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Zoe Colmenares | San Francisco Art Contest Winner
My name is Zoe Colmenares and I’m an entertainer/artist who is based out of New Orleans. I’ve been creating since a young age but picked it up seriously in 2011 when I first started taking art classes.
I use social media to share my work and to collaborate with other local artists and sex workers. The goal is to open my own art studio one day and offer classes to the community. I’m excited to share my work through this platform and support sex workers rights!
For more info about me and my art, I can be contacted through Instagram and Facebook @zeauxbyzoe or my website: Zeaux By Zoe | Zeauxbyzoe
Zoe’s artwork The Culprit was selected for the #OldProProject San Francisco Art Contest.
Artist Statement: Submitting to the OldPro Project art contest allowed me to integrate my identities as an artist and a sex worker, which I hadnt done before. As someone who has experience in the industry, I have first hand knowledge on the stigmas that surround it.
I feel almost vulnerable publicly announcing my occupation but it’s necessary to my fight towards sex workers rights. This piece shows the extremes that other marginalized sex workers had to go through in order to do their jobs and live their lives.
Sex work is real work and deserves to be respected without the violence and lack of rights it invokes.

#OldProProject Participants in San Francisco
Stella Darby: Beloved Madam of Pendelton, Oregon
Stella Darby, beloved madam of Pendelton, Oregon, had a heart of gold. She is now remembered with a bronze statue and Underground Pendleton Tours.
Interview with HIPS DC Advocacy Manager, Tamika Spellman
Old Pro News writer and host, Lakeesha Harris, welcomes Tamika Spellman, the Advocacy Manager of the harm reduction organization HIPS DC.
COYOTE (Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics)
Mutual aid shout out to the grassroots organization with one of the all-time greatest acronyms: C-O-Y-O-T-E, or Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics.
Chippendales Are Lobbying Up
This year, for the first time ever, Chippendales is making it their goal to lobby for a pandemic-era program for the live event industry.
Update on North Hollywood Strippers Strike
Quick update on the North Hollywood Strippers Strike, which as of today is entering its seventh consecutive week.
“Report John” Platform in Vallejo, California
A program called Report John has been launched by the Police Department of Vallejo, California. More policing is never the solution.
Ugly Mugs Netherlands – Protects Sex Workers from Dangerous Clients
Ugly Mugs Netherlands provides a free-platform for sex workers to anonymously warn each other about dangerous and aggressive customers.
City of New Westminster Aims to Keep Sex Workers Safe
Following a motion approved by the city council in June 2021, the City of New Westminster is developing a work plan related to sex worker safety.
Taxation Without Representation
Lakeesha Harris fills us in on sex work related legislation in Louisiana and Ohio, and why she feels like the government just doesn’t want us to survive!
Taxation Without Representation – with Tamika Spellman
Two online reporting programs, a new sex worker safety plan in Canada, Chippendales lobbying for a pandemic-era program, and special guest Tamika Spellman.
The Age-Old Stigma of Mary Magdalene
The stigma of Mary Magdalene has endured throughout biblical times into the current era. How did she become aligned with sex workers?
The Impact of Criminalizing Undocumented Sex Workers
Geo, an activist from Sex Workers Against Criminalization New Orleans, shares her story of being an undocumented sex worker in the United States.
New Orleans Mutual Aid Society
Mutual aid shout out to New Orleans Mutual Aid Society. NOMAS provides free meals and groceries to neighbors in need.
The 14th Amendment & the Personhood of Sex Workers
Lakeesha Harris explains what the 14th Amendment has to do with the personhood of sex workers.
FOSTA-SESTA Upheld After First Amendment Free Speech Challenge
April 11, 2022 marks four years since the “Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act” became federal law.
Dr. Olivia Snow DoorDash Discrimination
Dr. Olivia Snow claims DoorDash recently banned her due to a detection of unspecified “abnormal behavior” from her account.
We Plead The 14th Amendment
Decriminalization strategies in Rhode Island, dominatrix discrimination from DoorDash, and Geo from Sex Workers Against Criminalization New Orleans.
Strippers Strike Noho Protest Update
These strippers are protesting for safer work conditions in North Hollywood. Instagram “Mistakenly Removed” the stripper strike Noho account.
Two Proposed Rhode Island Decriminalization Bills
In early April 2022, proposed Rhode Island decriminalization was explored in hearings for two bills.
Brothel Owner Mrs. Lake’s Secrets Revealed in Boston’s “Big Dig”
Thanks to Boston’s “Big Dig,” artifacts from a 19th century brothel were unearthed, shedding light on the life of brothel owner Mrs. Lake.
We Are All Worthy – with Alexandra Hunt
Decriminalization in Belgium, a stripper strike in North Hollywood, and special guest Alexandra Hunt, whose background as a stripper is a proud part of her campaign.
Belgium Decriminalizes Prostitution
Belgium is the first country in Europe to decriminalize selling and paying for sex.
OnlyFans Could Ban Porn Again in Push for an IPO
To prepare for the OnlyFans IPO push, the company might decide to ban pornography and other adult content again.
Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson & Why We Are All Worthy
Lakeesha Harris connects Alexandra Hunt’s fight for dignity to the worthiness of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson.
Black Sex Worker Collective
The Black Sex Worker Collective is a philanthropic arts project offering peer support, legal assistance, housing, and more.
Paradise Marketing, Lube & Condom Company, Denied Insurance
Paradise Marketing, which has sold condoms, lube, and other pleasure products since 1978, had its workers’ compensation policy canceled out of nowhere.
Congressional Candidate Alexandra Hunt
Old Pro News writer and host, Lakeesha Harris, welcomes Alexandra Hunt, a Congressional candidate for Pennsylvania’s 3rd district.
North Hollywood Stripper Strike
Current and former employees of Star Garden staged a walkout to protest an unsafe work environment in the North Hollywood stripper strike.
Ella “Cattle Kate” Watson: Trailblazer of the Wild West
Ella “Cattle Kate” Watson was a Western trailblazer. An independent and industrious woman, she sought to challenge gender norms to live life her own way.
Safe Reporting Assaults Suffered By Sex Workers Introduced in Colorado
Colorado lawmakers unanimously approved legislation that allows sex workers to report violent crime without fear of being arrested.
St. James Infirmary Opens Shelter with Our Trans Home SF
Sex worker health organization St. James Infirmary opens San Francisco’s first shelter dedicated to trans and gender non-conforming communities.
A Song of Freedom – with Yeonhoo Cho and Esther Kao
This week on Old Pro News, transgender housing justice, Safe Reporting in Colorado, the dictionary, and Yeonhoo Cho & Esther Kao from Red Canary Song.
Healing is an Act of Liberation
Old Pro News writer and host, Lakeesha Harris welcomes members of Red Canary Song to commemorate the 1 year anniversary of the Atlanta spa shootings.
Mutual Aid Shout Out: Butterfly
Mutual aid shout out to Butterfly, a grassroots organization formed by sex workers, social workers, and legal and health professionals.
Sex Worker Definition on Dictionary.com
In January 2022, Dictionary dot com added the term “sex worker” to their website after a widespread growth in awareness of the term.
Protect Trans Youth from Anti Trans Laws
A wave of anti-trans laws is a disturbing new trend across the USA. We must support trans youth against these heinous laws and the bigotry that enables them.
Lycoris the Mime was the Most Influential Courtesan in Ancient Rome
Evidence of the oldest profession can be traced back to ancient Greece and Rome. Lycoris the Mime is among the oldest and most influential pros in history.
Whose Corner Is It Anyway
Whose Corner Is It Anyway is a Western Massachusetts based mutual aid, harm reduction, political education, and organizing group led by stimulant and opioid using low-income, survival, or street-based sex workers. At each of their peer-led meetings, they provide food...
Intergenerational Sex Work
I want to invite you into a conversation with my daughter, Desiree. It was the second wave feminist movement that coined the phrase, “the personal is political.” For Desiree and I, nothing can be truer to our lives as generational sex workers. But before our...
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver Sex Work Segment
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver’s segment on global sex work politics got so much right, even featuring the Deep South Decrim movement.
Sex Worker Safety Legislation in Vermont, Oregon, and U.S. Congress
Sex worker safety legislation developments in Vermont, Oregon, and U.S. Congress, Elizabeth Warren, Ron Wyden, Ro Khanna, and Barbara Lee.
8Lives Vigil & Massage License Decriminalization Act
8Lives Vigil for Atlanta spa shootings, produced in part by Red Canary Song, and Massage License Decriminalization Act introduced in NY.
Unapologetically Generational – with Desi
Apple Podcasts | SpotifyRecent Stories That Matter to the Movement This episode we’ll update you on exciting new pieces of legislation regarding sex worker safety at the state and federal levels, as well as some troubling developments from Russian Only Fans creators....
The Legend of Punk Rockstar & Hustler Dee Dee Ramone
Hustler Dee Dee Ramone, bassist and founding member of the Ramones, pioneered punk rock and side hustled as a sex worker to pay for his heroin addiction.
Third Wave Foundation
Daly Barnett joins Lakeesha Harris on Old Pro News to discuss the return of the EARN IT Act. Yup, here we go again. The first Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies Act died in Congress back in 2020, due to opposition from many groups,...
Lakeesha Harris on EARN It Act vs. Sex Worker Safety
There are many ways in which we acquiesce to power via surveillance. I mean…Black people have never existed in this country without the gaze of white people critiquing our bodies, overseeing our labor, and watching our finances. So it comes as little to no surprise —...
Breaking Down the EARN It Act with Daly Barnett
Daly Barnett and Lakeesha Harris discuss the return of the EARN IT (Eliminating Abusive and Rampant Neglect of Interactive Technologies) Act.
Decriminalised Futures at Institute of Contemporary Art in London
Decriminalised Futures at the Institute of Contemporary Art in London explores the history of sex workers lives and movement struggles.
Alexandra Hunt is a Former Stripper who is Running for Congress
Let’s get hyped about Congressional candidate Alexandra Hunt’s campaign to represent Pennsylvania’s 3rd district!
