San Francisco Democratic County Central Committee votes on historic resolution but eats it

It doesn't take much to see through this ridiculous petition Maxine Doogan is tirelessly shoving in the face of everyone trying to buy groceries at the Castro Safeway. She hates SAGE, she hates Norma Hotaling, that much is clear.

What isn't immediately clear to the average petition signers is that Doogan is that the "decriminalization" petition Doogan wrote is actually decriminalization for pimps and traffickers. Being a convicted pimp herself (for running an escort agency in Seattle) Doogan holds the creative philosophy that pimps are just "service providers" or "support staff" for prostitutes. Her wacky view of the world would be comical if she didn't actually stand a chance of getting this farce on the ballot in the fall.

Of course liberal San Francisco would like to support a measure that decriminalizes prostitution, but that is not what Doogan's measure does. The purpose of Doogan's measure is to destroy the SAGE project which provides housing and job training and other services for women who want OUT of prostitution. Now it's pretty easy to see that a pimp would not want to help women out of prostitution. The more desperate women there are on the streets, the easier the pickings for a pimp who can promise a a better life in their Erotic Serivce Provider Union escort agency.

Parasites like Doogan always show up when a tolerant population exists. No liberal or progressive likes to judge other people. But THERE IS NOTHING PROGRESSIVE ABOUT PROSTITUTION. It is an institution that destroys women and encourages johns to think of other human beings as just paid receptacles for their ejaculate. You can argue all day about how a woman can be empowered as a prostitute, but at the end of that day, a woman is naked and alone in a room with a man who has paid his money and wants what he wants and that is not an empowering position for her.

Even if you believe that prostitutes would be better off if it were legal (and I'll debate that point), Doogan's ballot measure is not about legalization. There is no tesitng provided, there are no services provided for women at all in her measure. In fact, her ballot measure takes away existing services that have clearly saved women's lives.

No, Doogan and the rest of the pimp lobby want to leave women in a legal purgatory that makes for easy pickings for someone who fancies herself an entrepreneurial erotic service provider. The more desperate women there are on the street with a vague pseudo decrimin law, the better it is for the pimps of the world.

There is no amount of cynicism that can compete with what Doogan is doing. It is audacious and cruel in the extreme. But it is most definitely not progressive or compassionate.

First I would like to say that I am not and have never been part of the "pimp lobby." I am a member of the Industrial Workers of the World, a workers' rights organization. The IWW was the first union to organize prostitutes back in the early 1900's. I would never support anyone who I felt was exploiting others, and I believe in workers rights.

This petition is not about being progressive or being conservative. It is about workers rights. People are exploited as hotel workers, too, but I don't see people arguing that the answer is to put them in jail. Plenty of people from all sides of the political spectrum have been signing the petition. Republicans, Democrats, socialists, anarchists, and libertarians have all been signing, I am sure for many different reasons.

San Franciscans are sick and tired of failed Bush administration policies. You cannot bring people freedom by invading their country. Likewise, you cannot "rescue" prostitutes by arresting them and putting them in jail. San Franciscans will see through the double-speak in November.

Norma Hotaling wrote an amicus brief in support of the Bush Administration's worldwide policy on prostitution. This policy tells organizations that they cannot advocate for sex workers' rights in order to receive USAID.

Why did Norma and the SAGE project support this policy? Its obvious - their agency makes money every time prostitutes are arrested. Every time the police do sting operations, that is money in their pocket. Of course they would be opposed to decriminalization.

