Sex 2.0 May 9th, 2009 Washington DC

Bound Not Gagged is a proud Sponsor of Sex 2.0 http://www.sex20con.com

The 2nd Annual Sex 2.0 un-conference is just a few weeks away! Early-bird registration closes on April 16th. This year is the second year that Bound, Not Gagged is participating as a Community Sponsor. New social media has been a critical tool for sex workers around the globe in recent years. Not only has the internet changed the way that many sex workers do business, it has enhanced our abilities to tell our stories, to challenge misperceptions and to be visible and vocal on political issues that affect us.

The most exciting thing about Sex 2.0 is that everybody there already gets it. There is visible impact made by sex workers who have blogs, podcasts, FaceBook and Twitter accounts. At Sex 2.0 we don’t have to get wrapped up in Feminism 101 to explain why being a stripper doesn’t compromise our feminist sensibilities, or why some people prefer to work at an agency rather than independently. Nobody at this conference expects sex workers to give an explanation or any sort of justification for who we are or why we do what we do. They’ve been paying attention, linking to us, telling other people that they have to listen to us not just talk about us. They already know all of that, so this is about advancing the discussions, not repeating them. The mutual spirit of the conference is about supporting each other to do whatever we do better, safer and with confidence.

Throughout the planning for Sex 2.0, there’s been some discussion of it feeling like we are “preaching to the choir” by encouraging participation from those who are actually active in the intersections of social media and sexuality. Amber Rhea, Sex 2.0 founder has pointed out that, yes, we are inviting the choir and encouraging an intimate feel of this conference. This is choir rehearsal, not a recital. While the screening process is not as strong as you may expect at a Desiree Alliance conference, it’s still a pretty limited access space. Some presentations are formal, some are casual. Some are open to everybody, some are selective.

At its core, Sex 2.0 is also about freedom of expression and free speech, as anything about social media and networking ultimately is. Something critical for allies of sex workers to understand is that efforts to silence us through our advertisements in the back of publications or increased barriers in online posting are truly acts of censorship. Folks attending the Sex 2.0 conference seem to have a stronger understanding of how illegitimate suppression of the free speech rights of sex workers ultimately dominoes into increased suppression of the rights of all.

Audacia Ray and I are co-hosting a discussion about online collaborations for messaging during the Obama Administration. I’m pasting the description below. In addition to Sex 2.0, I hope many of you will be able to join us in DC for our first Bound, Not Gagged pre-conference happy hour!

Thanks,
Stacey

Bound, Not Gagged Happy Hour
Thursday May 7th, 2009

Sex 2.0
Saturday May 9th, 2009

Sex Work 2.0 in the time of Obama
Now that the United States has a new administration, sex workers and their allies are facing different challenges. In this session we ask (and attempt to answer): what should sex worker activists and allies be working toward with the new administration, and how can the average internet sex geek help? This discussion will be a strategy discussion about the messaging we feel the Obama Administration is most receptive to, the various points of entry within the Obama Admin (such as the new White House Council on Women and Girls, etc) and most specifically, map out a viral messaging campaign proposal to bring to the community. This session will plant a seed to advance online and new media collaboration, split up some of the work and identify tasks that can be delegated to various groups/activists who want to be active but aren’t sure what steps to take.
Co-presented by Stacey Swimme (Bound Not Gagged) and Audacia Ray (Sex Work Awareness)