Category: Hero

Rep. Selene Colburn, P-Burlington, served on the Burlington City Council from 2014-2017 and has served in the Vermont House since 2017. In 2020, she introduced HB 569, which would decriminalize sex work in the state of Vermont. Rep. Diana Gonzalez, P-Winooski; Rep. Maxine Grad, D-Moretown; and Rep. Emilie Kornheiser, D-Brattleboro co-sponsored the bill. Colburn also sponsored HB 568, which limited criminal immunity to sex workers who report a crime committed against themselves. While sex work remains a crime in the state of Vermont, DSW commends Colburn on her dedication to the cause of decriminalizing sex work.

Georgina Beyer was the world’s first openly transgender member of parliament. Her role was pivotal in New Zealand’s decision to decriminalize sex work. A revolutionary Māori woman, her life experience as a former sex worker and survivor of sexual assault shaped much of her political work. In 2003, she gave a speech on sex work that changed the opinions of several MPs, ultimately leading to the passage of the Prostitution Reform Bill, securing the human rights of sex workers across the country.

Georgina’s memory will live on through the extraordinary impact of her work.

Laverne Cox is an American actress, a documentary filmmaker, and a tireless activist and advocate for the LGBTQI and TGNC communities. A career performer, Cox rose to prominence for her role as Sophia Bursett in Netflix’s award-winning series “Orange Is the New Black.” She became the first openly transgender individual to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy in any category.

Cox has been vocal about her struggle working in performing arts, first as a gender-nonconforming individual, and then as a trans woman. She faced a lot of shame, and she mostly auditioned for and was cast for trans roles. Often discouraged by discrimination, Cox has been continually inspired by Candis Cayne’s character on “Dirty Sexy Money” and kept pursuing her dream against all the odds (see https://lavernecox.com/about/).

Cox continues to make historic strides in her career and inspire through her activism. She is an empowering advocate, a leading voice in the anti-violence movement. She supports gender-nonconforming individuals in moving beyond binary expectations to live more authentically as individuals. Cox was one of Glamour magazine’s 2014 Women of the Year, one of The Grio’s 100 Most Influential African Americans, and one of the Top 50 Trans Icons by The Huffington Post. She received the Courage Award from the Anti-Violence Project and the Reader’s Choice Award from Out magazine, among other accolades.

Sharmus Outlaw was a dedicated activist and advocate for health care access for the trans community. She was a policy advocate for Best Practices Policy Alliance, U.S. representative for the Red Umbrella Fund, founder of Different Avenues in Washington, D.C., and had 25 years’ outreach experience in D.C., North Carolina, and Maryland. Sadly, she passed away in July 2016. The Sharmus Outlaw Advocacy and Rights (SOAR) Institute in NYC and the Outlaw Project in Arizona are both named in her honor.

Giselle-Marie is a stripper, activist, and creator of the NYC Stripper Strike, a national movement launched in 2017 to inspire and aid strippers to advocate for the changes they want to see in the clubs: fair treatment and the abolishment of racism in strip clubs everywhere.

The Lusty Lady was a peep show establishment in Seattle, WA, and San Francisco, CA. The San Francisco branch was bought by the strippers who worked there, and they formed a worker cooperative. It was already unique for being a unionized business. Dancers received an hourly wage and tips on top of that wage.

In a historic move, full service workers in Lyon, France, occupied five Catholic churches for eight days and garnered international support and recognition. They were protesting laws that criminalized their clients, police fines, and destruction and gentrification of the red light districts in France.

AKA Scarlot Harlot, Carol Leigh was a filmmaker, artist, author, and sex worker rights activist — she coined the term “sex worker” in 1978 at a Women Against Violence in Pornography and Media conference. In Leigh’s essay “Inventing Sex Work” (published later), she writes: “I invented sex work. Not the activity, of course. The term. This invention was motivated by my desire to reconcile my feminist goals with the reality of my life and the lives of the women I knew. I wanted to create an atmosphere of tolerance within and outside the women’s movement for women working in the sex industry.” Leigh also chaired Sex Worker Film and Arts Festival and was the director at Bay Area Sex Worker Advocacy Network (BAYSWAN). She was known throughout the activist community as a continually loving, inspirational, and supportive mentor.

Margo St. James was the founder of Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics (COYOTE) and St. James Infirmary Clinic serving sex workers in San Francisco. St. James was instrumental in building the activist scene in California, serving and protecting sex workers and LGBTQAI+ folx, and opening crucial litigation in Rhode Island (COYOTE v. Roberts), arguing that the state had too much authority over people’s personal sexual lives and choices. She was also famous for her successful and creative fundraising, such as the annual Hooker’s Ball.

Margo St. James, Advocate for Sex Workers, Dies at 83 (The New York Times, January 20, 2021)

Dame Catherine Healy in New Zealand

Dame Catherine Healy was a founding member of the New Zealand Prostitutes’ Collective (NZPC), awarded New Zealand Suffrage Centennial Medal in 1993, and appointed Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit by Queen Elizabeth II for her work to better the lives of sex workers. Her campaign with NZPC helped write and pass the Prostitute Reform Act to allow brothels to operate as legitimate businesses. She is also an author and field researcher and has been invited to speak at the House of Commons and Oxford University, among other institutions, to discuss the rights of sex workers.