On the evening of September 14^th, Boston’s first ever Sex Worker Pride march took place downtown. The march was organized by Rita Romero of Red Light Disco, and members of the Boston Sex Workers and Allies Collective (BSWAC). Approximately fifty people attended.  

The route of the march followed the streets that were once home to the Combat Zone, Boston’s former red-light district. Participants carried red umbrellas, the symbol of the global sex workers’ rights movement, and held signs with slogans like “OUTLAW POVERTY, NOT PROSTITUTION” and “WHORES STARTED PRIDE.” They marched past Boston’s two remaining strip clubs, Centerfolds and The Glass Slipper, and concluded at Jacque’s Cabaret, Boston’s oldest gay bar, for a performance.  

Speakers represented several allied organizations including Save Our Selves, the Erotic Laborers Alliance of New England, and New Moon Network. They included individuals with varied experience in the adult industry, from “full service” escorts to content creators and fetish providers. Speakers emphasized the harm of social stigma, policing, and criminalization. Members of Protect Trans Futures and the Boston chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America also attended, along with Somerville City Councilor J.T. Scott.  

BSWAC co-founder and Policy Chair Jessica Van Meir discussed the history of sex worker organizing in Boston, including the impact of activist Carol Leigh (aka “Scarlet Harlot”) who first coined the term “sex work,” and whose archives are stored at Harvard’s Schlesinger Library. Van Meir also spoke about the Prostitute’s Union of Massachusetts (PUMA), a group of women who worked in the Combat Zone during the 1970s and laid the groundwork for current efforts to change state law. 

“I want to say to every sex worker here: You deserve safety, you deserve housing, you deserve respect, and you deserve to be listened to,” said Vella Riley, Executive Director of Save Our Selves. “I want to turn my rage into pride,” Mary Carol MacKinnon, Co-Chair of BSWAC, told the crowd.  

International Sex Worker Pride Day, September 14^th, was first recognized in 2019. It honors the labor and resiliency of sex workers across the globe, celebrating solidarity and collective strength in the ongoing fight for justice, rights, and dignity. 

For more information, contact: communications@bswac.org