In recent years, the movement for the rights of same-sex attracted individuals has been infiltrated by activists advocating for the decriminalization of pimping and the purchasing of sex. These advocates, aligned with trans rights activists, have integrated themselves into the LGBTQ+ community under the guise of “sex workers’ rights”. However, their efforts have had detrimental consequences, particularly for vulnerable members of society, such as children.
Recently, in California, LGBTQ+ activists successfully opposed increased penalties for adults soliciting sex from prostituted children. Republican Senator Shannon Grove introduced a bill to combat this issue, but faced opposition from activists who claimed that tougher penalties would disproportionately impact marginalized communities, including the LGBTQ+ community.
The amended bill in California now allows for soliciting children aged 16-17 to be punished as a felony only under certain conditions, weakening its original impact. This raises concerns about the protection of children from sexual exploitation and questions the priorities of the LGBTQ+ community in framing this issue as a matter of sexual identity.
It is essential to reframe the discourse around prostitution within the LGBTQ+ movement and society as a whole, to recognize it as a form of exploitation rather than a facet of sexual identity. Advocating for the decriminalization of prostitution under the guise of LGBTQ+ rights is harmful and undermines efforts to protect vulnerable individuals.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.