Rethink Resources

I get this question a lot. And it’s a layered story. I don’t find it easy to describe it in a sentence or two; although I’ve certainly tried when pressed. I’ve been involved in organizations and efforts on women and youth in the sex trade for about 17 years now. I’ll be describing some of that work in upcoming posts but I thought I’d start with what I think of as my “official” start to this work.

In the fall of 1991 I moved to Minneapolis with my partner Terri and looked around for activist work where I could contribute my skills, having been a political organizer for years at that point. We had actually just arrived in town when we heard of plans for the local Take Back the Night demonstration protesting violence against women.

Several thousand women and men attended the demonstration and speakout. The Twin Cities march also had a mini-conference with workshops during the day at the community college next to Loring Park.

As I remember we didn’t even consider going to the workshops, too busy people watching and exploring what our new city had to offer. But a friend of ours came up to us and explained she needed our help with something right now.

On our way over our friend explained that she was part of the security team for the march and a situation was about to get out of hand. March organizers needed people who could make sure participants of a workshop could continue their workshop and leave safely at the end. It all seemed a bit mystifying until we got to the corridor and saw what appeared to be a screaming match between two groups of people.

On one side was the workshop (which was in progress at this time), a few of the workshop participants who were in the hallway now, supporters of the workshop and some Take Back the Night volunteers. The workshop was being facilitated by members of WHISPER - Women Hurt in Systems of Prostitution Engaged in Revolt, an organization grounded in the anti-pornography work of the 80’s. I don’t even remember what the workshop was about exactly. Just that it was about prostitution and participants, staff and other women who identified as survivors of prostitution were speaking about their experiences.

In the other side were mostly women who opposed WHISPER. I figured this out by what they were yelling. Of course there was a lot of yelling. For people talking about being silenced there was a whole lot of loudness to me.

While this argument was far more than about individual people, two women who have each had a deep impact on Minneapolis/St. Paul prostitution dialogues were at the center of this heated exchange in the hallway of the community college. In the workshop was the founder of WHISPER, Evelina Giobbe. In the hallway I got to meet Rebecca Rand, owner of several prostitution services (the term used in the Twin Cities is “sauna” - basically in an in-call location in a storefront, pretending to just give massages). I didn’t even know who she was really. She made her way through the crowd accompanied by two bodyguards who literally looked like they’d stepped out of a movie, in suits, sunglasses and shoulders like linebackers.

To say that the march organizers and our friend choose wisely by asking Terri and I to stand in front of the door is an understatement. Both of us had extensive demonstration experience and refused to get caught up in the arguments swirling around the hallway. The workshop leaders decided to close the workshop to new participants with all the commotion.

So as people demanded to be let in or tried to push their way in, we refused. After a while the workshop was over. And we stood with march organizers hands linked to make a path for the people who had been in the workshop to leave through a back entrance and onto the street.

We stepped out the back way as well and left the march to talk over what we had just experienced. I definitely wanted to learn more about WHISPER and became involved in different ways when I lived in Minneapolis. I’ll talk more about that and other experiences another time.