Queer Whore Collective: The Appropriation of Sex Work Culture in Queer Nightlife Pt. 2

At the moment, screaming sex work is work is trendy. Dressing up in clear heels and skimpy stripper outfits, is #cute. But all too often civilians have no understanding of the weight this work carries. For many the gateway into sex work is poverty, and while making the decision to work in the industry can be life-changing in terms of having access to money, flexible working hours et cetera, it is still a choice that many make out of necessity. With this in mind, it is no wonder that the sex work community are hypervigilant and untrusting of promotors that programme/ profit from stripper culture. 

On the other hand, you could also argue that nights that this could be a positive move towards normalising sex work in society. I have seen this happen first hand with the company I run, Sexquisite Events. We are a performing arts company platforming sex worker artists across theatre, cabaret and nightlife. We are most known for our monthly cabaret x club night at Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club, where we host a line up of eight sex worker artists, and encourage the audience to tip our performers by purchasing fake tipping dollars for £1 on the door. 

All tips are shared equally between the performers and creative team, on top of their performance fee. We are committed to offering sex workers paid creative work, and truly believe we are making change through art. Home to many of London’s sex worker artists, we are a safe space for sex workers to socialise, celebrate, and party. We do, however, open our doors to non-sex workers, and a large portion of our audience are queer partygoers. By the end of 2022, we will have produced 22 events, reaching between 100-350 people per show. We hope that our shows are not only a fun evening out, but also actively make a difference in the shift towards a fairer future for sex workers. 

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I started Sexquisite as a DIY project for sex workers to process their experiences through art. With an intention to impact meaningful change, I hoped to give artists a platform to showcase their work, and to contribute to the deconstruction of societal stigma through performance. Alongside producing cabaret nights, we made community theatre, ran writing workshops for sex workers to process their experiences and held bi-weekly peer support groups. We had no organisational funding, and only ever received project funding once.

The only way we have managed to survive is to profit from this burgeoning mass infatuation with sex worker culture. We sell t-shirts with Queer Whore written on them, stickers that say ‘Fuck The Patriarchy but Not for Free’, and most recently held a 'strip-off' contest for audience members to participate in. We still make political theatre and support sex workers, but the only way to financially support this is by repackaging our culture and making it commercial. 

In many ways, like other forms of queer nightlife, we are selling performative activism. We invite you in to glance at our experiences, and then sell you a sticker at the end of the show to prove to your friends that you really, like actually, do support sex workers. 

“At Sexquisite, a part of me was like wow those acts are great.” One audience member who is also a sex worker described, “Then the other part was like, wow you can really pinpoint the four hookers at the back clapping at the decrim speeches as opposed to the rest of the crowd losing their shit when Rihanna comes on”.

There is something bittersweet about the idea that, with the growth of our company, we will somehow disillusion the community from which we originate. However, I really do believe that we are contributing to the destigmatisation of sex work, and growing numbers of attendees can only be a step towards achieving this. This kind of ethical trade-off is felt by so many third sector or community interest organisations trying to stay afloat under capitalism.

“Attend a protest. Sign a petition. Correct anyone when they are prejudiced towards sex workers. Help us push for the full decriminalisation of sex work. We are more than just a fun night out, we need you to stand alongside us too.” 

Overall, I believe that, if done correctly, the presence of sex worker culture in queer nightlife is beneficial. If profiting from our community, promoters must ensure they prioritise booking  people with lived experience of sex work, and ensure they have a crystal clear understanding of how to work with such people. This means implementing a bulletproof safeguarding practice and campaigning for sex worker rights outside of making a quick buck. The same applies to audience goers. Attend a protest. Sign a petition. Correct anyone when they are prejudiced towards sex workers. Help us push for the full decriminalisation of sex work. We are more than just a fun night out, we need you to stand alongside us too. 

READ PART ONE HERE.

Maedb Joy is an artist making political work across poetry and theatre based in London. She is the founder and co-artistic director of Sexquisite Events. 
She can be found on Instagram here, and her website can be found here. 
Instagram:@sexquisite.events | Twitter: @sexqusitevents | Website: https://www.sexquisiteevents.com