From Annie Sprinkle

Dear Smart and Sexy, Compassionate Friends,
I don’t know about you, but lately some of my wonderful sensual massage friends have been getting repeatedly arrested for doing FULL BODY MASSAGE. How sad it is. These arrests/convictions ruin lives, and are so unfair and mean spirited. One sexual healer friend was busted for a third time (simply for massaging a penis,) and now has to resort to full service prostitution in Nevada to save her house from foreclosing and pay lawyer bills. She never has wanted to do full service. It’s absurd!

Another sensual massage friend was brutally raped and robbed. She decided to report it to the police knowing she’d out herself as a sex worker. The rapist was tried and sent to prison and can’t rape and rob other women now. BUT a month later they came back and busted her, handcuffed her to cell bars, her name was printed in the newspaper and she had to move. All for doing the right thing. These are wonderful women who have been traumatized by a stupid law.
In San Francisco everyone is really working hard to get people to vote on Prop K, which helps sex workers (and others) be safer from harms way. Its very exciting that this is on the ballot. Carol Leigh, Carol Queen, and other pleasure activists have really done a great job with post cards and posters, flyering and working with the media. But they really need some money fast for the final push to pay for the printing. They tell me that $3,000 is needed to do another batch of printing. $6,000 would mean they could even pay for a mass mailing. I know money is tight for lots of folks now, but if you can send them a check for ANY amount at all, $10. or $20. would be fabulous. Or you can do it on pay pal.

If this passes, or even gets a respectable vote, this could ultimately help decriminalize sex work in other cities. So even if you don’t live in San Francisco, you can help further the cause. Thanks for your help. Sex workers, you simply MUST donate!
Yes on Prop K!!!! http://www.yesonpropk.org/donate.html
Annie

You can read more on their web site, or in Carol Leigh’s letter below.
Let me know if you donated, as it would make me really happy to know that.
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Dear Friends,
There is an important San Francisco ballot measure that should concern you personally because it’s the a crucial step in the broad decriminalization of consensual sexual expression. Proposition K which supports sex worker rights, health and safety, would decriminalize consensual sex work.
The struggle for sex workers rights is crucial to so many communities. Prostitution laws effect diverse people in the US, but racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia and economic oppression results in multiple discriminations. The LGBT community in San Francisco includes many sex workers, and together these communities have been in the forefront of this struggle.
We know you are well aware of the numerous harms that result from the criminalization of prostitution. Criminalization deters sex workers from reporting violence against us, and greatly inhibits our rights as workers and our ability to organize to improve our working conditions. As condoms are used as evidence against us, criminalization actually discourages condom use!
Arrests can be traumatic. Having a criminal record limits our choices. Convictions (and even arrests) can disqualify us from many occupations and impact child custody rights.
Although prostitution is criminalized at the state level, enforcement of these laws is generally carried out by local law enforcement. This ballot initiative prohibits local agencies from spending funds on the enforcement, and instead mandates a focus on crimes against sex workers including sexual assault, coercion, extortion, battery and rape. We believe Proposition K will be a crucial first step in efforts towards statewide decriminalization.
Please visit our website to learn much more about Proposition K and other prostitution law reform issues at http://www.YesOnPropK.org (Donations at http://www.yesonpropk.org/donate.html )
You are probably aware of the pressures we face from the right-wing and prostitution prohibitionists in the US. In an effort to pathologize sex workers, they manipulate statistics about everything from trafficking to child prostitution. They insist that the solution to trafficking includes criminalizing sex workers, and they even support Bush Administration policies such as the anti-prostitution loyalty oath, which has resulted in an international gag order (related to USAID funding) on advocacy for sex worker rights. These anti-prostitution policies are in the same mode as the attacks on reproductive rights and safer sex programs, especially those principally targeted to gay men.
The national forces behind these policies are also funding the local campaign against us. As reported in the SF Examiner on 8/28/08, “Six of the nine paid arguments against Prop. K were paid by the No on K Committee Against Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation, whose three largest contributors are the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, Twiss Butler and Gloria Steinem.” This is one of the reasons we urgently need your support.
As you know, Gloria Steinem does not speak for all feminists in her opposition to decrim. Many feminists understand that criminalizing sex work hurts women. Many of these issues are new to public discourse. YesOnPropK.org works to shed light on issues as we support Prop K.
YesOnPropK.org is focusing on public education. We organize community education, media outreach and grass roots advocacy. Your endorsement, volunteer efforts and financial assistance is essential to our success.
Proposition K will improve:
o Sex worker safety, by enabling sex workers to seek safer working conditions and to report violent crimes without fear of prosecution.
o Public safety by freeing up the critical resources currently used to enforce prostitution laws.
o Public health by reducing stigma and encouraging sex workers to seek health care, carry condoms and negotiate for safer sex without fear of self-incrimination.
There are many ways to get involved with our campaign. Please pass this email to others who support sex worker rights.
Click this link now to donate through PAYPAL:
http://www.yesonpropk.org/donate.html
Add your name or your organization to our endorsement list or display a “Yes On K” sign in your window. You can volunteer no matter where you live, so
call us at (415) 751-1659.
To contribute make checks payable to:
Yes on Prop K
Mail to:Yes on Prop K
PO Box 210256
San Francisco, CA 94121
To add your name to the endorsement list please send us the info below
Individuals:
____________________ ____________________ ____________________
Name (please print) Signature Title
Organizations:
__________________________________________________________________
Name of organization (for our records, not to be published) Director/Officer Name, Director/Officer Contact
Sincerely,

Carol Leigh
YesOnPropK.org