Avoiding Judgment

I am in favor of proposition K. At the same time I oppose prostitution. How can that be? Personally, I think sex and love, just like society, the workplace etc. should be free i.e. I prefer a society where people don't live under authoritarian rule or where their choices are limited to the ones pushed by people with power and privilege. In that sense, my argument goes beyond the arguments about the improvements seen in New Zealand or Amsterdam with the de-criminalization of prostitution, or the arguments of K-proponents about San Francisco's money savings and the the increased safety for sex workers, or the arguments about the reduction of sexually transmitted disease and coerced police sex with prostitutes, or the argument about how prop. K will result in more pimp, rather than prostitute arrests.

There are many studies showing how our perceptions of prostitution in the US are way off. For example, we never see them as women with a family to feed, and we incorrectly believe that a majority of them have pimps, are drug addicts, minors etc. I think these misperceptions are not an accident. Our competitive, hierarchical order erodes solidarity and we want to look down on prostitutes because of what prostitution reveals about ourselves. We don't want to admit how much we have in common with them, so we exaggerate the differences.

It's true that for the money, prostitutes rent their bodies and take this to an extreme by selling one of our most intimate acts. Nevertheless, wikipedia describes wage slavery as "a coerced set of choices...a condition under which a person must sell his or her labor power, submitting to the authority of an employer in order to prosper or merely to subsist." This, the article continues, implies among other things "the absence of unconditional access to non-exploitative property and a fair share of the basic necessities of life" and the absence of "non-hierarchical workers' control of the workplace and the economy as a whole."

In other words, in the absence of such conditions, many people will become "wage slaves" who have to rent themselves-- selling their smiles, time, bodies etc not only as blue collar workers, but also as

"professionals [who] are trusted to run organisations in the interests of their employers. The key word is ’trust’. Because employers cannot be on hand to manage every decision, professionals are trained to 'ensure that each and every detail of their work favours the right interests – or skewers the disfavoured ones' in the absence of overt control. [Thus] "[t]he resulting professional is an obedient thinker, an intellectual property whom employers can trust to experiment, theorize, innovate and create safely within the confines of an assigned ideology."

In fact, in some ways prostitutes degrade themselves less than other wage slaves who get married for money or reshape their whole personality, intellect or behavior as an act of subordination to external power. And in sharp contrast with the alarmist attention to the problems of prostitution, pimps and measure K, there is very little attention paid to the consequences of such (legally protected) hierarchy of wage slavery and boss-rule, which results in unspeakable destruction and suffering (in fact, most of the evil in the world). Given that this destruction and suffering, and the underlying causes of prostitution are so closely related, perhaps there are ways to strive toward a solution with an approach that unites all of us wage slaves.

By decriminalizing prostitution, we allow prostitutes to approach the same rights as other wage slaves--including the right to unionize and struggle toward a more decent future. In that more decent future, if it ever comes, I would love to write, as George Orwell did describing the anarchist-dominated streets of Barcelona, of how "in the streets were colored posters, appealing to prostitutes to stop being prostitutes."

VOTE NO ON K: There are many flaws with San Francisco’s Proposition K. Alarmingly, there is a proven global connection between legalization/decriminalization of prostitution and an INCREASE in sex trafficking. If we are to enter into an intelligent conversation over ideas for any policy change designed to keep women and girls safe, first these connections need to be more thoroughly explored. The outcome could have dire consequences for the advancement of women’s human rights. On one hand, Proposition K could bring the job title of ‘prostitute’ into a legitimate labor category in San Francisco with possibilities of unionization, employer-provided health insurance, and access to disability and unemployment benefits. On the other hand, we could be making our community more susceptible to pimps, traffickers and violent predators while simultaneously creating a group of women and girls that are legally sanctioned to be bought and sold by anyone with the ability or power to do so. Research the connection between prostitution and sex trafficking in Australia, Netherlands, and Germany. Illegal sex trafficking, prostitution of children, and quality of life crimes EXPLODED as a result of their legalization/decriminalization of prostitution. Google ‘connection between prostitution and trafficking’ and you will be provided with a plethora of information.

Another dangerous outcome of Proposition K is that it mandates the city to stop supporting FOPP or any similar programs. FOPP is a highly effective restorative justice program that enables social service agencies to provide free services to women and girls who are involved in or at-risk for prostitution. These free services include mental health counseling, addiction treatment, and job-skill training. Proponents of Proposition K like to slander these social service programs by calling them ‘sex-negative’ and ‘shame-based.’ Anyone who has had any direct experiences with these programs will say the exact opposite. Anyone who has had any actual involvement will tell you of the compassion, empowerment, healing and sisterhood that these programs are built on. These programs provide education on healthy-sex, healthy relationships, building self-esteem and most importantly, provide the tools necessary to help women and girls heal from their traumas and develop into the beautiful and powerful women they were always meant to be. Thousands of lives have been transformed as a direct result of these programs. There is absolutely no sound reason why these life-changing services should be denied to ANYONE!

Proposition K is being sold to San Francisco voters as an opportunity to grant sex workers equal rights. In actuality, it is a convicted pimp’s personal vendetta against San Francisco and the SAGE Project. Before jumping on anyone’s bandwagon, do a little background research. Proposition K is not the solution to advancing women’s human rights. It sadly would do the exact opposite. There is a reason Gloria Steinem is one of the major opponents against Proposition K. You can learn more at www.noonk.net.

Kristie Miller
San Francisco

The people Maxine Doogan sued are still waiting to get their attorney's fees paid for as directed by the judge. She tried to take away someone's freedom of speech, their right to put a ballot argument in the voter guide. She lost. The judge said she has to pay the lawyer's fees. Where is the money?

Which brings up the question, where did the money come from for this campaign? Who has been pay Ms. Doogan's this year? Rest assured the campaign reporting documents will be scrutinized closely and they had better have their ducks in a row.

Oh, and how much did Cindy Sheehan and her campaign contribute? And is that all accounted for? Sheehan let the Prop K people work out of her office and use her equipment and staff. The accounting on this one should be very interesting indeed.