This Chicago venue was the longest-running gay adult theater and sex club in U.S. history.

This Chicago museum preserves and celebrates the history and culture of kink, BDSM, and fetish communities.

Montpelier’s city council unanimously voted in 2022 to repeal its local prostitution ordinance.

Rhode Island repealed a 2025 law that had imposed court fees exclusively on women convicted of prostitution.

In 2025, Rhode Island replaced mandatory HIV testing for prostitution convictions with an opt-in model.

Rhode Island’s 2025 law grants sex workers immunity protections when reporting crimes to police.

Rhode Island’s 2023 law bars healthcare providers from denying care based on a patient’s profession or income.

A 2023 Rhode Island commission found that decriminalized sex work had reduced STDs and sexual assaults.

New York’s 2021 repeal ended a discriminatory loitering law long used to profile transgender women of color.

New Hampshire’s 2020 law bars healthcare providers from denying care based on a patient’s profession or income.

This San Francisco peep show became America’s first unionized, worker-owned adult venue in 2003.

This San Francisco club was the first to challenge the city’s ban on topless dancing.

Known as the “Mother of civil rights in California,” she also owned several San Francisco bordellos.

This San Francisco theater fought over 200 obscenity cases while defending its right to show adult films.

Before the 1906 earthquake, this street was the center of San Francisco’s red-light district.

In 1966, trans women fighting police harassment sparked a cafeteria riot years before Stonewall.

This San Francisco hotel became a hub for organizing the world’s first transgender-rights protests.

Founded by Black women in response to the HIV epidemic, this group fights for reproductive and racial justice.

Founded by Silvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson, STAR provided housing and support for trans youth.

This organization continues Sylvia Rivera and Marsha P. Johnson’s legacy of transgender human rights advocacy.

Founded by Elene Lam, Butterfly supports and advocates for Asian and migrant sex workers in Canada.

Founded by Cecilia Gentili, DecrimNY fights to decriminalize and destigmatize sex work in New York.

This grassroots group supports migrant massage and sex workers of the Asian diaspora through mutual aid and advocacy.

Founded after the 2016 election, this sex worker-run co-op provides emergency financial support to workers.

TGIJP fights human rights abuses against Black and trans people in California’s prisons and jails.

This grassroots group provides direct aid and advocacy for Chicago’s sex workers.

This 1875 law was America’s first federal anti-immigration and anti-prostitution act, targeting Chinese women.

Sold as anti-trafficking legislation, the 1910 Mann Act was later weaponized against interracial relationships.

This 1917 law let authorities forcibly examine any woman suspected of “immoral behavior” near military camps.

These 2018 federal laws, meant to fight trafficking, instead pushed sex workers into more dangerous situations.

New York’s 2025 safe reporting law protects trafficking victims and witnesses from prostitution-related prosecution.

In 2021, New Hampshire enacted a safe reporting law shielding crime victims from prostitution prosecution.

Vermont’s 2021 safe reporting law protects crime victims and witnesses from prostitution-related charges.

Vermont’s 2024 law bans police from sexually exploiting anyone in their custody or under investigation.

In 2022, 69% of Burlington, VT voters chose to strip discriminatory anti-sex-work language from the city charter.

Founded in 2009, this Pan-African alliance now represents sex worker groups across 38 countries.

Founded in 1994, APNSW connects and supports sex worker organizations across more than 23 countries.

This alliance now represents over 100 sex worker organizations across Europe and Central Asia.

SWAN supports sex worker-led advocacy across Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

This Latin American network gives sex workers a platform for advocacy, listening, and collective action.

Australia’s national sex worker organization fights for legal, health, and economic justice across the industry.

Founded by Catherine Healy, NZPC advocates nationwide for the health, safety, and rights of sex workers.

This coalition fights for sex worker justice across the Caribbean, renaming itself CASW in 2026.

This Canadian collective educates the public and challenges laws that criminalize sex work.

Founded by Margo St. James in 1973, COYOTE was the first sex worker rights organization in the U.S.

Founded in response to recriminalization, this chapter advocates for sex worker health and safety in Rhode Island.

Founded by Jean Powell, PONY supports current, former, and transitioning sex workers in New York City.

Founded after the first Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers, SWOP-USA now supports chapters nationwide.

Co-founded by Carol Leigh, BAYSWAN fights discrimination and champions sex worker civil and labor rights.

This national coalition of sex workers fights the criminalization of sex work across the country.

Founded by Robert Kampia, DSW works nationwide to end the prohibition of consensual adult sex work.

Founded by Savannah Sly, New Moon supports sex worker and survivor-led organizations across the U.S.

Founded by Margo St. James, this San Francisco clinic offers judgment-free healthcare to sex workers.

HIPS provides compassionate, non-judgmental harm reduction and advocacy for people in the sex industry.

This Atlanta group uses science-based approaches to reduce violence, arrest, and HIV risk for sex workers.

This 17th-century fencer, opera singer, and seducer fled the French court for a life of scandalous affairs.

