With a renewed push in California to enact progressive reforms of the criminal justice system, advocates and elected leaders are once again highlighting the need to decriminalize sex work.
Gay state Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) recently introduced Senate Bill 357, which would repeal statutes that criminalize loitering with the intent to engage in sex work.
At a panel hosted by the San Francisco Sex-Positive Democratic Club, advocates drew attention to why the bill is needed. Celestina Pearl, the outreach director for St.
James Infirmary, one of the six organizations co-sponsoring the bill, told panelists and attendees during the March 18 forum that the San Francisco nonprofit is working with Wiener to pass SB 357 this year.