Anti-Sex Worker Barricades at Capp Street: Update and What's To Be Done

Gay Shame

Gentrifying neighbors, local politician Hilary Ronen, the SFPD, and the media conspired to shut down parts of Capp Street in the Mission using concrete blockades. Why? Because they hate sex workers. While they continue to sink millions into a fire hazard that makes sex workers less safe, we talked to four friends from groups including Mission DeFence (instagram.com/missiondefence_sf), Rad Mission Neighbors (radmissionneighbors.org) and the People’s Mission Coalition (thepeoplesmissioncoalition.com).

Joining us: Celestina Pearl (St. James Infirmary | stjamesinfirmary.org), Dilara Yarbrough (scholars.org/scholar/dilara-yarbrough), Cesar Espinoza Perez (instagram.com/juliuscaesarsf/), and Ivy Anderson (co-editor of ‘Alice: Memoirs of a Barbary Coast Prostitute’ | voicesfromtheunderworld.com) on the history of sex work in the Bay; why decriminalization is better than legalization; and how to help sex workers under attack by the City.