This famed burlesque star and comedian was frequently arrested during raids at Minsky’s Burlesque.

This survival sex worker and feminist writer is best known for her attempt to kill Andy Warhol.

One of Storyville’s most notorious madams, White built a financial empire in New Orleans’ red-light district.

She ran Bangor, Maine’s longest-running and most popular brothel, the Sky Blue House of Pleasure.

This beloved Pendleton, Oregon madam is remembered today with a bronze statue and brothel museum.

This nationally known Lexington, Kentucky madam ran the “most orderly of disorderly houses.”

Before becoming a celebrated poet and civil rights icon, Maya Angelou worked as a madam and sex worker.

This international courtesan turned Democratic power broker later served as U.S. ambassador to France.

One of the last women to run a brothel in Fairbanks, Alaska’s legally recognized red-light district.

This Mesopotamian goddess of love, sex, and war was honored through temple prostitution by her priestesses.

This harlot from the Epic of Gilgamesh was sent by Ishtar to civilize the wild man Enkidu.

This Aztec and Huastec deity of sex, sin, and purification was honored through sacred temple prostitution.

In ancient texts, Adam’s first wife left Eden after refusing to submit during sex, becoming an enduring symbol of defiance.

This “Bridge of Tits” in Venice was where 16th-century sex workers gathered and displayed themselves to attract clients.

This Berlin brothel was secretly wired by Nazi intelligence to spy on its powerful clientele.

This walled Edo-era pleasure district turned courtesans into celebrated icons of art and fashion.

Run by the Everleigh sisters, this Chicago brothel became one of the most famous in American history.

Known as Scarlot Harlot, she coined the term “sex work” and founded a leading Bay Area advocacy network.

America’s most notorious female serial killer became a cultural touchstone after her 2002 execution.

This influential ballroom scene icon, featured in Paris Is Burning, hid a startling secret after her death.

This Ramones co-founder wrote the 1976 song “53rd & 3rd” about his time as a hustler.

One of the first Chinese women in San Francisco, she ran brothels independently and fought for her business in court.

Her case remains one of the few documented instances of abuse under England’s 19th-century Contagious Diseases Act.

This Black transgender sex worker made headlines in 1830s New York for appearing in court as herself.

This Houston stripper became a Playboy and reality TV star before a marriage and inheritance battle made headlines nationwide.

This former royal concubine became the only woman to rule China in its 2,000-year imperial history.

This New York ballroom icon mentored generations of trans women despite being arrested over a hundred times for simply existing.

This Stonewall veteran and Black trans activist founded House of GG to develop future transgender leaders.

This D.C. advocate championed transgender, sex worker, and HIV patient rights until her death.

This French courtesan’s affair with a future king and killing of her aristocrat husband made international headlines.

This Hungarian-born sex worker and outlaw was the longtime companion of gunfighter Doc Holliday.

This Seattle madam became so successful she helped fund the city’s public school system.

This former brothel worker rose to lead the Red Flag Fleet, becoming one of history’s most successful pirates.

Before global stardom, this Hollywood icon did sex work and posed for one of Playboy’s first nude spreads.

This pin-up icon’s risqué photos triggered a 1955 congressional investigation into “indecent publications.”

Star of 1972’s Deep Throat, she later became a symbol for the anti-pornography movement.

On June 2, 1975, sex workers occupied a Lyon church for eight days, sparking the modern sex worker rights movement.

Since 2003, sex workers worldwide gather every December 17th to honor victims of violence and demand safety.

In 2001, 25,000 sex workers marched through Kolkata, India, demanding official recognition for their profession.

In 1995, New South Wales became the first place in the world to decriminalize sex work.

In 2003, New Zealand became the first country to fully decriminalize sex work, decided by a single deciding vote.

In 1917, 300 San Francisco sex workers marched on a preacher leading a crusade against their livelihoods.

In 1863, Nashville became the site of America’s first attempt to legalize and regulate sex work.

In 2025, Reykjavík hosted Iceland’s first international, sex worker-led policy conference.

This ancient Greek courtesan famously defended herself against blasphemy charges by baring her body in court.

This Roman courtesan was famously linked to Marc Antony and rumored to have shaped his speeches.

This influential Greek courtesan hosted salons that helped teach philosophy to Socrates and Plato.

Born a performer and courtesan, Theodora rose to rule the Byzantine Empire alongside Justinian I.

This 16th-century Venetian courtesan became a celebrated writer and outspoken advocate for women.

The first woman to run for U.S. president and open a Wall Street firm was written out of history for being a sex worker.

This 1950s Pittsburgh sex worker’s police scandal led to the disbandment of the city’s entire Vice Department.

This transgender Maori sex worker won the right for trans people to dress freely and later ran for Wellington mayor.

The world’s first openly transgender mayor and MP cast the deciding vote to decriminalize sex work in New Zealand.

This Stonewall icon co-founded STAR, one of the first shelters for gender-nonconforming homeless youth.

Known as the mother of the sex worker rights movement, she founded COYOTE, America’s first sex worker rights group.