WTF, I'm debating legalizing sex work at Lewis & Clark

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surrealist painting of a woman debating another woman at a conference standing at podiums via Dall-E

Big news, my babies. The committee for the International Affairs Symposium at Lewis & Clark have invited me to debate another expert on how legalizing sex work will impact sex trafficking.

I’m taking the position that legalizing sex work will decrease sex trafficking. I KNOW decrim is better. Even the committee was like (essentially), “We know you prefer decrim but we’re asking you to debate legalization.” And my understanding is that legalization is better than total criminalization. Plus, no one can stop me from saying decrim is best when I’m at the podium, hahahaha.

If you have any resources you recommend, even if you think I’m already familiar, please share them. I’m going to have to re-read a bunch of stuff anyway to prepare to DESTROY my opponent, whose identity I do not know yet but who will RUE THE DAY, I tell you.

I’m feeling very nervous, excited, and vindicated in my decision to shift the focus of my writing from land-use policy to sex work regulation. It’s difficult to imagine a scenario in which I’d be asked to debate land-use policy. There are just so many smart, talented people working in that space, thank Goddess. There are obviously many smart, talented people writing about sex work regulation as well. Frankly, I’m hoping they all had to turn this opportunity down. But the talent still doesn’t, in my understanding and opinion, match up to the scope and importance of the problem. As unpopular as it may be to be a YIMBY, it’s still far more unpopular to advocate for anything other than criminalizing sex work. Many advocates are active sex workers and must, for safety, stay anonymous.

This opportunity does give me a little pause about shifting away from writing so much about sex work and focusing more on loneliness and masculinity. Maybe I should continue to write more about the former.

But the truth is that when I feel like I understand a question well enough to feel confident in a fairly straightforward policy solution, I kind of lose interest. I figured out the data is actually very clear that we will only solve the housing crisis if we legalize density. I figured out that the data is really clear that the most effective way to make sex work far safer and decrease sex trafficking is to streamline immigration and decriminalize sex work.

I don’t have a straightforward policy solution to loneliness and masculinity. With housing and sex work, I came to the questions strongly suspecting less government interference would be the best solution in each case. I do suspect several freedom-friendly policies would help alleviate loneliness and help men: BALCZ (ban all licensure, certification, and zoning laws). But I’m not even sure policy is the main problem here, or the most effective lever.

The human brain loves a problem we can’t solve but can feel like we’re making progress on. Mine especially.

In closing, my babies, I wanted to thank you. I could not get and take advantage of opportunities like this without your bedrock of support. I couldn’t do what I’m doing if you weren’t paying my bills, sharing my stories, offering your feedback, recommending resources, encouraging me, telling your friends about me, recommending my Substack on your Substacks, etc. Thank you so much. And wish me luck. I’m not a master debater. But I’ll do my best.

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