If Sex Work Were Legal, Would Providers Have To See Everyone?
Or risk violating anti-discrimination laws?
What if sex work were to become legal at some point — would that mean that providers would have to see anyone and everyone or risk running afoul of anti-discrimination laws? It doesn’t seem like that would be fair. After all, having sex with someone is a lot more intimate than say, baking a cake for them or serving them coffee. Shouldn’t providers get a say in who they are intimate with?
As it stands, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibit discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion and disability in any public accommodation. The Supreme Court has ruled that Title IX of the Civil Rights Act also applies to gender and sexual orientation. This means that any place that is open to the general public, such as a restaurant or a store, can’t refuse goods or services to anyone based on those reasons. Religions institutions such as churches or synagogues are however exempt from these laws.
But is sex work truly a public accommodation? Private clubs, such as many golf clubs, do not allow women to be members unless they have a joint membership with either their father or husband. Some, like Burning Tree in Bethesda, MD have no women’s locker rooms or bathrooms, and…
