1) Immediate income support that provides for all dancers who can’t work in our clubs now.

Most clubs are still shut down, and we aren’t listed clearly on the state’s reopening plan. It’s unclear when the industry will be back to business, and in the meanwhile, we’ve had to rely on unemployment — which has been unreliable, especially for dancers who work as independent contractors and may struggle to provide income documentation. Marginalized workers in industries like ours can’t be overlooked. Here’s how lawmakers can provide the relief we need:

• Improve access to unemployment, including acceptance of alternate forms of income documentation & communication from the state about how sex workers can safely & successfully apply for PUA.
• Expand alternative forms of low-barrier support at the city and state level, like grocery vouchers and rent assistance.
• Extend moratoriums on evictions and utility shutoffs until all industries, including adult entertainment, have reopened and recovered.

2) Ending anti-sex-work policies so we have better & safer paths to income.

With clubs shut down, many dancers are turning to alternate forms of sex work. But outdated laws in WA make opening businesses in the sex industry difficult and costly, limiting our choice of workplace. And the criminalization of sex work as a whole makes us less safe when we’re working independently. Sex workers of color are even more impacted due to biased policing. This is a critical moment to re-evaluate old policies rooted in stigma, and make sure dancers and other sex workers have safe options available for work. We need lawmakers to:

• Update zoning laws to allow for the creation of alternative, lower-risk businesses during COVID, like bikini barista stands and peep shows.
• Decriminalize sex work so those of us who work outside clubs can safely provide for ourselves and our families without the threat of discriminatory policing.

3) Worker-led policies that will improve dancers’ safety, financial stability, and equity as clubs reopen.

The current crisis is a major threat to dancers’ safety. But local laws — both restricting our work, and leaving us unprotected — have threatened our safety long before the pandemic. WA clubs charge us extremely high fees that can leave us paying more to work than we make. And restrictive local ordinances make it hard for us to enforce our boundaries because we face the threat of being cited for arbitrary violations. Here’s how lawmakers can keep us safe:

• Repeal restrictive local ordinances, like the stage tipping ban, no-contact policies, and laws prohibiting undressing during private dances. Because they’re virtually impossible to follow, these policies are enforced arbitrarily. They harm our safety & financial security — disproportionately for dancers of color, who are more likely to be charged with violations.
• Create discrimination protections for dancers of color, who often experience explicit racism at clubs: being denied contracts or shifts, told there are “too many” Black dancers on the floor, or being disproportionately penalized or fired for unpaid debt to clubs.
• Lower the house fees we pay to clubs and legalize the sale of alcohol in clubs. As contractors, we aren’t paid to work — in fact, we pay clubs a “house fee” just for the privilege of working, and WA’s are some of the highest in the country! Washington is one of few states that prohibits strip clubs from selling alcohol, limiting businesses’ sources of income. So clubs charge up to $200 a night in house fees, no matter how much we make or how many customers are even in the club, and they charge us “back rent” (debt) if we don’t make enough to cover the house fee. By creating new sources of income for clubs through the sale of alcohol, and creating worker-driven laws to cap house fees, we can create a more sustainable business model for the industry and workers.

We’ve been left out of the conversation for too long. The result is policy that treats our work as inherently criminal & that is downright harmful to our community. Lawmakers: it’s time to take steps to remedy the damage done, and bring us to the table to shape the future of our own industry.

Strippers deserve a safe and healthy place to work — nothing about us without us.

SIGNED,
DANCERS OF WA & COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS
(AND YOU — ADD YOUR NAME HERE!)