MARCH 3 - INTERNATION SEX WORKERS DAY NEWS ARTICLE
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/TorontoSun/News/2005/03/04/949913-sun.html
Fri, March 4, 2005
Bawdy Is Their Temple
Hookers want rostitution controlled by simple licences, Mike Strobel writes
By MIKE STROBEL
Fri, March 4, 2005
BAY AND QUEEN. Windchill, oh, minus 15. Colder than a hooker's heart?
Whoever coined that phrase is nowhere in sight.
A bitter gale bellows up the steps to Old City Hall.
Many a john has trudged those stairs, pondering what to tell his wife after he sees the judge.
Not yesterday, though. Those cops in the van are just keeping an eye on the prostitutes' demo.
One cop per three marchers, including brave Amy in fishnet.
Even the Naked Protester is bundled up. Abuzar Chaudhary, 28, shows up at various demos, clad in nothing, or next to it.
Not this day. Three layers, a scarf and a tuque.
I lend my gloves to Wendy Babcock, 25.
Wendy is a wisecracking cutie in long, dark hair and schoolmarm glasses. She tells me she tried the dominatrix game until some guy asked her to feed him dog food.
The street got her at 15. She has been an escort since. But she's on sabbatical, still shocked by the murder of friend and colleague Liem Pham 17 months ago.
Over her shoulder, the Cenotaph looms. To Our Glorious Dead, it says.
Val Scott, leader of Sex Professionals of Canada (SPOC), works the bullhorn.
This rally is to mark International Sex Workers' Rights Day. How March 3 won that honour is a bit hazy.
There is also an International Sex Worker Day, in December. Hallmark must be confused.
Maybe every day should be Sex Worker Day.
Val has preached this for 20 years. SPOC wants prostitution decriminalized as it is in parts of Australia. Business licence, nothing more. Pimps and other leeches needed no longer.
SPOC does not want the biz "legalized," controlled, as it is in Amsterdam, where the winners are brothel owners and the feds.
'GOD DOES NOT WANT THIS'
The demo pamphlets explain this. SPOC hands them out at streetcar doors and to people scurrying by, heads down.
Tough crowd.
"God does not want this," Diana Findley, 52, tells me.
"With AIDS and syphilis spreading like wildfire?
"Our bodies are meant to be the Temple of the Holy Ghost."
The hookers have better luck with three passing plumbers.
"It's the oldest profession," says Jeff Wilson, 34. "You got hot dog vendors on every corner, what's the difference."
Ah, hot dog vendors. The second oldest profession.
I count only seven real hookers. But hookers always draw a crowd.
Chanelle Gallant, 30, is here in support. She runs Good For Her, a sex shop on Harbord St.
"Sex workers are treated like dirt," says Chanelle. "It's the civil rights issue of our time."
Placards bob about. "Pagans and Whores Unite," says one. I forget to ask what it means.
Nearby, Lorianna Colalillo, 28, is a vision in white faux fur and boots.
She looks like a Russian countess and calls herself a "courtesan." She is a Hamilton girl, and an escort for 10 years.
"I'm proud to be a prostitute. It's my job. I'm a one-woman business.
"But it's a stepping stone for me. I'm saving up for school." Something in the healing field.
Your folks?
"They don't approve, but they need to realize I'm a grown woman and can make decisions for myself."
The protest peters out. The hookers et al wander over to Timothy's for hot chocolate and pastries.
"I read that 73% of Canadian men have seen a sex worker," Wendy Babcock tells me. "How 'bout you?"
Do strip clubs count?
"Sure thing."
Then, no.
But Wendy has heard many lies. Seen many sins.
"Lawyers are the worst," she says. One tipped her a twoonie, then demanded it back because he needed subway fare.
Funny thing, Wendy's beau is bound for law school, though when she met him he was just an exhibitionist.
"Most of us are everyday people," says Lorianna Colalillo.
I don't know about "everyday."
