U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez responded to a report that a New York City paramedic was supplementing her income during the COVID-19 pandemic by working for the adult website OnlyFans. “Sex work is work,” AOC wrote, retweeting a Rolling Stone magazine story that accused the New York Post of shaming the paramedic, 23-year-old Lauren Kwei, for posting content to the OnlyFans site in order to earn extra money.
AOC wants to legalize prostitution
The New York Democrat said any shame should be directed at the federal government, not at sex workers. “The federal gov has done almost nothing to help people in months,” AOC wrote. “We must pass stimulus checks, UI, small biz relief, hospital funding, etc. Keep the focus of shame there, not on marginalizing people surviving a pandemic without help.”
Earlier this month, AOC found herself agreeing with Republican U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, who has also called for stimulus checks for ordinary Americans to be part of the next coronavirus relief bill. “I will gladly work w/ @AOC and anyone else who wants to help working families. Families and working people in need should be the FIRST consideration in COVID relief, not last,” Hawley wrote on Twitter on Dec. 4.
The Rolling Stone article reported that OnlyFans saw sign-ups by creators of adult content spike as much as 75% during the pandemic. The article added that Kwei also worked as a hostess at a Korean restaurant in order to pay her bills – and then called out the Post for not “applauding her for her entrepreneurial spirit.”
Sex work is work.
The federal gov has done almost nothing to help people in months. We must pass stimulus checks, UI, small biz relief, hospital funding, etc.
Keep the focus of shame there, not on marginalizing people surviving a pandemic without help. https://t.co/eYib7310Rs
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) December 16, 2020
Democrats seek to decriminalize sex work
AOC has previously advocated for decriminalizing sex work. Last year she joined fellow progressives Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., in backing the SAFE SEX Workers Study Act. The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., argued at the time that the bill was needed to help determine whether sex-trafficking laws currently on the books were having the effect of knocking sex workers off online sites – only to force them into money-earning situations that might be more dangerous. The bill was referred to the House subcommittee on health but there was no indication that it advanced beyond that point, according to the Congress.gov website.