Lawrence vs. Texas and Sex Workers’ Rights

It’s important for sex workers to be educated about the Lawrence vs. Texas U.S. Supreme Court ruling because this ruling can be an important step in the decriminalization of consensual sex acts for payment and this ruling is a resource you can refer to in court if arrested for engaging in private consensual sex acts.  In Lawrence vs. Texas, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Texas laws prohibiting homosexual sex acts were unconstitutional on the grounds that criminalizing private consensual sex acts between adults is unconstitutional.   Though the Supreme Court opinion (linked to below) addressed that Lawrence vs. Texas was not a prostitution case, I couldn’t find anywhere in the Supreme Court written opinion where it said that this ruling could not be applied to prostitution.

Though Lawrence vs. Texas was about sex acts between members of the same sex rather than sex acts in exchange for payment, the premise that arresting adults for engaging in private consensual sex acts can be applied to sex work.  I encourage people who are arrested for engaging in private consensual adult sexual behavior in the U.S. to appeal on the grounds that such laws are unconstitutional on the basis of Lawrence vs. Texas.  Even if people don’t succeed every time, it’s essential to keep keep challenging these laws and not give up on the path toward ultimately decriminalizing prostitution.  Here’s a link to the Lawrence vs. Texas Supreme Court ruling in writing:

http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/02pdf/02-102.pdf