This month, ‘Sex Beyond Binaries’ calls for activism beyond binaries and recognition that trans and sex worker struggles share common ground.

There are clear links between trans liberation and sex worker struggles, including the struggle for bodily autonomy and increasing criminalization and anti-trans and sex work laws. Recognizing these commonalities is essential to create solidarity and organize together.

Organizing in Solidarity: Similarities Between Trans and Sex Worker Struggles by Jake Hall

Trans Liberation Must Include Sex Workers

It used to be the case that walking down the streets of New York and simply “looking like a prostitute” was enough to get you arrested. For more than four decades, cops had the power to target whoever they wanted, thanks to a blatantly discriminatory anti-loitering law. Overwhelmingly –– and predictably –– cops used these powers to 

After years of campaigning –– led largely by trans, sex-working activists of color, such as 

, as it became known, was repealed in 2021. Prostitution-related arrests in New York City 

Stories like these prove what activists have long known: the struggles of trans and sex working communities are inextricably linked. Trans liberation 

The first, most obvious reason, is that trans people can also be sex workers. This is especially true of those trying to access healthcare, which still has endless barriers: maybe there’s a 

 to access treatment through state health services; maybe 

 the treatment you’re wanting; maybe you’re undocumented, meaning you 

. Whatever the reason, trans communities often have to cover the cost of expensive, gender-related surgeries and medication themselves, meaning they need cash, and quickly. That’s where sex work comes in. As 

, a UK-based indie porn performer, adds, “Our fetishization by cisgender people creates a demand [for trans sex workers] that allows many of us to pay rent.”

“Our fetishization by cisgender people creates a demand [for trans sex workers] that allows many of us to pay rent.”

This work can be dangerous, even lethal –– 

 –– but it can also be a lifeline. This violence can be interpersonal, but plenty of danger comes from the state. It’s in laws which 

, pushing workers underground and into riskier circumstances. It’s in the intense gatekeeping of trans healthcare, which forces people to risk 

 and surgeries. It’s in the attitudes of cops, who –– as the ‘Walking While Trans’ bill proved –– have targeted sex workers and trans communities simply because they can.

The “most profound link” binding these community struggles is the issue of bodily autonomy, says 

, a 32-year-old US-based JustForFans creator. He explains, “Trans people seek appropriate healthcare as expression of our bodily autonomy, just as sex workers perform whatever form of economic labor makes the most sense for us as individuals. To restrict these forms of personal expression and personal choice is a violation of our capacity to decide how our bodies look, feel, and move through the world. Without bodily autonomy, none of us can fully participate in life or call ourselves free.”

Criminalization plays a huge role, too –– Richards says it’s the biggest threat to trans sex workers right now, citing “coordinated efforts to criminalize the very act of being transgender, and to label it as inherently a sexual expression.”

“Trans people seek appropriate healthcare as expression of our bodily autonomy, just as sex workers perform whatever form of economic labor makes the most sense for us as individuals.”

This extends to online restriction of adult content. Whether they’re sex workers or not, Richards says trans people are “being labeled as obscene and removed from public life,” largely because trans people are treated as unsafe for kids solely by existing. Increasingly, 

 that anti-trans advocates are the same lobbyists pushing for anti-porn bills under the guise of child protection. 

, a US-based photographer and sex worker, 

has been calling on the organizers of “anti-trans bill” trackers

 to include states cracking down on adult content censorship. “The enemy is running circles around us with ‘save the children’ propaganda,” they wrote in a Twitter thread earlier this year. Cosmos concurs, highlighting: “There’s a good reason why the acronyms TERF –– trans-exclusionary radical feminist –– and SWERF –– sex worker-exclusionary radical feminist –– are almost identical. Our enemies are the same people, and their hatred of us bears significant similarities.”

marginalized communities are intrinsically linked. We live under capitalism, which exploits the poor to make money for the rich. Many of us live under right-wing –– and in some cases, far-right –– governments, which view any difference from the cis, white, straight, able-bodied norm as something to be regulated at best and punished at worst. Even left-wing governments tend to view trans and sex workers’ rights as fringe issues unworthy of serious focus.

Now, more than ever, solidarity is needed. A fight for trans liberation must be anti-racist and pro-sex workers’ rights. It must address the needs of disabled communities and of working-class communities. These issues are too commonly siphoned off from one another –– which Richards believes is “not accidental, but rather part of a very intentional pattern to disrupt efforts toward solidarity and partnership.” In his eyes, “people in positions of power are inherently threatened by a true coalition of diverse folks who are aware of their own communal circumstances.”

“People in positions of power are inherently threatened by a true coalition of diverse folks who are aware of their own communal circumstances.”

Rather than mounting “us versus them” arguments, it’s crucial to underline issues –– poverty, bodily autonomy, criminalization, police brutality, starvation of funding and resources –– that bind us. This isn’t always happening. According to Richards, “Some of the loudest advocates of transgender liberation refuse to even speak of sex workers’ rights.” Not only does this stance alienate trans sex workers, “miss potential allies and fragment communities,” it’s ahistorical. Trans sex workers have played vital roles in mutual aid and community care initiatives: from 

, these initiatives have offered vital help to those in need.

Clearly, treating trans and sex workers’ rights as separate struggles does nobody any favors –– apart from those fighting to persecute both groups. As it stands, key links are being missed; if acknowledged, they could provide fertile ground for coalition-building.

Treating trans and sex workers’ rights as separate struggles does nobody any favors –– apart from those fighting to persecute both groups.

“My friends and I recognize shared struggles between trans people facing violence, 

, people of color facing police violence,” Richards concluded. “But I don’t see enough vocal and public discussion of these connections.” It’s easy to pit communities against each other. It’s even easier to point fingers within our own ranks. But by zooming out to look at the bigger picture, there are countless key issues to organize around in solidarity with one another.