New York Democrats are hellbent on legalizing prostitution — or as they like to refer to it “sex work.” Progressive Gov. Kathy Hochul, who two years ago gave the shadowy cause a shot in the arm by declaring her willingness to support decriminalization, has just made an ancillary move to speed up the process.
The Hochul administration’s Department of Health “has awarded $1 million in public funds combined over two years to two contractors as part of the new ‘sex worker health pilot program,’” The New York Post reported July 23. “Under the initiative, sex workers in New York City and western New York will be provided with primary, sexual and behavioral health care, as well as dental care.” Health care is now a workers’ benefit for prostitutes in New York, with taxpayers footing the bill.
‘Antithetical to Norms of Society’
Critics have blasted the initiative as a stepping stone to outright legalization. “The Democrats in New York are pushing everything that is antithetical to the norms of society,” Republican state Assemblyman Sam Pirozzolo said. “What are they going to have, a prostitution card? This is a 100 percent step in the direction to decriminalize prostitution.”
There is a mountain of evidence that fully supports the assemblyman’s assertions. As Liberty Nation documented in June, a key motivating factor in progressive globalist billionaire George Soros’ push to place radical leftist district attorneys in big-city posts across America is to decriminalize “sex work.” As LN noted:
“Earlier this year, Soros funded the creation of a stunning guidebook for DAs to follow in pursuit of this goal. ‘Handbook Helps Navigate Non-Prosecution Policies for Sex Work,’ read the headline to an April post on the Yale Law School website touting the project.
“The initiative was produced by Yale Law School’s Global Health Justice Partnership and the leftist Urban Justice Center’s Sex Workers Project. From a section explaining ‘The Decriminalization Model,’ an approach the authors of the guidebook explicitly state they ‘favor’:
“‘Full decriminalization is the complete removal of criminal laws prohibiting sex work … It also removes penalties for clients … and activities including promotion, management, security, transportation, and organizing.’”
In September 2021, Hochul excited decriminalization activists by publicly expressing her sympathies for the efforts. “It is absolutely something I’ve thought about and I’m considering,” she said at a press conference.
“This is amazing,” Bianey Garcia, “an organizer with the advocacy group Make the Road New York and a former sex worker,” told New York news site City & State. “I think Albany is taking sex workers seriously for the first time.” Elected Democrats certainly are.
Progressives for Prostitution
“A sea of red accessories, lipstick, umbrellas and clothing embellished the crowd of around 60 people chanting at the Million Dollar Staircase in the [New York State] Capitol on March 1,” The Legislative Gazette, which covers Albany politics, reported. “Current and former sex workers took to the podium to share their experiences in the profession.”
Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas (Photo by Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)
Democrat officeholders were on hand to back them. “If sex work is how you pay your bills, how you feed your family, and how you survive, we should be making it safer and not more dangerous for you to do so,” state Assembly member Jessica Gonzalez-Rojas exclaimed. “Criminalization of any kind is violence.”
Gonzalez-Rojas, “a long-time supporter of the cause, views the fight for decriminalizing sex work as being under the same umbrella as consenting adults fighting for their bodily autonomy,” the news site wrote.
A second Democrat had a curious take on her duties to the citizens she represents. “If this is what you want to do, then we, as legislators, should be fighting for your right to do it. It’s simple,” Assemblymember Catalina Cruz declared. This is the logical conclusion to the “always say yes” stance Democrats seem to have embraced since the sexual revolution began in the 1960s.
For all practical purposes, prostitution is already legal in New York today. The offense is rarely prosecuted. “Trading sex for money remains illegal in New York due to laws that prohibit selling, buying or promoting sexual services,” The Albany Times Union reported July 7. “But changes to those laws have caused arrests to plummet in recent years: In 2022, there were just 376 prostitution-related arrests statewide compared to 5,244 in 2010, according to the state Division of Criminal Justice Services data.”
The paper heavily quoted a representative from one of the radical groups that partnered with Yale Law School on the Soros-funded handbook for DAs. Faris Ilyas is a “legal fellow at the Urban Justice Center’s Sex Workers Project” who uses “they/them” pronouns. “Ilyas’ side hustle of selling sex involving bondage, dominance and submission (known as BDSM), was entirely by choice. And the activist says they represent a larger group of sex workers who freely chose the job,” The Times-Union wrote.
“A lot of sex workers have degrees; they have other work that they do,” explained Ilyas. “And I think there’s this stereotype that all sex workers are street workers, and they’re deprived, and that’s the only reason they would do this job. But sex work is an industry, and it is very broad.”
Ilyas disapproves of a weaker Democrat-promoted bill in the state legislature that would decriminalize prostitution but still punish those who purchase sex. A rival bill would decriminalize both participants.
photo by Barry Lewis/InPictures via Getty Images)
“Ilyas says the [first] bill’s foundation is the fallacy that all sex workers are victims,” the paper stated. “Instead, [Ilyas is] championing the Stop Violence in the Sex Trade Act, which would decriminalize providers and clients and, in turn, destigmatize the trade while legitimizing its workforce.
“Decriminalization would result in sex work more akin to freelance labor, Ilyas explained, providing sex workers with the freedom to pursue their job while safeguarding them from the dangers of an underground enterprise. That model could provide better access to health care services and safer working conditions, and prevent workers from being targeted by the criminal justice system.”
This is the corrosive broader vision behind Hochul’s outrageous health care initiative. It eerily mirrors the destructive social agenda of a certain moneyed globalist.
“Sex workers, like most workers, have diverse feelings about their work,” reads an article titled “Understanding Sex Work in an Open Society” on Soros’ Open Society Foundations website. “Some sex workers dislike their work but find that it is their best or only option to make a living. Some are agnostic about their work but find that it offers flexibility or good pay. And some enjoy the work and find it all around rewarding or fun. Regardless of what sex workers think about their work, they deserve workplace health and safety and human rights.”
In championing “sex work,” Hochul and her fellow New York Democrats are dancing to a George Soros song. The seamless consistency of stated agenda and political action by sitting elected officials is another jarring testament to the undue hold this man has on American governance today.