But it is wrong to call them criminals.
Annessa
xoxo
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/TorontoSun/News/2005/03/04/949913-sun.html
Fri, March 4, 2005
Bawdy Is Their Temple
Hookers want rostitution controlled by simple licences, Mike Strobel writes
By MIKE STROBEL
Fri, March 4, 2005
BAY AND QUEEN. Windchill, oh, minus 15. Colder than a hooker's heart?
Whoever coined that phrase is nowhere in sight.
A bitter gale bellows up the steps to Old City Hall.
Many a john has trudged those stairs, pondering what to tell his wife after he sees the judge.
Not yesterday, though. Those cops in the van are just keeping an eye on the prostitutes' demo.
One cop per three marchers, including brave Amy in fishnet.
Even the Naked Protester is bundled up. Abuzar Chaudhary, 28, shows up at various demos, clad in nothing, or next to it.
Not this day. Three layers, a scarf and a tuque.
I lend my gloves to Wendy Babcock, 25.
Wendy is a wisecracking cutie in long, dark hair and schoolmarm glasses. She tells me she tried the dominatrix game until some guy asked her to feed him dog food.
The street got her at 15. She has been an escort since. But she's on sabbatical, still shocked by the murder of friend and colleague Liem Pham 17 months ago.
Over her shoulder, the Cenotaph looms. To Our Glorious Dead, it says.
Val Scott, leader of Sex Professionals of Canada (SPOC), works the bullhorn.
This rally is to mark International Sex Workers' Rights Day. How March 3 won that honour is a bit hazy.
There is also an International Sex Worker Day, in December. Hallmark must be confused.
Maybe every day should be Sex Worker Day.
Val has preached this for 20 years. SPOC wants prostitution decriminalized as it is in parts of Australia. Business licence, nothing more. Pimps and other leeches needed no longer.
SPOC does not want the biz "legalized," controlled, as it is in Amsterdam, where the winners are brothel owners and the feds.
'GOD DOES NOT WANT THIS'
The demo pamphlets explain this. SPOC hands them out at streetcar doors and to people scurrying by, heads down.
Tough crowd.
"God does not want this," Diana Findley, 52, tells me.
"With AIDS and syphilis spreading like wildfire?
"Our bodies are meant to be the Temple of the Holy Ghost."
The hookers have better luck with three passing plumbers.
"It's the oldest profession," says Jeff Wilson, 34. "You got hot dog vendors on every corner, what's the difference."
Ah, hot dog vendors. The second oldest profession.
I count only seven real hookers. But hookers always draw a crowd.
Chanelle Gallant, 30, is here in support. She runs Good For Her, a sex shop on Harbord St.
"Sex workers are treated like dirt," says Chanelle. "It's the civil rights issue of our time."
Placards bob about. "Pagans and Whores Unite," says one. I forget to ask what it means.
Nearby, Lorianna Colalillo, 28, is a vision in white faux fur and boots.
She looks like a Russian countess and calls herself a "courtesan." She is a Hamilton girl, and an escort for 10 years.
"I'm proud to be a prostitute. It's my job. I'm a one-woman business.
"But it's a stepping stone for me. I'm saving up for school." Something in the healing field.
Your folks?
"They don't approve, but they need to realize I'm a grown woman and can make decisions for myself."
The protest peters out. The hookers et al wander over to Timothy's for hot chocolate and pastries.
"I read that 73% of Canadian men have seen a sex worker," Wendy Babcock tells me. "How 'bout you?"
Do strip clubs count?
"Sure thing."
Then, no.
But Wendy has heard many lies. Seen many sins.
"Lawyers are the worst," she says. One tipped her a twoonie, then demanded it back because he needed subway fare.
Funny thing, Wendy's beau is bound for law school, though when she met him he was just an exhibitionist.
"Most of us are everyday people," says Lorianna Colalillo.
I don't know about "everyday."
But it is wrong to call them criminals.
Annessa
xoxo