"It doesn't take much to see through this ridiculous petition Maxine Doogan is tirelessly shoving in the face of everyone trying to buy groceries at the Castro Safeway." Fran, first a request. Please remain loyal to your side of the argument. I am so glad you aren’t in the sex worker rights movement. You are an ally to no one. The post criticizing Maxine that you authored is abysmal. It is shoddy, contradictory propaganda that is self discrediting of both the positions it represents and the author. Your op/ed is stupefying to an inexplicable level. Op/ed’s clearly are not your strength. Perhaps you could take a class or two on framing an argument that inspires the remotest sense of credibility. This is in line with Baghdad Bob reasoning. It is humorous. I will grant you that. If you are trying to parody the prohibitionist movement as a caricature than you should consider yourself a great success. If you are for real with this? In response to the above point. Maxine is taking part in a long standing aspect of creating voter awareness. This happens from every perspective, everywhere in the US prior to upcoming elections. It is part of reaching the electorate. Those who want to read Maxine’s ideas are free to do so. Those that do not are free to ignore her or to discard her literature. Just as they can anyone else involved in campaigning. Framing it as shoving it in the face of everyone trying to buy Groceries at the Castro Safeway is truly the opening salvo in a bizarrely presented diatribe against Maxine. "She hates SAGE, she hates Norma Hotaling, that much is clear". You have absolutely no way to defend that statement. Unless you are a qualified, trained therapist/counselor that sees Maxine, you are unqualified to assess her feelings. You could ask her if she hates SAGE. You could ask her if she hates Norma Hotaling. Perhaps she does, perhaps she doesn’t. Perhaps she strongly disagrees with both. It would be credible to state she strongly disagrees with SAGE and Norma. Hatred is a feeling. People who tell Maxine what she feels or tell the world what Maxine feels, of course without citing any documentation, are just throwing words around to spool up the drama. You are unqualified to accurately document and assess Maxine’s feelings and you have provided no basis for your statements. "What isn't immediately clear to the average petition signers is that Doogan is that the "decriminalization" petition Doogan wrote is actually decriminalization for pimps and traffickers." It isn’t immediately clear because it isn’t fact. Maxine is a labor and migrant worker rights activist. As an activist for workers, it is contradictory to state that she is an activist for management. As for stating she supports decriminalization for traffickers. That’s absurd. Nothing Maxine is doing remotely suggests she endorses or supports those who coerce others into forced labor. Everything she is doing actually demonstrates that she is fighting for those victimized by traffickers. Fran, your spin doctoring effort is horrendous. You cite no evidence, your argument is bizarrely contradictory to the point of self defeating mud slinging in the wind without awareness of blowback. "Being a convicted pimp herself (for running an escort agency in Seattle) Doogan holds the creative philosophy that pimps are just "service providers" or "support staff" for prostitutes." There are abusive pimps, ones who abuse, who coerce, who assault, who harm sex workers. They are thugs that belong in prison. There are pimps, which pimp itself is a highly charged term that you are expanding well beyond it’s actual parameters. There are people who do work as support staff for sex workers, screening clients, acting as a third party intermediary, a point of contact for sex workers and clients with time and resources to work toward the safety of the sex worker through screening, through awareness of where the sex worker is working, who her client is etc. These enhance safety when used correctly and are not the same as the abusive thug that forces sex workers to work against their will, take unwanted clients, or commit acts of abuse. You are conflating terminology to cover a poorly communicated, vapid and contradictory position. Maxine advocates for the rights and safety of workers. That is the opposite of supporting oppressors and thugs which you are conveniently trying to intersperse and conflate together. "Her wacky view of the world would be comical if she didn't actually stand a chance of getting this farce on the ballot in the fall." Your homespun syntax is consistent everywhere you post Fran. Do you have any life outside of cyber stalking Maxine and other sex worker rights activists? “Wacky”,,,, what a cliché ridden poorly scripted method of attempting to convey a point. You embarrass yourself with this homespun verbiage. "The purpose of Doogan's measure is to destroy the SAGE project which provides housing and job training and other services for women who want OUT of prostitution" Fran, Maxine does not oppose to services for those who want to exit prostitution. Nor does she oppose job training or services for those who wish to leave the sex trade. She advocates for them. Have you ever listened to Maxine’s interviews on XBN talk radio, www.xxbn.net or other outlets? She strongly contradicts your points. Maxine is opposed to the coercive nature of SAGE and it’s alignment and profiteering with local law enforcement and local city officials. "The more desperate women there are on the streets, the easier the pickings for a pimp who can promise a a better life in their Erotic Serivce Provider Union escort agency. " Advocating for labor rights for the above referenced women is far better an alternative than the current criminalization system with these desperate women on the street are left without rights, without support from law enforcement or the legal system. These women absolutely will have a better life if they have much greater human, civil and labor rights. Those opposing their human/civil and labor rights and their right to organize for those rights are the ones that need to take a long hard look at who they are exploiting and profiting from. "Parasites like Doogan always show up when a tolerant population exists. No liberal or progressive likes to judge other people." Did you really write this? "But THERE IS NOTHING PROGRESSIVE ABOUT PROSTITUTION. It is an institution that destroys women and encourages johns to think of other human beings as just paid receptacles for their ejaculate" Regardless of how johns see the sex workers, the worst case for the sex worker is when the system is as it is now, one that criminalizes them, denies them even the most basic rights and protections. This argument that wrongs will be made into rights by denying the rights of an oppressed population are in line with histories worst tyrants. Pinochet was saving Chile as the bodies were floating down the Aconcagua River? He believed so. . "You can argue all day about how a woman can be empowered as a prostitute, but at the end of that day, a woman is naked and alone in a room with a man who has paid his money and wants what he wants and that is not an empowering position for her." Human, civil and labor rights empower the prostitute. Which is a far cry from the creative spin doctoring you are threading. It certainly is not empowering for the prostitute to be assaulted, arrested and incarcerated. "Even if you believe that prostitutes would be better off if it were legal (and I'll debate that point), Doogan's ballot measure is not about legalization." Prostitutes are not better off as criminals in any context. And when will you begin the deabte over legalization? And that is related to decrim how? "There is no tesitng provided, there are no services provided for women at all in her measure. In fact, her ballot measure takes away existing services that have clearly saved women's lives. " No testing of what? "No, Doogan and the rest of the pimp lobby want to leave women in a legal purgatory that makes for easy pickings for someone who fancies herself an entrepreneurial erotic service provider. " Maxine is a labor rights activist. Which is inherently opposed to power of management. Your argument is akin to saying Charles Bryan was a member of the airline CEO lobby. Pro Pimp Lobby…… Your statement is contradictory, irrational and baseless. There is no pro pimp lobby. The very term is contradictory and stupid to the point of being comical. It sounds like the latest name for Candlestick Park. "The more desperate women there are on the street with a vague pseudo decrimin law, the better it is for the pimps of the world. " The desperate women are not better off with a non vague law that makes them criminals. "There is no amount of cynicism that can compete with what Doogan is doing. It is audacious and cruel in the extreme. But it is most definitely not progressive or compassionate." Ok, General Pinochet. And just ignore the bodies floating down the Aconcagua River? Tu crees que es verdad? And the signs advising not to drink the water are because it lacks fluoride and you are concerned about tooth decay…………….. In closing “Fran” how bout them Cowboys…. Get a life you pathetic stalker.

