ACTIVISM
“Pose” Pop Up Shop Pays Tribute to Sex Workers
Community gathers for May Day festivities at the Christopher Street Piers
BY TAT BELLAMY-WALKER
LGBTQ advocates joined
together at the Christopher
Street pier on May 1
for a “Pose” costume giveaway
and May Day rally against
plans for a new beach slated to
appear near a historic hub for LGBTQ
people and sex workers.
Although the city is moving forward
with plans to construct Gansevoort
Peninsula near Pier 53 on
Manhattan’s west side, STARR,
a transgender advocacy group,
wants to reclaim the area in honor
of the late trailblazing activists
and sex workers Marsha P. Johnson
and Sylvia Rivera.
“The beach being a thing before
Marsha and Sylvia Rivera have a
memorial at this space?” We cannot
let that happen,” Mariah Lopez,
the executive director of STARR,
told Gay City News while wearing
a multi-colored dress and a corset.
“Marsha and Sylvia were titans;
they weren’t just trans icons. They
were vanguards for the movement to
end homelessness. They were vanguards
for sexual liberation, and
they were vanguards for the poor.”
A temporary memorial was
perched at the site of Johnson’s
death and photos of the trans liberation
leaders were seen wrapped
with fresh fl owers in honor of
Johnson’s iconic fl ower crown.. In
1992, authorities discovered Johnson’s
body fl oating in the Hudson
River and initially ruled the case
a suicide. However, in 2012, Lopez
petitioned for the city to reopen the
case as a possible homicide.
With support from local queer
groups, including FIERCE, advocates
also called for the full
decriminalization of sex work —
which is a major LGBTQ issue in
New York City. Earlier this year the
state repealed a discriminatory
loitering law known as a ban on
“Walking While Trans” and several
state lawmakers have signed on to
legislation dubbed “Stop Violence
in the Sex Trades Act,” a bill that
would fully decriminalize sex work
in New York City for all parties involved
in the consensual sex trade.
Advocates at STARR led a “Pose” costume giveaway and a rally for full sex work decriminalization.
STARR memorial in honor of LGBTQ activists Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera.
That bill was fi rst proposed in 2019
but has yet to move in either chamber
of the State Legislature. Many
district attorneys in the city have
also taken steps to move away from
prosecuting sex workers, including
in Manhattan.
Elisa Crespo, a volunteer at
STARR and former Bronx City
Council candidate, said she is satisfi
ed with the Manhattan DA’s decision
TAT BELLAMY-WALKER
TAT BELLAMY-WALKER
not to prosecute sex workers
in most cases. However, she denounced
the politicians who have
pushed the Nordic Model, which
only removes penalties for sex
workers and not others involved in
the sex trade.
“It seems to be the model that
policymakers think will receive the
most support from the legislature,
but that’s not what sex workers are
asking for,” she said. “The Nordic
Model doesn’t keep us safe and
continues to drive the sex working
business underground. ”
She added, “It takes food off of
people’s table and puts the sex
worker in a disadvantaged position,
giving more power and control
to the person that is purchasing
sex.”
Coco Saint, a volunteer organizer
at STARR and a sex worker, also
criticized the Nordic Model.
“The Nordic Model puts people
in danger,” they said. “And makes
it harder for us to get clients. All of
the things that you do in order to
get a client are illegal. They are just
trying to confuse us and confuse
people in general into thinking
that it has been decriminalized.”
As activists called attention to
these issues, attendees browsed
Marsha’s Closet, a pop-up thrift
shop giveaway, which featured outfi
ts from New York’s underground
ballroom scene and signature ’80s
style designs from the fi rst season
of “Pose.” The shop coincides with
the third and fi nal season of the
groundbreaking FX show, which
premiered on May 2.
B. Hawk Snipes, a non-binary social
activist who also appeared on
the past two seasons of “Pose,” hopes
the outfi ts can bring some comfort
to Black queer and trans people.
“Black trans femmes are going
through a lot,” she said. “Seeing
them out here grabbing whatever
they want is bringing a lot of joy.”
Zoey Mugler, the founder of the
closet and a member of the House
of Mugler, recalled that she engaged
in survival sex work as a
teen and sometimes she had to
steal clothes because she could not
afford them on her own. The closet
is not only an ode to her past but
lends support to future generations
of LGBTQ youth.
“I always told myself when I get
to a better position in my life and
my transition that I would do something
to give back,” she said. “With
the pandemic, a lot of youth out
there do not have family support. I
don’t want them to go through half
the things that I did to survive.”
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