FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 15, 2019
CONTACT: June 2nd Planning Committee, BAWSinfo [at] protonmail.com
Bay Area Sex Workers invite you to “sit with us” -- because sex work justice is public health, community safety, racial justice, economic justice.
OAKLAND, CA: On June 2, International Sex Worker’s Day, communities all over the country will gather to advocate for the health, safety, and protection of sex workers. Last year, our gathering took place in response to the passing of FOSTA / SESTA (Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act and Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act), legislation which has further criminalized and endangered sex workers throughout the United States. This year, the Bay Area sex work community is convening to advocate for justice in the context of this continuing struggle, while also celebrating how the sex work community and its allies have organized and strengthened themselves over the course of the past twelve months.
Bay Area Workers Support (BAWS), a peer-to-peer support organization for and by sex workers, invites you to join us at Oscar Grant Plaza in Downtown Oakland, CA on June 2nd from 12-4pm to advocate and celebrate all those working within the sex trade and their allies. The event’s theme is “Sit With Us,” an invitation to our larger community to rally with us to table about our respective and overlapping work, celebrate, and strengthen the intersections between issues that impact sex workers, women, people of color, LBTQIA+ folks, low-income communities, immigrants and more. We would like to work across sectors and identities on our shared issues at a common table - please come sit with us. This event is family friendly, all ages welcome.
Activities will include tabling by community organizations (listed below). Brunch and coffee vended by Coffee Not Cops and others, an altar to honor those in our community who have passed, as well as performances by sex worker artists and musicians like Copy Slut and Atomic Allure Pole. Speeches and spoken word by Cat Brooks, Raul Hernandez, Lisseth Sanchez, Celeste Guap, representatives from Axis Dance Company, and Gina Stella dell’Assunta. The event will be emceed by local worker and comedian Reiko Rasch, with programming taking place on stage from 1pm to 3pm.
Sex Worker Rights Rally & March,
Saturday, June 2, 2019, 11am-4pm
Oscar Grant Plaza, 1 Frank H Ogawa Plz, Downtown Oakland, CA 94612, b/t San Pablo Ave & 15th St.
FB invite: https://www.facebook.com/events/453839412016968/
Partnering Community Organizations: Public Health Justice Collective , St. James Infirmary, Anti Police-Terror Project, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, Mujeres Unidas y Activas, Public Health Awakens, Centro Legal, Do No Harm Coalition, Harm Reduction Coalition, Berkeley Free Clinic, DSA, Critical Resistance, Punks with Lunch, ACLU, AXIS Dance Company, API Legal Outreach, See You Next Tuesday, TGI Justice Project, Coffee Not Cops.
Bay Area Workers Support (BAWS) is a group of Bay Area advocates that fight for the health, safety, and livelihoods of sex workers post-FOSTA/SESTA legislation. We are organizing our community resources, skill-sets, knowledge, and power to provide: Support & resources for Bay Area workers; Immediate relief/connections for emergency needs; as well as Strategic actions around sex worker safety, media advocacy, and policy. bayareaworkerssupport.org