Comments

1
Shouldn't the Weakly try to do this through the discovery process? Like after they've filed suit? So they don't waste the time of public officials to unclear ends?
2
Ooh! Ooh! I have one, Cienna, but this theory's by Mistress Matisse, from her column in the Stranger this week entitled "Ashton Kutcher's Child-Sex-Slave Freak-Out":
Will someone give Ashton Kutcher a glass of orange juice? Because he's officially the Anita Bryant of sex workers.
[...]
Regardless of VVM's motivations, no one really knows how many child prostitutes there are: not law enforcement, not scholars, and certainly not "rescue" organizations. They should stop saying they do. Their response to this: "Well, any child being sexually exploited is too many, so it doesn't matter if we inflated the number." I agree with the first part—but truth does matter.
[...]
Children being sexually exploited is reprehensible. But the people for whom Kutcher shills use scare tactics not only to fund their industry, but also to institute "proactive policing" of adult sites—meaning: censor and pressure them out of existence. Americans have given up a lot of freedom and privacy to people who say it's for our own safety. I'm dismayed to see the protection of children becoming, like patriotism, the last refuge of scoundrels.
http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/contr…
3
Let me repost the same thing I posted on Matisse's column with one addition: I am disgusted with the fact that the Stranger is ignoring the voices of REAL PEOPLE who are legitimately hurt by this hysteria. Your 'policy' doesn't actually do anything to stop child prostitution nor other forms of trafficking. It merely makes things more inconvenient for everyone, legitimate and illegitimate alike.

"And if they shut down Backpage, then what? The government and media pressure shutting down anything else they disapprove of with the use of blatant and indefensible lies?

VV currently works with law enforcement to report and remove possible ads that involve minors. The prostitution industry also works hard to police itself because every case of a 16 or 17 year old involved in prostitution (who can legally have sex with adults but become both criminals and victims simultaneously if they receive anything of value) is used as an excuse for violent raids and arrest. Internet advertising has done more to clean up the sex work industry than the last 100 years of prosecution.

In this economic climate, we have to focus on tactics that actually work! It wasn't that long ago that the City of Seattle executed a violent raid (rifles out, SWAT gear on, women tossed to the ground and handcuffed on the floor). One of the women (who enjoyed her job because of the flexibility and excellent pay that she used to take care of her young child instead of relying on public assistance) had an asthma attack and police spent minutes ignoring her and then debating whether they should allow her into her purse to get her inhaler. They had spent months paying officers to go in and get handjobs to bust an establishment that had been operating peacefully in the neighborhood for 8 YEARS. Did prostitution stop in Seattle because of the hundreds of paid personnel involved? Of course not. They are still in the exact same location but now they go to work in fear instead of the comfort and security everyone enjoyed peacefully previously. All the women there were US citizens over 18 who had decided that sex work was their best option. Many had advanced degrees or were students, some were high school dropouts, most were single mothers and all of them were making more than $100/hour working a flexible part time job.

Let's waste money raiding a McDonald's. Ridiculous labor law violations and tons of single mothers who have to take food home from work to supplement the unliveable wage they receive. I got my first job at one at 15. No one called that trafficking."
4
I mentioned this in the comments to another post a few days ago, but I'm still unclear why the Seattle ad guidelines for Naughty NW that Cienna linked to require a visit to The Stranger's office in Seattle to prove your ID but the same page for Portland doesn't require a visit to the Mercury's office.
5
I can't imagine why they included "Andy Van De Voorde".. Andy VDV is a complete dick. Oh sure, he's competent in the corporate climbing, sycophantic, dick-sucking aptitude test, but he's a vapid corporate whore. I was never impressed with him as a person when I met him. I'm sure he doesn't care about that, but the fact remains: He's shoveling the shit for a corporation that's gone from radical & ground-breaking to mixing the new pablum for the masses.

If I were him, I'd be embarrassed that I was a running dog for the masters who were making a pretty penny off of my efforts. Bleh.
6
My but The Stranger and McGinn are a cozy couple.

I look forward to reading whatever the Weekly digs up.
7
Cienna, Stranger, et al, you're not doing yourself any favors by using this situation to bash SW. Yes, they could be handling this better, but the attacks by the mayor's office are pretty scummy. You come across as approving & encouraging McGinn's ham-fisted hysteria. Do you? Do you honestly think that if they hang Backpages on their office wall as a trophy, they're going to stop at that? Are you so smug that you think NaughtyNW will never be targeted? Since when do the moralists back off after they've tasted blood? (Psst, I'll give you the answer: NEVER)

Instead of the snark, why not try playing referee? Even tho you might view Backpages as a rival and want them eliminated, it's in your best interests to keep the industry as a whole free from the moralists & their desire to make sex as illegal and invisible as possible.

I just don't see the logic of your position. Is there something else going on here that you're not telling us?
8
@4 - the Mercury does not print escort ads, only the Stranger does.
9
Hey, it's great that everyone is suddenly finding religion on protecting sex workers, but if the SPD was really hated up and oppressive in this specific case they'd be breaking down doors and arresting folks at the Weekly. As it stands, they have a very specific complaint.

If you fix that fucking problem you can tell Ashton Kutcher to fuck off. Giving him any more airtime beyond that is just stupid.

Oh, and then you can start doing something instead of being OMG ABSOLUTELY OUTRAGED!!! over something that wasn't on your radar before. Decriminalize and educate. Don't try to play keep away and shove sex workers into the shadows anytime there's some kind of intense scrutiny for some reason.

World's oldest profession, after all. I'm sure they've dealt with worse.
11
"My weekly trip to the grocery store gets stranger every time. Today I saw a cat reading a newspaper that had an ad on the backpage of Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher snorting jello."
12
@11, that is the best Medude imitation I have ever read!
13
As for the conspiracy theory, they are looking for anything that may imply that McGinn is ignoring the Stranger because of political support. Hey, not your fault that the previous mayor and McGinns oponent were douchebags.
14
@9: "Oh, and then you can start doing something instead of being OMG ABSOLUTELY OUTRAGED!!! over something that wasn't on your radar before. Decriminalize and educate. Don't try to play keep away and shove sex workers into the shadows anytime there's some kind of intense scrutiny for some reason."

Benevolent neglect is the only Christian thing one can do.
15
Can we legalize prostitution now, please. It is the best way to regulate it.
16
Why are you trying to stop reporters from doing their jobs? The Stranger=Hypocritical Dbags today.

Just b/c the city doesn't plan to spend money w/ the Weekly doesn't mean The Stranger and Times will be getting that money. And the editorial boards of the two newspapers shouldn't be worrying about that anyway.
17
@16: "Why are you trying to stop reporters from doing their jobs? The Stranger=Hypocritical Dbags today."

Are you illiterate or just stupid?
18
Both.
19
Are you a sexy/evil zombie or a sexy/evil vampire?
20
I prefer the vamps to the rotting corpses, meself.

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