And we back, and we back!
I can finally feel the inklings of Fall sporadically in New York and it’s livening my spirit. A couple more weeks before we’re firmly planted in foliage, Halloween, and my playlist from 2014 titled “Sweater Weather”. I won’t share my playlist (that’s sooooo intimate 🫠) but there’s one I found on Spotify that oozes a similar vibe.
As always, there’s news—a lil grim, a lil joyous, but always important to know. Without further ado… let’s get started!
It takes a village to raise a child… including my literary one! That Deep is entirely supported by readers who value the scoop as well as the intellectual labor and research required for these pieces. If you want more timely and frequent post from me, consider upgrading to a paid subscription, if you haven’t already. There are worse things to do with $5 a month.
Guttmacher Institute has released a new report on abortion data that suggest enormous increases in out of state travel to receive abortion care and depending on the state one is originating from, Texas for example, patients are traveling over 515 miles on average prior to 11 weeks to access abortion care. This is unsustainable and costly for patients as well as the independent clinics and funds assisting them, while burdening the systems of states capable of offering abortion care. With continued attacks on perfectly safe medication such as Mifepristone1, and the deployment of trafficking laws2 historically used to target sex workers and their perceived Black pimps, this fight is nowhere near over.
Danny Masterson of That 70’s Show fame (the use of fame here is generous) has been sentenced in his sexual assault case which found him guilty of drugging and raping multiple women. Justice Olmedo sentenced Masterson to 30 years to life, with his parole eligibility beginning after 25 years served (he’ll be 72). Since his sentencing, it’s been revealed that 50 character letters had been addressed to Judge Olmedo asking for leniency in his sentencing. Co-stars such as Kurtwood Smith, Debra Rupp, and David Trainer casted support as well as couple Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher, the latter of which is the co-founder of Thorn, “anti child sex trafficking” tech non-profit known for using illegal software to endanger adult sex workers and give law enforcement more tools of surveillance and criminalization3.
The story and transcript of character letters can be found on Hollywood Reporters site.
Gay rights in Hong Kong… maybe? Jimmy Shan, an activist and gay man in Hong Kong seeking legal recognition of his same-sex marriage found his case rejected by the high court who refuses to recognize same-sex marriage but stated the city failed to provide alternatives for such couples. The ruling gave courts 2 years to provide a framework for recognizing same-sex union, as long as it’s not marriage. LGBTQIA+ activists in Hong Kong have celebrated small victories for years and it seems this ruling may be regarded as another. Either way, folks on the ground will continue to fight for equality amidst opposition.
Baltimore’s Archdiocese is allegedly broke. With a new law going into effect next month that will allow child sex abuse victims to sue private entities past the statute of limitations (up to $1.5 mil) the good ole church is attempting to get ahead of the lines of survivors seeking some financial retribution. Personally, I’m of the belief that if the B-more chapter doesn’t have the coin, one of their thousands of sister diocese will and as always, it’s fuck The Church.
Is AI the future of sex work? That’s the question both tech companies and us heaux’s have to contend with in light of recent developments in chatbots and AI systems. NBCnews investigated the hundreds of NSFW ads promoting virtual sex workers and girlfriends on websites such as TikTok and Meta (Instagram & Facebooks parent company), both of which are known for their stringent policies on nudity and content deemed sexually explicit that disproportionately targets sex workers, even when there’s no violation of T&S4. I’ve personally had my accounts on both platforms suspended previously for “abusive behavior” and “explicit content harmful to minors” just discussing my life as a sex worker. Despite these restrictions, AI seems capable of circumventing measures meant to remove such content and no one knows what to do about it.
The Nigerian government is taking a page out of the colonizer’s book. Over 60 people were arrested after attending a same-sex wedding in Southern Nigeria. Same-sex marriage which is punishable by 14 years of prison is decidedly being enforced by Nigerian police who state these arrests are a sign that the country was going to use an “iron fist against gay unions”. This is coming off of other extreme responses to queer relationships such as Uganda who in May passed a law making some homosexual acts punishable by death. Big L for the continent in this regard.
If you’re nosy and watch Love Island in part for the accents, the BBC has a show coming you might be interested in. Sex Rated hosted by Rylan and Ruby Rare is set to premiere on September 20th. And apparently it’s a bunch of “open-minded” people reuniting with their exes to debrief their relationships on camera. Me smells a hit! Can’t speak for anyone else by EYE will be tuned in, please and thank you.
The ACLU goes to war for sex workers… again. Mastercard, one of the largest payment processors in the world updated their policies back in 2021 for adult content websites using its services and created additional red tape as well as content restrictions and archived ID verification that endangers workers. The impact has already been felt, and after thousands raised the alarm about their discriminatory and dangerous practices, ACLU lodged a complain with the FTC about these policies leading to an investigation into Mastercard’s practices. Hopefully this trend continues and carries to other processors such as Visa and PayPal who’ve adopted similar draconian policies and whorephobic stances.
The carceral state could never meet the demands of feminist and those invested in gender equity. It’s important to contextualize how detention and incarceration are active tools not only used to punish women, but everyone found deviant within the White Supremacist Capitalist structure. This week, a federal grand jury returned an indictment against three men accused of raping a Salvadoran migrant man detained in LaSalle County Regional Detention Center. This facility is one of many where such stories of sexual abuse and violence are pervasive. And considering there’s both empirical data and observed evidence that empathy for male survivors of sexual assault has lowered among women5 (a phenomenon due to pop feminism, bioessentialism and white supremacy, imo), I’m asserting loudly that analysis that refuses to consider race, class, gender and ability… is shitty analysis and in direct opposition of liberation for anyone, let alone women. The boogeyman isn’t men (especially the racialized ones), but rather power structures that enable and require certain men (read: cishet wealthy White ones) live at the top.
The article detailing the indictment is here
A hefty investigative piece Futuro completed on sexual abuse in ICE detention
And that’s the news. A little shorter this month but stuffed with info to digest. There are a couple more post coming y’alls way in the coming days/weeks, a lil more for my paying peeps. I hope the month of September is kind to you and provides you with opportunities to be a nuisance to those in power and an accomplice to the folks trying to topple their thrones.
Later,
Nia Òla 💛
https://www.fda.gov/drugs/postmarket-drug-safety-information-patients-and-providers/questions-and-answers-mifepristone-medical-termination-pregnancy-through-ten-weeks-gestation
https://www.texastribune.org/2023/09/01/texas-cities-abortion-trafficking/#:~:text=Asked%20about%20the%20constitutionality%20of,he%20says%2C%20so%20is%20this.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2022/12/09/amazon-ashton-kutcher-sex-work-surveillance/?sh=1db4226f6d23
https://www.wired.com/story/roe-abortion-sex-worker-policy/
https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605211062990
Super shook but the ai generated girlfriends and nsfw characters omg. So many interesting articles here! Thank you for all that you do!!