Sex Work in the LGBTQIA+ community

Hello everyone,

I hope you all had a wonderful New Years. We spent it with my parents celebrating Channukah and New Years together. Between my parents and my in-laws, my four year old certainly got spoiled.

This week, I want to talk a little about an article I just published in the Journal of Social Equity and Public Administration. The article (which can be downloaded for free), titled “Sex Work in Public Administration: Creating a Welcoming Environment” explores the ways that nonprofits and government organizations can support sex workers. The abstract is below:

To support the LGBTQIA+ community, it is important to have honest conversations about sex work because approximately 8-12% of LGBTQIA+ individuals have been or are currently involved in sex work in some way. Sex work includes a wide variety of work, including performing on websites such as OnlyFans or in pornographic films as well as escorting. There are a lot of reasons why people engage in sex work, as can be seen below:

In this study, I try to take a strengths-based and queer approach to sex work. From this perspective, we are able to support sex workers as they want. This means, for those who want to do sex work, either as a full time job or as a supplement, providing supports in a non-judgemental environment. For those who are being exploited in any way, providing a route out in both a non-judgemental way but also in a way that protects individuals is important. Mostly, it is about talking to people about what they want and what they need.

To support the LGBTQIA+ community, it is important to be able to have honest conversations about sex work which meets the needs of the individuals in your organizations and communities. Creating an honest conversation means that you, as an organization, can provide the support that LGBTQIA+ people need and deserve.