Local Rentboy Raid Rallies

[+ stevenkesslar]

http://www.demotix.com/photo/8471499/san-francisco-protest-rentboy-raid

 

http://www.windycitymediagroup.com/lgbt/Sex-workers-allies-rally-against-Rentboy-raids/52703.html

 

So here's what I could find online regarding the rallies that happened this weekend in SF, LA, and Chicago.

 

This says there were about 20 people in Chicago. There were a few dozen in LA, including Danny, JD, and me. Thanks so much Danny for organizing the rally. You did an awesome job.

 

Here's another article I had not seen here before that went up in the WSJ regarding the NYC protest, which definitely got the broadest coverage of the 4 rallies - not a surprise since the raid was in NYC.

 

http://www.wsj.com/articles/gay-activists-protest-rentboy-raid-1441327676

 

In this article an attorney for the ACLU spoke out against the raid, which is the first reference I've heard in any article to the ACLU. In a separate thread I posted an excellent piece from Lambda Legal explaining why, in their view, the raid reduces our safety.

 

My take is that the rallies show that a few hundred people, mostly those most directly impacted, are willing to rally and speak out. Nobody in WEHO seemed surprised or opposed to us, and if I had to guess the "feel" on the street, I'd say the people we marched by were nodding their heads, cheering us on, and on our side.

 

One focus was on decriminalization, and to the extent that these actions help lead to a debate about how to decriminalize, I'm all for it. Having said that, the Rentboy bust itself suggests that we are not moving toward decriminalization anytime soon. If anything, we are actually in crackdown mode, and everybody is trying to figure out how to react to it.

 

Here's a question to folks: what next steps make sense to expand our coalition, bring in more allies, and amplify our message? It's encouraging to me to see significant media coverage, and other organizations like Lambda Legal and the ACLU starting to speak out!

[tedbear]

Thanks for all your work on this, Steven, both the protesting and the reporting.