Updates on the Backpage Trial
The founders of the website Backpage, Michael Lacey and James Larkin, returned to federal trial on February 22, 2022.
Victoria, Australia Parliament Passed the Sex Work Decriminalisation Bill 2021
Thanks to Vixen Collective and Scarlet Alliance, Victoria, Australia is the fourth jurisdiction in the world to decriminalize sex work.
Super Bowl 2022 Arrests
214 Super bowl 2022 arrests for allegedly selling sex which, to be crystal clear, is not the same as charging people with human trafficking.
EARN IT V. Sex Worker Safety
Apple Podcasts | SpotifyRecent Stories That Matter to the Movement This week, on Old Pro News, we’ll update you on a former stripper who is running for Congress, an exciting new exhibit at the Institute of Contemporary Art in London, and positive news from Victoria,...
Belle Brezing Was Lexington, Kentucky’s Most Successful Madam
With razor sharp wit and dogged determination, Belle Brezing claimed her space as Lexington, Kentucky’s most successful Madam.
Maya Angelou Appearing on the New U.S. Quarter
Lakeesha Harris, host of Old Pro News, shares this: To stigmatize someone means that you withhold power from them, denying them access to reach their full human potential and restricting their ability to thrive and live. Recently the U.S. Department of Mint embossed...
Super Bowl Trafficking Myths Debunked
Researchers have found that the evidence, “did not support a causal or correlative link between Super Bowls and sex trafficking.”
Dallas City Counsel Sets a 2am Closing Time
Dallas City Council has set a 2am closing time for sexually oriented businesses, including strip clubs, cabarets, and adult book stores.
New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg De-Prioritizes Prosecution of Some Forms of Sex Work
Alvin Bragg’s NY DA office will no longer prosecute Prostitution and Patronizing a Person for Prostitution.
Destigmatize It! Breaking Down Sex Work Myths
Apple Podcasts | SpotifyWelcome to Old Pro News! This week on Old Pro News, we’re debunking Super Bowl myths, reporting on late night in Dallas, TX, and updating you on some exciting policy reform in New York City. We’re joined by Mandie Landry, State Representative...
Interview with Rep. Mandie Landry, Proposing the Decriminalization of Sex Work in Louisiana
Mandie Landry is the author of Louisiana House Bill 67, the first ever bill to propose statewide decriminalization in the United States.
Maya Angelou: Sex Worker History is Part of Her Esteemed Legacy
The Oldest Profession Podcast: Maya Angelou – sex worker past matters, and to ignore her experience does a disservice to her legacy.
Old Pro News Trailer
Apple Podcasts | Spotify Old Pro News: Hear what’s new in the hottest movement! Turn us on and stay tuned in. Hosted by longtime human rights activist and former sex worker Lakeesha Harris, Old Pro News is a biweekly podcast that reports on and contextualizes current...
Nevada Brothels and the Truth About Legalized Prostitution
The Oldest Profession Podcast: Nevada brothels house the only legal prostitution in the US; then why the highest arrest rate per capita? Nevada brothels model doesn’t work.
Sex Work Coming Out Stories
Sharing sex work coming out stories; some are funny, some are sad, and they all remind us this holiday season that we are never alone.
thotscholar & The Scarlot Harlot: Perspectives on Language
thotscholar & The Scarlot Harlot: Perspectives on LanguageiTunes | Stitcher | Spotify What is gained or lost by the language we use to define ourselves and our community? Where does this language come from and who gets to use it? In this thought-provoking...
International Whores’ Day: In Conversation with Ceyenne Doroshow
International Whores' Day Ceyenne Doroshow & Kaytlin Bailey in ConversationiTunes | Stitcher | Spotify On June 2nd, 1975 over 100 sex workers occupied the Church of Saint-Nizier in Lyon, France. They hung a banner which read "Our children do not want their mothers...
A Special Tribute to Margo St. James
A Special Tribute to Margo St. JamesiTunes | Stitcher | Spotify Margo St. James, who founded the prostitutes’ rights organization COYOTE (Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics) and later the St. James Infirmary, passed away on January 11, 2021. As a tribute to Margo, we have...
Tina Horn on SfSx & We Too
Tina Horn on SfSx & We Too iTunes | Stitcher | Spotify Tina Horn is a writer, teacher, and media-maker. She hosts and produces the long-running kink podcast Why Are People Into That?!. Her reporting on sexual subcultures and politics has appeared in Rolling Stone,...
Jack the Ripper’s Victims
Jack the Ripper's VictimsiTunes | Stitcher | Spotify Late in the summer of 1888, a serial killer murdered at least five women in London's East End. The press at the time was quick to paint his victims as prostitutes, punished for their promiscuity. This series tells...
Annie Sprinkle & Beth Stephens: Remembering Margo St. James
Annie Sprinkle & Beth Stephens: Remembering Margo St. James iTunes | Stitcher | Spotify 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...
Savannah Sly – National Coordinator
Savannah Sly | National Coordinator Savannah Sly is a career sex worker based in Seattle who embraces the arts as a medium for change. As a long time political advocate for sex workers rights, Sly has collaborated with others to produce panels, performances,...
