Hunky male sex workers took to the windows of the My Red Light organization in Amsterdam last weekend during Pride.
It was a rare opportunity for Amsterdam Pridegoers to take pictures of the male escort models, as photos aren’t allowed in the red-light district without sex workers’ permission.
Aligning with Amsterdam Pride’s theme, “Remember the Past, Create the Future,” the goal of the August 3 event was to bring awareness to male sex workers and sex workers’ rights.
Usually, the peepshow-like windows that line the red-light district, known as De Wallen, are filled with scantily-clad female sex workers advertising the brothels. My Red Light, a sex worker rights organization, also has windows in the district.
Jens Schmidt, a gay man who founded HUNQZ, which partnered with My Red Light to organize the project, said he walks through the red-light district regularly on his way home.
HUNQZ is the largest escorting network for gay, bisexual, and transgender companionship service with more than 38,000 registered users worldwide. Clients and escorts can discreetly chat and book dates through the network.
“How different it would be if there were men in the windows too?” Schmidt said in an August 2 news release.
“We wanted to partner with My Red Light to raise awareness that every sex worker deserves the same respect and rights as anyone else for the work they do,” said Schmidt.
Four male escort models volunteered for the project.
“I think we made a bit of a splash,” Lukas Daken, one of the models in the window, wrote in an email interview with the Bay Area Reporter.
The 30-year-old queer male escort appreciated the “opportunity to create solidarity among gay and straight sex workers and getting equality for gay people,” he wrote.
“The red-light district is very straight-dominated, so it’s good to get a bit of gayness in there,” he continued, explaining that there is one street for transgender sex workers and another for women, but none for gay men.
“The best thing to come out of it was raising visibility around male sex workers — they do exist — and also helping to promote greater gender equality during Pride in Amsterdam,” he wrote, adding that the project received a lot of positive feedback.
Red zone
The Netherlands, once upheld for its progressive stance on prostitution when it legalized the practice in 2000, is experiencing a backlash with growing opposition to regulated sex work. To target sex trafficking, the Dutch Senate is considering legislation that will punish sex workers’ customers if they pay for sex with someone who has been trafficked, pimped, or otherwise coerced, reported the Independent.
According to opponents, brothels are already shutting down and sex workers are being pushed out throughout the country.
Prostitution supporters and opponents continue to debate the issue, especially in the country’s capital city, Amsterdam, which has benefited from its famed district.
Human trafficking, particularly sex trafficking, underlines much of the debate of legalized prostitution. Since prostitution became legal, the Netherlands has increased its vigilance against human trafficking and other crimes.
Conflicting government reports show a decrease, but assume the number is greater due to the hidden nature of sex trafficking.
Sex work is “constantly conflated with human trafficking” or the dichotomy of the “happy hooker” and the “poor victim,” Velvet December, advocacy coordinator for Proud, a sex worker-led group, and who works at the Netherland’s only lesbian-owned escort agency, De Stoute Vrouw (The Naughty Woman), told Foreign Policy.
This perception of sex workers “leaves no room for the realities we face and to address the problems we see,” she said.
Compounding the issue, recent government-supported gentrification meant to preserve the historic De Wallen has damaged the neighborhood’s bustling sex industry and tourist attraction. An estimated 112 sex worker windows and coffee shops that line the streets have shut down and sex work is limited to two streets: Oude Nieuwstraat and Oudezijds Achterburgwal, reported Foreign Policy.
In the face of these challenges, Amsterdam’s sex workers are pushing for equal employment rights.
Sex workers are required by law to register as independent workers, pay taxes, and pay for health insurance, but they aren’t afforded many rights that other independent workers receive, such as opening a business bank account or unemployment, pensions, and other benefits, reported Foreign Policy.
These challenges are causing many sex workers to simply opt out of registering and to work illegally or relocate to Brussels, Belgium. Belgium legally allows private prostitution, but not brothels, according to Brussels.info/red-light-district.
Amsterdam’s government is working to fix the issue by expanding permits beyond the historic red-light district in order to provide sex workers with more opportunities, but they claim it’s still out of touch with their reality.
Amsterdam’s sex workers want services like HUNQZ.com, where they have the ability to book clients online, which is currently prohibited, Foreign Policy reported. They also want the ability to work from home or visit clients, which is a gray area, according to the Amsterdam government’s website.
Got international LGBT news tips? Call or send them to Heather Cassell at WhatsApp: 415-517-7239, or Skype: heather.cassell, or oitwnews@gmail.com.
