Briarpatch: Sex worker feminism
The far right uses this manufactured fear of sex workers and trans people in order to capture political power.
Briarpatch: Fighting fascism in feminism
Who benefits from the creation of highly developed anti-trans and anti–sex work politics? The criminal justice system.
Globe and Mail: Why feminist organizations are finally changing their stances on sex work
While much remains to be done, the shift marks a welcome sea change for the sex-worker rights movement and its historically rocky relationship with feminism.
Chatelaine: Why Sex Workers Are Suing the Canadian Government—Again
Current sex work laws in Canada make it impossible for sex workers to make a living without discrimination.
Briarpatch: Anatomy of an anti-trafficking policy campaign
For the past year, low-income Asian women in Newmarket, Ontario have been engaged in a fierce battle with the town’s council, which has been working to close down their massage businesses by claiming that the workers are both disreputable criminals and sex trafficking victims.
Disarm, Defund, Dismantle: Police Abolition in Canada
Chapter 14: Rights Not Rescue: Defending Migrant Sex Workers from Policing, co-authored with Elene Lam, is part of this collection that imagines a different world where police power is eroded and dissolved forever.
The Truth in Journalism Fact-Checking Guide
Editorial fact-checking is important not only for the sake of journalistic accuracy but also as a tool for addressing broader issues of trust and inclusion.
Xtra Magazine: Protest and Pleasure Series
Xtra is exploring what sexual liberation means in the 21st century through the six-part series Protest and Pleasure by activist and writer Chanelle Gallant.
Chatelaine: One Thing We Can Do To Honour The Women Killed In Atlanta
All massage workers need stronger rights and less policing.
Xtra Magazine: 20 years ago, queer women in Toronto fought the police. And won
Looking back at the women’s bathhouse raids and their aftermath, one organizer says that reforms don’t lead to real change and the only fix for policing is to abolish it.
Chatelaine: A Terrorism Charge Isn’t The Solution To Violence Against Women
The murder of a massage worker has led to a historic charge of incel-related terrorism. But that’s just a symbol, not real action, and not the route to meaningful change for sex workers, or women at large.
Chatelaine: 5 Ways to Make Sex Work Safer In Canada
At least two Canadian sex workers have been killed in 2020. Callous legislation is a big reason their work was so unsafe, and it’s still putting women at risk.
The Tyee: Five Ways to Take Anti-Racist Action During COVID-19
The virus might not discriminate, but society sure does. How white people can push for an anti-racist future.
Beyond Survival: Strategies and Stories from the Transformative Justice Movement
Transformative justice seeks to solve the problem of violence at the grassroots level, without relying on punishment, incarceration, or policing.
Dis/Consent: Perspectives on Sexual Consent and Sexual Violence
Co-author with Andrea Zanin, this chapter in Dis/Consent contributes to the argument that the conversations happening today around consent and sexual violence ignore and erase the multiple forms of oppression that are part and parcel of sexual violence.
Pleasure Activism: The Politics of Feeling Good
How do we make social justice the most pleasurable human experience? How can we awaken within ourselves desires that make it impossible to settle for anything less than a fulfilling life?
Marvellous Grounds: Queer of Colour Formations in Toronto
The first collection of its kind to feature the art, activism, and writings of QTBIPOC in Toronto, Marvellous Grounds tells the stories that have shaped Toronto’s landscape but are frequently forgotten or erased. Chapter co-authored with Monica Forrester.
TruthOut: It’s Time to Confront Sexual Harassment Within Marriage
We need a #MeToo movement to confront sexual harassment and abuse from intimate partners.
Red Light Labour: Sex Work Regulation, Agency, and Resistance
Red Light Labour addresses Canada’s legal regime regulating sex work with an advanced analysis of past and present policy approaches, and considers the ways in which laws and those who uphold them have constructed, controlled, and criminalized sex workers, their workspaces, colleagues, and clients. Chapter co-authored with Elene Lam.
Any Other Way: How Toronto Got Queer
Any Other Way is an eclectic and richly illustrated local history that reveals how these individuals and community networks have transformed Toronto from a place of churches and conservative mores into a city that has consistently led the way in queer activism.