Mx. Pucks A’Plenty – Seattle Coordinator
Mx. Pucks A'Plenty City Coordinator for Seattle Mx. Pucks A'Plenty is the Director of Junk in da Trunk, the Michelle Obama of Burlesque, and Seattle's Own Mxtress of Thiccness! Pucks is the founder and co-producer behind What the Funk?! An All POC Burlesque Festival....
TS Candii – New York City Coordinator
TS Candii | New York City Coordinator I'm founder of Black Trans Nation leader of Decrimny & Walking While Trans public-speaker, public-figure, pro-politics, organizer, activist, and film-producer working on the documentary POLICING OUR BODIES has given me a...
Vanessa Warri – San Francisco
Vanessa Warri Vanessa Warri is a Nigerian-American community-based researcher, strategist, and advocate, committed to the liberation, empowerment, and safety of Black transgender women, queer and transgender people of color, and all communities existing at the various...
Samantha Jo-Dato – San Francisco Consultant
Samantha Jo-Dato | Consultant & Advisor in San Francisco Samantha Jo-Dato’s a humanitarian, author, philanthropist, freedom fighter, and bridge-builder who is originally from Atlantic City, NJ. Sami Jo has found it important to bring with her the voices for all...
Danyell – City Coordinator for New Orleans
Danyell | City Coordinator for New Orleans Danyell (she/they) is a queer femme born & raised on the Gulf Coast. In pre-pandemic times, she was known for carrying around tubs of glitter, bringing entire cakes to Mardi Gras parades, and collaborating in backyard...
#OldProProject & Why January 25th Matters
#OldProProject & Why January 25th MattersiTunes | Stitcher | Spotify On January 25th, 1917, 300 sex workers in San Francisco marched to protest the imminent closure of their brothels. #OldProProject is an annual event that builds towards this anniversary, and this...
Brodin Petrichor – San Francisco Art Contest Winner
Brodin Petrichor Brodin Petrichor is a former military officer turned leftist videographer/photographer. He co-runs the Burning Man camp Electric Sheep, which focuses on eccentric performance art. With Sierra Cirque, Brodin Petrichor won first place for...
Sierra Cirque – San Francisco Art Contest Winner
Sierra Cirque Sierra Cirque is a Seattle-based sex worker and artist/activist, highly motivated by adventures and resisting the kyriarchy. With Brodin Petrichor, Sierra Cirque won first place for #OldProProject's San Francisco Art Contest.
Vandell – San Francisco
Vandell Vandell is a southern queer and genderqueer organizer who was brought into community resistance and empowerment work in their youth. Their movement roots instilled the love of storytelling and self-discovery as an act of resistance. They center black,...
Lessa Millet – San Francisco
Lessa Millet Lessa Millet is a filmmaker and animator. Their work is a mix of hand crafted animation and stylized live action. Born in Barcelona, they relocated to New York City in 2006, where they first learned about animation, art and pizza. In 2016, they packed all...
A Special Collaboration With Peepshow Media: Coming Out As A Sex Worker
COMING OUT AS A SEX WORKER IN COLLABORATION WITH PEEPSHOW MEDIAiTunes | Stitcher | Spotify A collection of coming out stories from sex workers, in celebration of the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers on December 17th, and in solidarity with all sex...
Art Contest – San Francisco
The Old Pro Project Art Contest – San Francisco The Oldest Profession podcast seeks to advance sex workers rights by elevating the stories of amazing sex workers from history. The Oldest Profession Podcast will be hosting an art competition to tell the stories of two...
Jacqueline Hyde – Seattle Contributor
Jacqueline Hyde | Seattle Contributor Jacqueline Hyde, international entertainer and cosmetologist, has graced stages worldwide since 2005 and formally launched her beauty division in 2020. Jacqueline Hyde Beauty & Barber was born out of her love of Ayurvedic...
COVID-19, Masks & Burlesque in Seattle
COVID-19, Masks & Burlesque in Seattle COVID-19 protocol and procedures are a fact of life right now. Making sure we have safety guidelines in place is a huge priority for us as we prepare to start shooting the Seattle project. Part of preparing for filming has...
Storyboard – Seattle
Storyboard | Seattle Stepping out of our comfort zone is part of the magic in the creative process. When taking on the Seattle City Coordinator position I wasn't sure what direction I wanted to go in, but I knew it was going to involve dance and movement. I also knew...
Lilith
LilithiTunes | Stitcher | Spotify Lilith: The First Woman and First Feminist The story of Eve tempting Adam in the Garden of Eden is a patriarchal fairy tale that most of us learn at an early age. But Eve wasn’t the first wife or the first woman. Her predecessor,...
Katherine – Play Your Part Seattle Panelist
Katherine | Play Your Part Seattle Panelist Katherine, who occasionally prefers the honorific Mistress, is a Professional Dominatrix, Kink Educator, and Relationship Coach, specializing in alternative sexuality, open relationship models, and self acceptance. Like Mae...
