offenses, before conviction,” St. James said. “Criminalization is the number one barrier to accessing HIV services. Without resources such as HIV and STI testing, they cannot stay safe and protected against violence, lack of employment and HIV.”
Local policies have also jeopardized the health and safety of the community. Michigan’s penal code 750.448 criminalizes sex workers with, depending on the number of convictions, 93 days to a year in prison, with fines ranging from $500 to $2000, or both. Parker Westwood from Answer Detroit named these the “Walking While Trans Laws,” as they were used to further target trans community members and anyone connected to them.
“Michigan’s anti-sex work law is often used to profile women of color and women of trans experience whether or not they are participating in sex work,” Westwood said. “This puts our support networks in jeopardy and makes it legally dangerous to work together for safety. It also makes it dangerous for our loved ones to know what we’re doing. This is another example of a law that criminalizes the group that it claims to protect.”
The dire impact of FOSTA-SESTA has left for many in the industry a bleak view regarding the upcoming elections, as both major candidates played a particular role in the disenfranchisement of sex workers not just in Michigan but also across the country. “Given Kamala Harris’ track record on sex workers’ rights issues, sex worker organizers are certainly paying attention,” Garcia said. “Sex workers are also extremely alarmed by threats posed by Project 2025.”
A concept devised by former Trump aides at the right-wing extremist Heritage Foundation, an anti-LGBTQ+ group according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, Project 2025 offers a draconian vision that includes banning online adult entertainment, a channel of revenue through which some sex workers can control who they collaborate with and be free from third-party contracts. The nearly 1,000-page document, publicly rejected by Trump, also proposes imprisoning such content creators nationwide, who sometimes can earn $10,000 per month.
Taking a similarly conservative stance, Harris departed from Biden’s 2020 vow to “protect the lives of sex workers.” Sex workers’ rights were not included in the DNC platform this year. Regardless of who wins the presidential elections, many sex workers predict that the outcome will result in further disenfranchisement. For most, especially in consideration of FOSTA-SESTA, it has already been a reality.
“A lot of the rhetoric I hear from Democrats is: “‘Don't criticize Kamala on Gaza or anything else — you don't want Trump to win, do you?’” said St. James. “Some of Project 2025 is happening to sex workers right now. When there is a Democrat in office, people get complacent.”
Sex work is election work
Despite being disregarded by both major political parties, sex workers at Answer Detroit are continuing to mobilize to get voters to the polls. Several sex workers are at the front line when it comes to voter registration information and support, like India, another member of Answer Detroit. “I will give out correct information on how to vote and how to register to vote if you are 18 and older with or without a felony conviction,” she said. “Sex work is the vote for change.”
Answer Detroit leadership is also keeping tabs of state policies that will impact not just sex workers but the entire community. Several members are calling for elected officials to pass Michigan House Bills 5178 and 5179, currently in circulation, to establish sanitary needle and syringe access programs, which the CDC reports will reduce fentanyl overdoses and the spread of blood-borne infections like viral hepatitis and HIV. In Michigan, unsafe needle usage was responsible for more than 1,100 deaths this year alone, at the date of publication. Nationwide, LGBTQ+ people are twice as likely to engage with fentanyl, especially minors, potentially due to mental health.
“HB 5178 and 5179 would provide protection for individuals working with a syringe exchange to distribute lifesaving public health tools like fentanyl test strips,” St. James said. Michigan’s ballot will also include local races for state legislature, judges and state supreme court, meaning that the way these bills pass based on elections could directly impact the state’s public health and safety.
Local elections may also sway the direction of anti-trans bills circulating throughout Michigan, another threat to the trans community, trans sex workers and their loved ones. Constituents can easily access this information at the Michigan Voter Information Center alongside other resources regarding voting.
Across the country, sex workers are mobilizing to get people to the polls, regardless of political affiliation or election results. Many, like Answer Detroit’s Jay Theden, have been canvassing to ensure people’s access to voting come November. “As a sex worker and trans person, being a canvasser during election seasons is a privilege and a pleasure,” he said. “I ensure that the turf I cover includes the LGBT population. I make sure that our voices are heard and our rights are exercised equally.”
Members like Westwood will be working the polls on election day to ensure everyone who arrives will be able to exercise their First Amendment rights. “I know many other sex workers that will either be working the polls or canvassing up until the election,” they said. “We’re out here. You may not even realize that the person handing you your ballot is a sex worker.”
“At the end of the day, we are encouraging people to ‘hit the polls like a stripper,’” St. James said. “Just go vote. Voting is a privilege that not everyone has had in this country, so don’t take it for granted.”
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