.
Queer Ontario Partially Applauds the Ontario Appeals Court Ruling on Canada’s Prostitution Laws
.

Toronto, ON — March 26, 2012 — Queer Ontario partially applauds the Ontario Appeals Court Ruling on Canada’s prostitution laws for its decision to recognize sex work as a legitimate line of work. We are relieved to see that a more experiential consideration of sex workers and their rights has taken hold in the judicial system, as opposed to the sex-negative moralism that had previously governed their living and working conditions.

The Court’s decision to strike down the prostitution-specific clause in the ‘bawdyhouse’ provision, and to criminalize ‘living on the avails of prostitution’ only when it involves worker exploitation, grants sex workers the ability to establish safer workplaces and to live off of their earnings without criminal persecution. It makes it easer for sex workers to report instances of exploitation and gives them the ability to establish multi-person brothels, or to hire bodyguards and chauffeurs.

However, we reject the Court’s decision to uphold the ‘communication for the purposes of prostitution’ provision since it continues to criminalize sex workers who work outdoors. It is a decision founded on phobic attitudes that deem sex workers and any evidence of their work to be a ‘public nuisance’ — a decision that places the rights of hypothetical communities above the individual and inalienable rights of sex workers, thus failing to provide basic legal protections to those who need them the most.

Indeed, it is unreasonable for the Ontario Court of Appeals to presume that all sex workers will start working indoors now that the ‘bawdyhouse’ and ‘living off the avails’ provisions have been amended. Working outdoors still provides greater visibility to sex workers, which can contribute to a greater availability of clients and, with that, a more sustainable income. Unfortunately, working outdoors also presents a greater security risk for sex workers — risks that can be allayed by pre-screening their clients — and the decision to criminalize their communication in public fails to equip them with the legal support they need to do their work safely.

Moreover, the Appeals Court failed to realize that establishing and operating a brothel requires a certain level of income, a certain level of connectedness, and a certain level of entrepreneurial know-how to do so successfully, which many sex workers do not have because of economic, educational, and language barriers, among others.

We expect that the imminent Supreme Court decision will give greater consideration to the implications behind the public solicitation law, as well as the social, financial, and knowledge requirements needed to establish and operate a brothel. A protection of sex worker rights invariably includes the protection of those who work outdoors, in public. To criminalize them is to be complicit in the continued stigmatization of sex workers as a class of people.

Queer Ontario’s position statement on sex worker rights can be found here:
http://queerontario.org/2011/12/17/queer-ontario-policy-statement-on-sex-work

— 30 —

For inquiries, please contact

Nick Mulé
Chairperson, Queer Ontario
info@queerontario.org

Queer Ontario is a provincial network of gender and sexually diverse individuals — and their allies — who are committed to questioning, challenging, and reforming the laws, institutional practices, and social norms that regulate queer people. Operating under liberationist and sex-positive principles, we fight for greater accessibility, recognition, and pluralism in society.

For a PDF version of this statement, click here:
QOResponse-AppealsCourt-ProstitutionRuling

.

.
We are thrilled to announce the launch of the Queer Ontario Think Tank — an online publication space dedicated to the promotion of works that articulate the needs and experiences of LGBTQ* individuals; and/or that challenge the laws, the institutional practices, and the social norms that regulate us.
.
What We Are Looking For
.
We are looking for individuals to submit works in any medium that address one or more of the themes above. These can be anything from essays, articles, stories, and poems, to images, video, and music (among other new, traditional, or multimedia formats).
.
The works need not be aligned with Queer Ontario’s official positions or policies, but they should reflect our anti-oppressive, sex-positive, and/or liberationist principles.
.
Lastly, given the very real risks associated with outing oneself publicly — especially when it involves a sensitive issue or a less accepting community — we will be open to receiving works that make use of a pseudonym, or that are sent to us anonymously.

.
Deadlines
.
The first set of works will be published in July of 2012. Therefore,
the soft deadline for July consideration is Friday, April 20, 2012.
The absolute last day to submit work for July consideration is
Friday, May 25, 2012.
.
You are free to submit works after the deadline, which will be considered for our next publication cycle in October.
.
Works will be reviewed and selected by the Think Tank Editorial Committee, which is made up of Queer Ontario volunteers.
.
For More Information…
(Note that the links below do not make use of the “www.”)
.
To head over to the Think Tank website,
please visit thinktank.queerontario.org
.
For instructions on how to submit work,
please visit thinktank.queerontario.org/submissions
.
To read the Think Tank’s editorial guidelines,
please visit thinktank.queerontario.org/editorial
.
For a list of our issues of interest,
please visit queerontario.org/issues
.
For all other questions or comments,
please email us at info@queerontario.org
.
Sincerely,
.
The Queer Ontario Steering Committee
www.queerontario.org
.
.
Notes:
.
* “LGBTQ” is used here to refer to individuals who are marginalized because of their sex, gender, sexuality, relationships, and/or way of life. This includes, but is not limited to: individuals who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, transsexual, transgender, genderqueer, agender, two-spirited, cross-dressing, intersexed, neutrois, asexual, pansexual, polyamorous, and/or kinky.
.
We know that forms of oppression based on sex, gender, sexuality, relationships, and/or way of life cannot be seen in isolation from other forms of oppression, so we encourage their joint articulation as well.
.
* If you are interested in participating in the Think Tank Editorial Committee, then please email us at info@queerontario.org with your name, a brief introduction, and the subject line “Think Tank Editorial Committee.”
.

.
This just in:
.
Susan Gapka of the Trans Lobby Group has just informed us that NDP MPP Cheri DiNovo will re-introduce Toby’s Act to include ‘gender identity’ and ‘gender expression’ as prohibited grounds for discrimination in the Ontario Human Rights Code. This will happen on Tuesday, February 21, 2012 at approximately 3:00 pm.
.
We encourage all available members to visit the public gallery at Queen’s Park to join the Trans Lobby Group and show their support for the Bill.
.
Stay connected for further details on how you can support these efforts to have gender identity and gender expression written into the Ontario Human Rights Code.
.
With thanks,
.
The Queer Ontario Steering Committee
.
.