Cory – Play Your Part Seattle Panelist
Cory | Play Your Part Seattle Panelist Cory is a transmasculine Adventure Consultant, kinky companion, arts worker, and harm reductionist. Cory is a panelist for the Play Your Part Seattle's production of Mae West's Sex, a play with music that explores the lives of...
Mistress M – Play Your Part Seattle Panelist
Melissa Maven (Mistress M) | Play Your Part Seattle Panelist Melissa Maven (Mistress M) is a sensual dominatrix, educator, sex worker activist and digital artist living in Portland, Oregon. She loves riding her bike to find hidden treasures, petting all the cats,...
Tiffany Diane Tso – New York
Tiffany Diane Tso | New York Tiffany Diane Tso is a journalist and producer based in Brooklyn. She has covered sex work and sex work activism in New York City; her work covering topics surrounding identity, culture, advocacy, and policy has been published in print and...
Kate Zen – New York
Kate Zen | New York Kate Zen is a sex worker activist and co-founder of Red Light Reader, a sex worker book club, podcast, and online writing workshop, originally hosted at the Bluestockings feminist bookstore in NYC. worked with #OldProProject in New York.
Synamin Vixen – Artist in New Orleans
Synamin Vixen | Artist in New Orleans Synamin Vixen is “skinny with plenty and tall with it all!” This tall tree has been stimulating the moistening reflexes of audiences for a little over two years, and has been circulating through the dance world for over...
Mae West’s Sex – Play Your Part Seattle
May West's Sex | Play Your Part Seattle We’re partnering with Play Your Part Seattle for their upcoming production of Mae West's Sex, a play with music that explores the lives of sex workers in the 1920s. Originally shut down for obscenity after its successful 1926...
PDX Stripper Strike – Haymarket Pole Collective
Haymarket Pole Collective Cat Hollis — a member of the team working on #OldProProject in Portland — is involved with an incredible COVID-19 relief grant being distributed by Haymarket Pole Collective in Portland, Oregon. The Oregon Health Authority recently awarded a...
Joaquin Remora – San Francisco City Coordinator
Joaquin Remora | San Francisco Joaquin Remora is a friend of sex workers and the trans community, in the fight for black and indigenous liberations. Joaquin Remora worked with #OldProProject in San Francisco.
Janetta Louise Johnson – San Francisco
Janetta Louise Johnson Janetta Louise Johnson is the Executive Director at at Transgender Gender-Variant & Intersex Justice Project. She is a formerly incarcerated Black transgender woman and has been an activist and advocate in the transgender communities since...
Stephany Ashley – San Francisco
get involved in the Old Pro Project now »Stephany Ashley Stephany Ashley (she/her) is a housing, homelessness, and sex worker advocate who is currently working at Brilliant Corners to expand access to affordable housing and emergency beds for folks experiencing...
Sam Skrimpz – Mural Artist in New Orleans
get involved in the Old Pro Project now »Sam Skrimpz | Mural Artist in New Orleans I am a queer, non-binary, painter and muralist born and bred in Louisiana, currently living in New Orleans. I am endlessly inspired by the flora and fauna within landscapes and...
Ms. Briq House – Burlesque Goddess in Seattle
get involved in the Old Pro Project now »Ms. Briq House | Burlesque Goddess in Seattle As seen in 21st Century Burlesque Magazine's 2018 Top 50, Autostraddle‘s 23 Black Queer & Trans Femmes to Follow as well as: The House of Knyle, Seattle Times, Time Magazine,...
Cat Hollis – Artist in Portland
get involved in the Old Pro Project now »Cat | Artist in Portland Cat Hollis is a lightskinned Black Sexworker based out of Portland, Oregon. As the founder of Haymarket Pole Collective, she has been fostering a grassroots movement towards safer and more equitable...
BOUD – Mural Artist in Portland
get involved in the Old Pro Project now »BOUD | Mural Artist in Portland Kathleen Mae Boudwin is a Portland-based artist from Seattle. They’ve been painting locally for the past five years and have had work shown with STROLL at the Portland Institute of Contemporary...
Bad – Mural Artist in Portland
get involved in the Old Pro Project now »Bad | Mural Artist in Portland I am a stripper, mother, and artist from Portland, OR. My art generally focuses on using symbolism and occultism to portray abstract ideas centered around my experiences of being a sex worker. I...
Valentine – Photographer & Filmmaker in Portland
get involved in the Old Pro Project now »Valentine | Photographer & Filmmaker in Portland Valentine is a 12 yr Black / Biracial sex worker who works as a photographer and networker while advocating for queer Black representation within the adult industry....
D’Monica Leone – Choreographer in Seattle
get involved in the Old Pro Project now »D'Monica Leone | Choreographer in Seattle D'Monica Leone is a zoo of artistry at its finest. As a model, MUA, Femme presenting burlesque performer and drag queen AND as the current reigning Seattle's Queer Monarch, they...
Adra Boo – Songwriter & Singer in Seattle
Adra Boo | Songwriter & Singer in Seattle Seattle soul singer, emcee, teacher, Rain City Rock Camp Ladies Rock Camp Director, “Westminster Daddy” and auntie, Adra Boo, walks through walls. While some in the age look to construct boxes for others, Boo flouts these...
