Having apparently solved all the other problems in Illinois, state lawmakers are considering legalizing prostitution. Using the job title “sex worker,” they rationalize this terrible idea with a number of dumb reasons, chiefly the claim that legalized “sex work” will keep prostitution victims safe.
“Sex workers live under the near constant threat of violence: 75 percent of all sex workers will experience sexual violence in their careers and nearly two-thirds of all trans people killed in the past decade were sex workers,” the so-called Keeping Sex Workers Safe Act reasons. “It is the criminalization of adult consensual sex work that makes it so dangerous. When adult consensual sex work is decriminalized, sex workers can vet their clients, can always meet clients in safe spaces of their own choosing, and can go to law enforcement for protection and support.”
It means crime will still happen, but it won’t be so awkward to tell the police. That is not the same as safe.
The bill is filthy with the word “consensual,” but prostitution is never consensual. It is always, always, done out of desperation or coercion. Even when a prostitute defiantly insists it is their lifestyle choice, it is far more likely they are a controlled trafficking victim, or a person in pain, suffering from trauma. Children raised by screens and parents who mentally checked out; children who were sexually abused, or were otherwise neglected, may not understand the emotional consequences of prostitution.
“What young person wants to grow up and be a receptacle for others’ sexual fluids? They are cheapening sex, human beings, and our bodies, which are fearfully and wonderfully made by God. They’re commodifying our bodies,” David E. Smith, executive director of Illinois Family Action, told the Federalist.
The advocacy for this bill came through Equality Illinois, an LGBTQ organizer of the Sex Worker Advisory Group (SWAG) which worked on the legislation.
“The Sex Worker Advisory Group—a powerful coalition of Black and Brown, current and former sex workers, many of whom identify as trans, gender diverse, and/or queer—has been advocating for over three years to address the unique challenges faced by sex workers in Illinois,” a January statement from the group said.
The bill ignores the reality of morality, denying the intimacy and vulnerability intrinsic in sex, and the emotional damage sex can inflict when used outside the bounds of love.
The government should protect our cars from potholes and our society from normalizing soul-crushing sexual activity — not turning it into a business transaction.
The measure lists more reasons to legalize prostitution, saying the United Nations Working Group on Discrimination Against Women and Girls calls for decriminalization of sex work globally. Yes, the UN says sex work is a “basic human right,” and if prostitution is a “right” it is in danger of being taken away.
“We are currently living in a time where too many powerful forces are trying to take away people’s bodily autonomy,” the bill reads. “We saw this with the Dobbs decision ending the right to abortion. We are seeing this in real time with the criminalization of gender affirming care. We see this with anti-LGBTQ+ legislation sweeping state legislatures across the country. We can’t be truly free when our adult consensual sexual relationships are criminalized.”
The measure, HB3518, is sponsored by Chicago Democrat, Rep. Will Guzzardi in the Illinois House, and SB2391 is sponsored by Sen. Celina Villanueva in the Senate.
It prohibits law enforcement from charging anyone involved in consensual sex with prostitution. It makes prostitutes legal employees, as independent contractors or — pimps will be glad to know — employees.
The bill gives them the same rights and protections as other workers under Illinois law, including:
Earning a $15 an hour minimum wage. The right to unionize.
Pimps Employers, must provide protection against discrimination, harassment, and unsafe working conditions.
Under the bill, prostitutes will have access to health benefits and workers’ compensation, which provides an income when a worker is sick. It means prostitutes can take a break and take care of yeast infections, sexually transmitted disease, pregnancy, or AIDS and continue earning.
“Sex workers operating as independent contractors shall be treated as legitimate sole proprietors or businesses under Illinois law,” the bill says. It means the state will finally get some tax dollars from prostitution.
“When the society says, ‘Let’s make sex working legal,’ people are going to say, ‘Oh, the government says this is okay to do. It must be fine,’” Smith said.
When Illinois legalized gambling, gambling increased, Smith said. Then marijuana was legalized and use increased. He predicts the same for prostitution.
“We’re going to have a saloon next to a mini casino, next to a weed shop next to a brothel,” Smith said. “Sound family friendly to you? This is what they’re turning to — to regulate and, of course, then tax.”
Democrats want to make prostitution a dignified profession, but dignity will never be attached to selling sex, no matter how they try to class it up. Like legal LDL cholesterol and cigarettes, legal prostitution will only lead to broken hearts.
Beth Brelje is an elections correspondent for The Federalist. She is an award-winning investigative journalist with decades of media experience.
