Margo St. James, who sparked the sex worker rights movement in the 1970’s, passed on January 11, 2021. James was a visionary who brought global advocates together to fight for sex worker rights, police accountability, and gender equality. She recognized that police violence and criminalization are the problem, not the solution. Margo St. James once wrote, “Whores don’t need to be saved from themselves but rather from the men who insist on putting them in prison!” Amen. Learn more at margostjames.com.
In this special series, we sit down with leaders from the sex worker rights movement to discuss their work and honor St. James’ legacy. Listen to all of the podcast episodes here.
Annie Sprinkle is an American certified sexologist and advocate for sex work and healthcare. Sprinkle works as a sex educator, feminist stripper, pornographic actress, sex film producer and sex positive feminist, and she identifies as ecosexual.
Beth Stephens is an American film maker, artist, sculptor, photographer, professor and two time Chair of the Art Department at UC Santa Cruz. Stephens, who describes herself as “ecosexual”, collaborates with her wife since 2002, ecosexual artist, radical sex educator, and performer Annie Sprinkle.[1]