Saira Barbaric – Casting Coordinator in Seattle
get involved in the Old Pro Project now »Saira Barbaric | Casting Coordinator in Seattle Saira Barbaric is a surrealist slut monster, a homegrown sex witch and a nonstop creator. They/he/she/ze strives to blend genders and bend genres with their creations to enable...
The Compton’s Cafeteria Riot – Film Proposal
get involved in the Old Pro Project now »The Compton's Cafeteria Riot –San Francisco Film Proposal A creative team in the Bay Area will be making a short film with the goal of bringing attention to The Compton’s Cafeteria riot of 1966 — a lesser known historical event...
The Old Pro Project – Portland Proposal
get involved in the Old Pro Project now »The Old Pro Project: Portland Local PDX artists BOUD and Bad will be creating a mural in honor of Ashley Moody, a trans sex worker of color who was a beloved member of the sex work community in Portland. Cat Hollis of Haymarket...
Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera
Marsha P. Johnson & Sylvia RiveraiTunes | Stitcher | Spotify The category is... revolutionary love. Revolutionary women, civil rights pioneers, drag queens, freedom fighters. Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera were the vanguard of the modern LGBTQ Rights Movement....
Melania Trump
Melania TrumpiTunes | Stitcher | Spotify Melania Trump (1970 - ) is the 45th First Lady of the United States, model, and old pro. Born to tax evaders in Slovenia, Melania is the second First Lady born outside of the United States (the first, born in England, was...
Victoria Woodhull
Victoria WoodhulliTunes | Stitcher | Spotify Soothsayer, suffragette, stockbroker, sex worker, candidate for President of the United States, and even “Mrs. Satan,” Victoria Clafin Woodhull has been called many names and lived a vibrant, controversial life....
Zola Z. Bruce
Zola Z. Bruce, MSSW | New York Zola is a social worker, activist and artist who focuses on helping people to create the life they want in all aspects of their career. Originally from Dallas, TX, they moved to New York to attend Sarah Lawrence College to study...
The Joy of Allena Gabosch
Seattle's #OldProProject music video for “Been Around (Since the Old Days)” is dedicated to Allena Gabosch. The Joy of Allena Gabosch March 25, 1953 - November 25, 2020 Allena Gabosch was a powerful force in creating and fostering sex positive culture in the Pacific...
Sophia Sky
Sophia Sky As 2014 came to a close, Allena designated Sophia as her heir to the role of Executive Director to the Pan Eros Foundation. She said that she could think of no better hands to pass the organization into upon her retirement. Since then, Sophia has focused on...
Sarah – San Francisco Art Contest Winner
get involved in the Old Pro Project now »Sarah | San Francisco Art Contest Winner Sarah is an outreach worker for a syringe exchange and has done sex work for her entire adult life. In her free time, she volunteers for a community fridge program and writes letters to...
Lou Graham
Lou GrahamiTunes | Stitcher | Spotify At a time where full service sex workers in Seattle euphemistically called themselves seamstresses, Madam Lou Graham was so rich that she served as an alternative to banks, giving loans to business propositions deemed too risky by...
Cardi B
Cardi BiTunes | Stitcher | Spotify The most famous sex worker of today's music industry, Cardi B unabashedly flaunts and celebrates her past as a stripper in her songs, music videos, and social media.
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
Henri de Toulouse-LautreciTunes | Stitcher | Spotify Best known for is commercial paintings of the moulin rouge, French artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was also a john who (literally) lived in brothels. As a tenant and client, Toulouse-Lautrec created compelling...
Ching Shih
Ching ShihiTunes | Stitcher | SpotifyChing Shih went from working as a full service sex worker on a floating brothel in Canton to becoming the one of the most successful pirate captains in the history of the world.
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn MonroeiTunes | Stitcher | Spotify In 1949, Marilyn Monroe, struggling to make ends meet as an actress, got paid $50 to pose nude for a calendar. She worked as a pinup and — according to some — as a prostitute before becoming an internationally recognized sex...
Anais Nin
Anais NiniTunes | Stitcher | Spotify Anaïs Nin was one of the first prominent modern western women known to explore and take part in erotic writing.
Tlazōlteōtl
TlazōlteōtliTunes | Stitcher | Spotify This Mesoamerican Goddess was the deity of vice, filth, purification, steam baths, lust, fertility, adulterers and — you guessed it — sex workers. Tlazōlteōtl symbolically castrated priests in elaborate rituals, and pardoned her...
Aileen Wuornos
Aileen WuornosiTunes | Stitcher | Spotify Infamous misandrist and queer icon Aileen Wuornos killed seven men while working as a hitch hiking sex worker in Florida. To say that her life was defined by hardship would be an understatement. She started exchanging sex for...
Holiday Special: Sex Worker Coming Out Stories
Holiday Special: Coming Out StoriesiTunes | Stitcher | Spotify A very special episode of compiled heartbreaking and heartwarming coming out stories from Coyote Fawn, Allie Oops, and many more.
