Tom Moore

Many people assume Republicans are the primary political force pushing their own agenda onto the consensual adult industry. That’s a misconception. Democrats have an extensive history of interfering with the industry as well. The difference is often in the justification: Republicans tend to frame their efforts in terms of morality, while Democrats frequently frame theirs as protection or rescue. Take FOSTA-SESTA in 2018. Both sex workers and anti-trafficking advocates warned that the legislation would make providers less safe and trafficking victims harder to identify and locate. Post-FOSTA-SESTA studies have documented increased violence, economic instability, housing insecurity, and reduced access to client screening and harm reduction tools among sex workers, lending support to many of those warnings. The legislation enjoyed overwhelming bipartisan support. Prominent Democrats, including Senators Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders, Amy Klobuchar, Cory Booker, and Kirsten Gillibrand, voted for it. House Democrats also overwhelmingly supported the legislation. California Democrats have been no better. They passed sweeping employment laws that forced performers to restructure our businesses and significantly restricted our ability to work as independent contractors. Our freedom to contract was substantially reduced. Following the passage of Los Angeles County’s Measure B in 2012, supporters pushed Proposition 60 onto the statewide ballot in 2016, despite strong industry objections concerning performer safety, privacy, and freedom to contract. Then there are the fights over Assembly Bill 1576, which threatened bodily autonomy; Cal/OSHA’s extreme “Goggles and Barriers” standard; and Assembly Bill 2389, which threatened freedom to contract. Performer advocacy groups and the Free Speech Coalition @FSCArmy fought these measures, often alongside the Libertarian Party @LPNational and its California affiliates, with vocal support from organizations such as the Cato Institute @CatoInstitute and Reason Foundation @reason. @TheDemocrats are NOT automatically on our side. Nobody who insists they know what’s best for us while disregarding our objections is acting in our interests. The Free Speech Coalition, the adult industry’s principal trade organization, has spent years lobbying both parties on regulations affecting performers and producers. These policy battles have continued across administrations, states, and party lines. The consistent demand has been simple: performers deserve meaningful input into laws governing our work, our safety, and our livelihoods. We deserve a seat at the table when government decides to regulate our industry, just like any other industry. And that’s what Democrats keep missing. Protecting adult entertainers and sex workers requires listening to the people whose lives and livelihoods are affected, not simply deciding what’s best for us. No laws about us without us. @LP_CLC