By Alex S. Morgan (June 4, 2018)
Happy Pride Month! I’m a queer, non-binary femme trans person who is kinky and polyamorous and who has done sex work under three genders. They/them/their pronouns only, please.
Pride for me is both celebration AND riot. We NEED to celebrate each other and ourselves as we fight for justice, because this is a marathon, not a sprint. And justice also means celebrating, not just mourning or paying lip service to, queer, trans, and two-spirit people of color.
Justice also means solidarity politics over respectability politics: Black trans sex workers were there at Stonewall, and sex workers have done sex work to finance more queer and trans activism than the world may ever know. Sex work is also a lifeline for homeless queer and trans youth who to this day struggle to find accepting shelter beds, and for many adult trans and gender nonconforming folks who face transphobic hiring discrimination.
Our communities have been linked since recorded history (if not sooner). Our entire glittery contingent needs to get behind sex workers’ rights, because the same organizations and movements that are targeting sex workers also have sexual freedom and gender expression in their crosshairs.
Happy Pride Month, and happy (slightly belated) International Sex Workers’ Day.
