The early days of the pandemic were extremely difficult for sex workers in the Toronto, Canada area. People were out of work and desperate to get relief, while police crackdowns were ramped up downtown. Many sex workers struggled just to make ends meet.
[Photo] Alyssa, a sex worker who says her income has plummeted due to the coronavirus
"When Corona broke out, we were wrestling with a wave of crackdowns." Ellie Ad Carr, a board member of the Maggies Toronto Sex Workers Action Project, a sex worker advocacy group based in Toronto, who runs the clinic, said: “We didn’t get any government relief, so we had to set up our own emergency relief and food distribution programs. Sex workers were completely left out of policy.”
In August 2020, just a few months after Ontario announced that it would allow businesses to resume operations, an infected person occurred at the Toronto strip club Brass Rail Tavern. Things got worse when Ontario Premier Doug Ford made hateful comments about the store. "I feel sorry for people who have to go home and come home and say, 'I was actually on the Brass Rail,'" he told reporters. “I feel really sorry for these people. Toronto Mayor John Tory echoed this with a disparaging remark, asking whether Trip Club "needs to open a store" in the midst of a pandemic. "It's ironic that these venues are open and serving while there are still small theaters that can't play -- I don't mean to be critical, just nonsense." Then in September the strip club closed again.
These remarks infuriated Mr. Kerr, who felt it was no different than the government's response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980s. Again, responsibility for the virus was shifted to sex workers. “Sex workers are spreading disease, sex workers are a disgrace – that’s what happens during a pandemic, and sex workers are stigmatized throughout the pandemic,” he said. she told Rolling Stone magazine.
Primarily targets communities where people with no fixed address or illegal immigrants live
It was precisely this negative view of sex workers and their sources of income that prompted the Maggies to respond in kind. Since last summer, Maggies has provided vaccines to at least 3,600 people by setting up accessible vaccination clinics throughout downtown Toronto. Vaccine dispensaries have opened in churches, saunas and shelters, but strip clubs have attracted the most attention. It was one of Ado Carr's conscious actions to "change the narrative" around sex workers during the pandemic.
"I wanted to argue that sex workers are, and have always been, deeply committed to public health," she says.
Over the past year, Maggies has partnered with clinics and authorities in Toronto to set up low-threshold mobile clinics. Those who wish to be vaccinated will be able to receive injections without presenting identification such as a resident card or health insurance card as in the past. After so many had been vaccinated over the past year, Maggies also switched to booster shots. However, according to Jenny Duffy, Maggie's chairman, some people come to get the first and second vaccinations, such as elderly people who could not be vaccinated elsewhere.
Mobile clinics are particularly aimed at people who may not be able to provide documentation for vaccination, such as homeless people and communities of illegal immigrants. It also targets sex workers who fear being marginalized or stigmatized. “The fact that we don't ask for ID is one of the reasons people go to clinics,” says Ad Karr.
The Maggies aren't the only organizations pushing mobile clinics in strip clubs. In Las Vegas, a store called the Hustler Club opened a drive-thru vaccination clinic and offered free lap dancing to vaccinated customers. But in the case of the Maggies, in the midst of a pandemic that left marginalized people behind, they found innovative ways to reach out-of-reach communities like theirs, and in the process, turned their prejudices against the sex industry. Dispelled.
Criticism from anti-vaccine faction
In June 2021, Maggies opened its first vaccine clinic at a local church. There was some backlash in Toronto, with some anti-vaccine groups picketing the streets, Duffy said. "I've been told many times that I'm trying to get you vaccinated by using a strip club as a base, or that it's a filthy place to get vaccinated, or that you'll be vaccinated by a stripper." --In reality, local clinics and health officials affiliated with the Maggies administer the vaccine, but as Duffy chuckles, the criticism is somewhat ironic: sex workers are in the medical field. “It is possible that the doctor who went to the clinic and examined you was a sex worker.”)
When the Maggies reached out to downtown Toronto strip clubs like Zanzibars and Fillmores, their owners were happy to free them up for the vaccine. Here, too, is the fact that mobile clinics are trying to get the public's attention. While sole proprietorships were exempt from license fees during the pandemic, strip clubs still had to pay license fees during the shutdown.
Especially at Zanzibars, the stage was too small to accommodate the vaccinated, so the vaccine was given in the audience. The VIP area was dedicated to where medical workers would load and unload vaccines. At Maggies, clinics are open during club business hours so that dancers and their families can receive vaccines as they arrive and leave work. The door is open to people who don't want to. “There are a lot of sex workers living on the streets and sleeping in parks.
By waiving ID requirements for vaccinations, Maggies are able to reach out directly to communities left out of government services. "It's funny, but these flashy strip clubs have become openly visible places," she says. "But it's this low threshold that gives it a certain anonymity." When Mr. Ado Carr called on illegal immigrants, he said that they traveled five hours all the way to Maggie's clinic to receive the vaccine. The organization is also trying to persuade people who are reluctant to get vaccinated. “I also heard from a lot of people involved in construction, transportation, manual labour—these industries make up the bulk of the anti-vax population in Toronto,” she says. "It's like a strip club, so it's perfect for people who didn't want to get vaccinated in the first place."
[Related article] New Corona, a crisis approaching the US porn industry
from Rolling Stone Japan
