For the latest LGM podcast, I had the honor of speaking to Karma Chávez, department chair of the Department of Mexican American and Latino/a Studies at the University of Texas-Austin and long time al
The issue of sex work is complicated one, but the absolute principle needs to be that sex workers have rights and those rights need to be respected. But if your work is criminalized, you have no right
Fascinating and excellent essay about Ah Toy, the Chinese brothel madam in Gold Rush San Francisco, and the anti-Asian racism that impacted her long life in California. An excerpt: In time, however, o
On March 21, 1866, California passed An Act for the Suppression of Chinese Houses of Ill Fame, an anti-prostitution measure that stood in for a larger anti-Chinese sentiment in that state that would l
On June 23, 1855, a 19 year old slave woman named Celia murdered her master rather than allow him to rape her. She then attempted to burn his body, nearly succeeding in erasing all traces of the crime
It seems that Nic Kristof was more than a dupe of Somaly Mam’s lies. Sounds like he was complicit to a significant degree: Many of her accolades, in turn, can be traced back to her friendship wi
Simon Marks has a long expose demonstrating that Cambodian anti-sex trafficking activist Somaly Mam lied about her own life story and trained children to make up stories about their supposed experienc
Melissa Gira Grant’s new book is causing all sorts of discomfort among liberals who are just flat not comfortable with thinking of sex work as labor. Katha Pollitt’s latest piece is an exc