I am not surprised by this outcome. I don't think most Democratic Party leaders really care about the rights of workers. It seems to me that they only support working people when it agrees with their agenda of seeking a bigger and more expensive government that is more intrusive in economic matters.

"There is no tesitng provided, there are no services provided for women at all in her measure. In fact, her ballot measure takes away existing services that have clearly saved women's lives."

What Fran is saying is that despite all the many locations in which to get tested for STD's in San Francisco, which are by the way free, the only way a sex worker can and will get tested is to be arrested.
The only effect on funding for the SAGE Project would be the funding SAGE recieves through it's collaboration with SFPD and SFDA. In other words, the money SAGE makes off the criminalization of women and their clients. If women and their clients can no longer be arrested, then they will no longer be forced to attend the program. The funding SAGE recieves for it's voluntary program will not be affected.

It is not "progressive" to advocate for the arrest of women working themselves out of poverty. Most progressive folks know that and that is why they have signed the peitition.

I suggest we arrest the landlords and force them out of "work" and let them have the "choice" jail or rehabilitation.

The Erotic Service Providers Union believes job training, education, healthcare and housing is a right that should be available to everyone regardless of their occupation or country of origin.

We also believe in the right to work without the threat of arrest. Again, regardless of our occupation or country of origin.

It is easy for Fran to be cavalier about the lives of sex workers in california. Given that she there and isn't a sex worker.

Hey Fran, how bout them Cowboys?

Fran, you should be ashamed of yourself. This is a forum for sharing information, not for spreading lies and misinformation. I have to admit though, you managed to put a spin on this issue that would make FOX News proud... have you been taking lessons in character assassination from Karl Rove?

It is beyond the pale to assign sinister ulterior motives to a woman who has dedicated her life trying to fight injustice. Maxine Doogan been a tireless advocate for the HUMAN rights of sex workers... she is a very brave woman, and I have nothing but the deepest respect for her and for the work that she does.

This is not a battle over whether sex work is "right" or "wrong", just as Roe v. Wade was not a battle over whether abortion is "right" or "wrong". This is about the right of an individual to self determination and to choice.
This is about equal protection and equal representation for those who CHOOSE sex work, as many do.

Keep fighting the good fight, Maxine!

Congratulations to Maxine and everybody who worked hard to get this initiative on the ballot! The initative made it onto the SF ballot. Here is information I received:

The San Francisco Department of Elections announced today that the
measure prohibiting city officials from spending money arresting and
prosecuting people for prostitution, and mandating equal legal
protection for sex workers, has qualified for the November ballot. Of
500 signatures randomly sampled and checked by department personnel,
80 percent were found to be valid. "This is a happy day for San
Franciscans who want government to focus on fighting real crimes like
homicides and robberies, and are tired of seeing resources wasted in
a futile effort to police consensual sex between adults," said
Starchild, a sex worker activist and spokesperson for the campaign.
"We've cleared the first hurdle." By the Elections Department's
tally, supporters had turned in 12,745 signatures of registered San
Francisco voters on July 7.

The campaign to decriminalize prostitution will hold a kickoff rally
and press conference to formally announce the results on Tuesday (July 22) at
4:00 p.m. in front of the Polk Street entrance of City Hall, with
speakers to likely include Supervisor Jake McGoldrick, who was a
signer of the petition to put the measure on the ballot along with
two of his board colleagues. "It is way past time that the
recommendations of the Board of Supervisors 1996 Prostitution Task
Force were implemented, " said the measure's proponent, Maxine Doogan.
"Criminalizing sex workers has been putting workers at risk of
violence and discrimination for far too long."

The prostitution reform measure joins two other voter-submitted
measures on the local Nov. 4 ballot, along with eight measures put on
the ballot by the mayor or members of the Board of Supervisors, with
many others expected to be added in the next several weeks.