LOS ANGELES — On the occasion of International Sex Workers’ Day, also known as International Whores' Day or IWD, the Free Speech Coalition’s Lotus Lain offered a speech advocating for sex worker rights last week at an event organized by the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art and Kink Out, in collaboration with FSC and Strippers United.
Emcee Natalie 'NatsHoney' Clark introduced FSC Industry Relations Advocate Lain to the attendees as part of a day of gathering with presenters, performances, vendors and community organizers.
Lain told XBIZ the June 2 commemoration was a “tremendously fulfilling day.”
“We got word from the museum that they checked in over 400 attendees,” Lain commented. “Which is really cool because we had no idea how many people would even show up; you never know with a new event.
“The weather was warm and pleasant as the sun was setting, with a nice little breeze at night,” Lain continued. “I booked over 15 vendors of various sex-worker-friendly businesses, ranging from pottery, press-on nails, baked goods and jewelry to pH-balancing vulva cream. There was something for everyone.”
Lain described the crowd as “a good mix of ‘civilians’ and sex workers. The atmosphere was very joyous, social, friendly, comfortable, safe and secure, with so many familiar faces that came out.”
The goals of the event were to raise awareness around the fact that “sex workers' lives are still stigmatized and that we are still working for legal protection and workers' rights among mainstream society,” she said. “But the overall goal of my speech was to get our collective rage out of our systems and to rage against this society and its laws that are creating all of this censorship and stigma against our lives.”
Lain felt "immensely positive and uplifted."
“Like I said, I had no idea what the turnout would actually be, but when I started to see more and more people trickling in around 30 minutes after start time, I was just in awe of how it was all coming together,” she recalled. “I saw the delight in people's eyes as they lit up seeing the various vendors and tables of sex worker organizations. I heard the perfect music mix coming from the DJ, Ethical Drvgs, getting people dancing. It was just such an electric buzz of positivity in the air.”
Lain added that “there is nothing like witnessing a striptease on the pole in the middle of the open air in downtown LA as the sun is setting. It was so glorious. Just feeling that energy from the audience as they were paying attention to my speech, yelling back and responding to my calls, was so inspiring.”
Lain praised MOCA's handling of the event.
“They went above and beyond,” she said. “I've never experienced such a cared-for and thoughtful handling of the security, lights, sounds, stage setup, construction of temporary seating, setting out tables and chairs, arrangements for parking, a green room, my stage props — they literally handled everything with no issues, no pushback and no making us sex workers feel small. Some of our own awards shows don’t even treat us with as much respect. The MOCA people themselves were extremely pleased with the night's turnout and the way everything went down, which feels so good to hear.”
According to Lain, many vendors sold out of their merchandise and others doubled their social media followings.
“Many of them — more than a few — told me it was their first encounter with sex workers in this capacity and that it was the most fun they’d ever had vending at an event,” she remarked.
“It was really one of the absolute brightest highlights of my career to be able to bring so much positivity to people for one night in the name of sex work,” Lain concluded.
To watch the speech in full, visit the FSC page on XBIZ.tv; follow Lotus Lain on Twitter.