International Day To End Violence Against Sex Workers
International Day To End Violence Against Sex Workers Guest Hosted by Ceyenne DoroshowiTunes | Stitcher | Spotify In this special episode to commemorate the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers on December 17th, Ceyenne Doroshow interviews long time...
Stormy Daniels
Stormy DanielsiTunes | Stitcher | Spotify Stormy Daniels is a self made woman and sex worker who had the audacity to tell her own story. The uneventful sex she had with Donald Trump might be the least interesting part of this incredible woman’s story.
Big Nosed Kate
Big Nosed KateiTunes | Stitcher | Spotify Mary Katherine Horony-Cummings, also known as "Big Nosed Kate," worked as a full service sex worker and eventually became the wife and companion of Old West gunfighter Doc Holiday.
Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester StalloneiTunes | Stitcher | Spotify Unbeknownst to most, six years before writing and starring in Rocky, Sylvester Stallone was the lead in a soft core porn film. In this episode, Kaytlin takes a deep dive into Stallone's past and analyzes the different ways...
Bettie Page
Bettie PageiTunes | Stitcher | Spotify Part two of our "Reformed Whores" series. Bettie Page, one of the most iconic pin-ups and bondage models of the twentieth century, had an on-and-off again relationship with Evangelical Christianity. While her involvement with the...
Linda Lovelace and Andrea Dworkin
Linda Lovelace & Andrea DworkiniTunes | Stitcher | Spotify Part one of our "Reformed Whores" series. This episode focuses on two powerhouses of the "Porn Wars." Linda Lovelace starred in Deep Throat, the 1972 blockbuster success that thrust porn into the...
Congressional Election Blues
Congressional Election BluesiTunes | Stitcher | Spotify In this special episode, Kaytlin talks about losing the NY12 Democratic Primary and next steps in the fight for sex worker rights.
Julie D’Aubigny
Julie D'AubignyiTunes | Stitcher | Spotify Julie D'Aubigny fought, fucked and sang her way through 17th century France. Her list of accomplishments: she seduced aristocratic men and women, did some grave robbing, and burned a nunnery. A bisexual legend.
Gypsy Rose Lee
Gypsy Rose Lee with guest host Jacq The StripperiTunes | Stitcher | Spotify Special guest Jacq the Stripper joins Kaytlin Bailey to talk about American icon and patron saint of strippers, Gypsy Rose Lee. Gypsy was born into a multi generational family of scrappy...
Valerie Solanas
Valerie SolonasiTunes | Stitcher | Spotify Best known for attempting to shoot Andy Warhol, Valerie Solanas’ SCUM manifesto became a rallying cry for a generation of feminist thinkers. Valerie was a vagrant working as a panhandler, full service sex worker and...
Maggie Meller
Maggie MelleriTunes | Stitcher | Spotify French courtesan Marguerite Marie Alibert, otherwise known as Maggie Meller, was the lover of Edward the VII. After her affair with the British prince, she married a rich, snotty and young Egyptian aristocrat, whom she killed...
Dorian Corey
Dorian CoreyiTunes | Stitcher | Spotify Hosts Kaytlin Bailey and Wendi Starling are joined by the incomparably fabulous Ceyenne Doroshow to unwrap the tumultuously tantalizing life of Dorian Corey. As documented in the film Paris Is Burning, Dorian Corey was one of...
Elizabeth Moryng
Elizabeth MoryngiTunes | Stitcher | Spotify A 13th Century madame who tricked the system, Elizabeth Moryng serviced the religious clergy under the guise of operating an embroidery business. Elizabeth Moryng was a hustler who knew how to weave up a good cover story.
Sharmus Outlaw
Sharmus Outlaw With guest host Melissa Sontag BroudoiTunes | Stitcher | Spotify Hosts Kaytlin Bailey and Wendi Starling are joined by Melissa Sontag Broudo, founder of The Sharmus Outlaw Advocacy and Rights Institute (SOAR Institute). They talk a little shop and...
Timarchus
TimarchusiTunes | Stitcher | Spotify Timarchus was a sex worker in his youth and was later shunned and outcast by his fellow politicians in ancient Greece. In this episode, Kaytlin Bailey and Wendi Starling also go over some updates on which companies have started...
Miss Major Griffin-Gracy
Miss Major Griffin-GracyiTunes | Stitcher | Spotify After being mis-gendered and housed with male inmates, Miss Major Griffin-Gracy became one of the key negotiators in the Attica Prison Riots in 1971 and went on to work as an advocate for trans women’s rights within...
Flawless Sabrina
Flawless SabrinaiTunes | Stitcher | Spotify Flawless Sabrina mothered and mentored countless young trans women in the New York City ballroom scene and thrived as an inspirational beacon of light and love. Flawless Sabrina was arrested over a hundred times for simply...
Georgina Beyer
Georgina BeyeriTunes | Stitcher | Spotify Georgina Beyer went from survival sex worker to radio host, and ultimately took her place as the first trans politician in New Zealand as the Mayor of Carterton and Wairarapa MP. Prepare to be inspired by the life and barrier...
