Presenter(s): Ryhs Hawes
Faculty Mentor(s): CJ Pascoe
Oral Session 1 C
Previous research has shown that community is essential to sex workers’ success: it both offers concrete resources as well as provides space for emotion work and catharsis. Yet despite its importance to the welfare of sex workers, very little research has gone into how intersectionality shapes their experiences with community. This research examines how intersectional stigma affects queer sex workers’ ability to access community support structures. Qualitative interviews were conducted with six queer and trans sex workers about their experiences in sex work and queer communities. Responses indicated that while queer identity itself is by no means incompatible with sex work, the heteronormative standards of erotic labor predisposes sex work communities to assumptions of cisgender and heterosexual identity. A lack of visibility and inclusion of queer identities and experiences cause many respondents to turn away from mainstream sex work communities to find specifically queer sex worker spaces. However, due to anti-sex work stigma and the danger of outing one’s sex worker identity as well as increases in online censorship, queer sex work spaces are difficult to locate, and access relies heavily on pre- existing social networks. This in turn leads to increased isolation, frustration, and, for some, an inability to continue work. In short, this research finds that intersectional stigma detrimentally affects queer sex workers’ ability to access the intracommunity support systems that are integral to their success, and suggests that increasing inclusivity and visibility within queer and sex work spaces is essential to queer sex workers’ emotional and tangible welfare.