February is Black History Month, a time to reflect on the contributions of Black individuals who have shaped history. Gloria Lockett, a pioneering Black sex worker rights activist and public health advocate, successfully fought for the rights of marginalized communities, especially sex workers. Lockett’s story is a testament to resilience and the fight for justice, particularly in response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic that ravaged those marginalized communities in the 1980s.
In 1984, as the AIDS crisis was escalating, Lockett, who had been supporting her family as a sex worker for more than a decade, saw that sex workers were being unfairly scapegoated for spreading HIV. At the time, mainstream narratives about HIV transmission were heavily influenced by stigma and misinformation, with sex workers and gay men bearing the brunt of the blame for the crisis. Lockett, already deeply involved in the sex worker rights movement, understood that the root cause of HIV transmission lay in the lack of education and resources for vulnerable communities, and was not inherent to sex work. She co-founded the California Prostitutes Education Project (Cal-PEP), one of the first organizations in the U.S. dedicated to providing HIV prevention, education, and outreach specifically tailored to sex workers and their partners.
Before Cal-PEP, Lockett was already making waves in the movement for sex workers’ rights as a co-founder of COYOTE (Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics), a national organization that demanded the decriminalization of prostitution and sought to empower sex workers. Founded by Lockett, Margo St. James, Carol Leigh, and Priscilla Alexander, COYOTE was instrumental in challenging the laws and social stigma that criminalized sex work. While sex workers’ rights movements were beginning to gain momentum, Black sex workers, including Lockett, often found their concerns sidelined in favor of the predominantly white voices within the movement. Despite this, Lockett was relentless in her advocacy, pushing for a broader vision that included Black and transgender sex workers.
Cal-PEP became a vital resource for those most at risk. The organization provided HIV education, supported harm reduction strategies, and worked to ensure sex workers had access to healthcare. Cal-PEP's work was especially important in reaching African American and transgender communities, who were disproportionately affected by HIV and AIDS. Despite limited funding and resources, Lockett was able to convince the California Health Department to fund the organization’s HIV education materials, ensuring they were culturally and linguistically appropriate for the people they were meant to serve. This was just the beginning of Cal-PEP’s long and impactful legacy. In its first year, the organization survived on a modest $30,000 grant from the California Health Department, but Lockett’s efforts soon expanded the program, and over the next 35 years, Cal-PEP grew into a prominent force in sex worker health and rights advocacy. It became an essential lifeline for sex workers, offering tailored health education, disease prevention, and support services. The organization’s influence expanded, reaching more individuals and ultimately supporting a growing team of 20 staff members and an annual budget of $2.2 million. By the time Gloria Lockett retired in 2019, Cal-PEP had become a pillar of the Bay Area’s response to HIV/AIDS and an invaluable resource for the most marginalized members of the sex work community.
Lockett’s leadership at Cal-PEP, along with her role as a co-founder of COYOTE, make her a key figure in the fight for sex workers’ rights and decriminalization. She consistently challenged harmful narratives about sex work and worked to ensure that those most affected by HIV and AIDS were not left behind. Lockett’s advocacy for racial and gender justice provided a blueprint for future sex worker rights movements, ensuring that the needs of the most marginalized were always prioritized.
Lockett’s work was revolutionary because she understood that addressing the health crisis alone was not enough. The stigma against sex workers, compounded by racism, misogyny, and classism, meant that those who needed help the most were often the least likely to seek it. Lockett’s approach wasn’t just about providing direct resources, it was about advocating for a better understanding of sex work as legitimate labor and recognizing the humanity of sex workers. By demanding decriminalization and lifting up the voices of those most affected, Lockett challenged the broader public to reconsider its assumptions about sex work.