FOSTA / SESTA
FOSTA / SESTAiTunes | Stitcher | Spotify Both FOSTA and SESTA were introduced as bills to stop sex trafficking. Because sex workers know legislators fail to distinguish adult, consensual sex work from trafficking, they knew these laws would do just that and make sex...
Jenna Jameson
Jenna JamesoniTunes | Stitcher | Spotify An absolute legend in the adult film world, Jenna Jameson is one of the most well known porn stars who took her success in the sex industry and started an empire.
Yoshiwara
YoshiwaraiTunes | Stitcher | Spotify Yoshiwara was the infamous red light district in 17th century Edo, current day Tokyo, Japan. The original hoe-topia, if you will.
Der Pranger
Der PrangeriTunes | Stitcher | Spotify Der Pranger was a German communist publication written by whores for whores in an attempt to establish fair treatment and laws benefiting sex workers and their patrons. The original "Dickpedia," if you will.
Salon Kitty
Salon KittyiTunes | Stitcher | Spotify Salon Kitty was minding her business running a brothel in Berlin when the Nazis came along and threatened to throw her into a concentration camp unless she cooperated with them as an undercover Nazi spy prostitute. In this...
Operation Midnight Climax
Operation Midnight ClimaxiTunes | Stitcher | Spotify Hear all about how the US government took full advantage of sex workers by forcefully enlisting handfuls them to aid in administering LSD tests on their unsuspecting clients, a.k.a. Operation Midnight Climax.
Yu Husuan-Chi
Yu Husuan-ChiiTunes | Stitcher | Spotify Yu Husuan-Chi was one of the most famous poets of the late Tang Dynasty. Yu Husuan-Chi had a reputation of being sexually adventurous, and is thought to be China's first openly bisexual historical figure.
Heidi Fleiss
Heidi FleissiTunes | Stitcher | Spotify Heidi Fleiss ran an upscale prostitution ring based in Los Angeles, California in the 1990s and was known as the "Hollywood Madam."
Santa Claus (Nicholas of Myra)
Santa Claus (Nicholas of Myra)iTunes | Stitcher | Spotify You may know him as Santa Claus or Old Saint Nick, but Nicholas of Myra has an essentially untold history of relationships with sex workers that children's books and churches decided to leave out.
Wu Zeitan
Wu ZeitaniTunes | Stitcher | Spotify From an impoverished child to concubine of a powerful Emperor, to her ultimate destiny as a powerful Empress, Wu Zeitan really knew how to run shit.
Lulu White
Lulu WhiteiTunes | Stitcher | Spotify Lulu White was the most famed madam in the Storyville district of New Orleans known as the “Diamond Queen” for her love of extravagant jewelry. Much of her early life remains a mystery, but she was born in Selma, Alabama in 1868,...
Sex Worker Witch Hunt
Sex Worker Witch HuntiTunes | Stitcher | Spotify Sex Worker Witch Hunt: Accusing women of witchcraft and condemning them to death was just one of the sadistic methods in the systematic disempowerment of women. But have those seemingly archaic practices and patterns...
Joanna of Naples
Joanna of NaplesiTunes | Stitcher | Spotify Queen of Naples, Countess of Provence, and Princess of Achaea... the epic story of Joanna of Naples lives up to the hype of all of her titles.
Anna Nicole Smith
Anna Nicole SmithiTunes | Stitcher | Spotify Anna Nicole Smith was labeled a white trash gold digger throughout her career, all for capitalizing on her sexuality and good looks. Some women can "have it all," but that sure pisses some other people off.
Phryne
PhryneiTunes | Stitcher | Spotify Phryne, a nickname meaning “little toad,” was a renowned courtesan in Athens at the height of the civilization’s power in ancient Greece, around the 4th century B.C.E. She rose to prominence during a period where priestesses and...
Lizzie Lape
Lizzie LapeLegendary Ohio Madam Lizzie Lape owned not one, but multiple brothels at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th.iTunes | Stitcher | Spotify
Mary Jones
Mary JonesiTunes | Stitcher | Spotify Mary Jones (1803 – Unknown) was a New York old pro and hustler who was given the name Peter Sewally at birth. Mary Jones was of African descent and much of her early life is lost to the archive, but newspaper records indicate that...
Harriet Hicks & The Contagious Diseases Act
Harriet Hicks & The Contagious Diseases ActiTunes | Stitcher | Spotify Harriet Hicks is one of the few documented cases of harassment and abuse of women by the government. Harriet Hicks worked as a prostitute during inception of the Contagious Diseases Act (CDA)...
Ah Toy
Ah ToyiTunes | Stitcher | Spotify A historic whore who essentially ran the sex industry in San Francisco during the Gold Rush, Ah Toy was a sought after Chinese prostitute and madam who came to America and dominated the booming sex work industry at the time.
Veronica Franco
Veronica FrancoiTunes | Stitcher | Spotify Courtesan Veronica Franco endured public shaming that attempted to strip away her status as a prolific poet and author in the 16th Century in Venice, Italy.
Ishtar
IshtariTunes | Stitcher | Spotify The goddess of romantic love and fertility, Ishtar was worshipped through the bodies of church-sanctioned prostitutes who were trained in the arts of sexual healing.