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MO Ho Justice Thotty Thursday post. Title slide. Text reads "Black History: Sex Worker Movement Mothers." Includes photos of Miss Major, Ceyenne Doroshow, and Marsha P. Johnson.

Slide 2. Text reads "This Black History Month, we are honoring and celebrating Black Sex Workers who are movement leaders within LGBTQ+ and sex-working communities. They have fought for our rights and worked tirelessly to ensure we have safe spaces under this heteronormative and criminalizing system. Content note: This post contains mentions of violence against sex workers and trans people."

Slide 3. Text reads "Miss Major Griffin-Gracy. All pronouns. 1940-present. Former sex worker, Stonewall veteran, a mother of the modern trans rights movement and 'mama' to many in the LGBTQ+ community. Survivor of Dannemora Prison and Bellevue Hospital's 'queen tank,' advocates for and supports trans women of color surviving state violence. Cared for people with HIV/AIDS in New York in the 1980s, led San Francisco's first mobile needle exchange in 1988. Founder and executive director of House of GG, the first educational and historical center solely dedicated to trans and gender-nonconforming people." Includes photo of Miss Major with the following quote: "If this world is going to get its act together, they have to support—and put in the front to lead this revolution—the people who are the most oppressed, which is my Black transgender community."

Slide 4. Text reads "Marsha P 'Pay It No Mind' Johnson. She/her. 1945-1992. Trans rights movement mother, sex worker, drag queen, Stonewall uprising leader. Co-founded Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR) with longtime friend Sylvia Rivera in 1970, working to shelter unhoused transgender youth and challenge racism and transphobia in the mainstream gay liberation movement. Diagnosed with HIV in 1990 and was outspoken against HIV stigma. Self-identified as gay, a transvestite, and a drag queen; the term 'transgender' only became commonly used after her death." Includes photo of Marsha P. Johnson with the following quotes. Quote 1: "No pride for some of us without liberation for all of us." Quote 2: "History isn't something you look back at and say it was inevitable. It happens because people make decisions that are sometimes very impulsive and of the moment, but those moments are cumulative realities."

Slide 5. Text reads "Ceyenne Doroshow. She/her. Performer, writer, activist, organizer, community-based researcher, public speaker, and former sex worker described by GQ as a 'Godmother of the Black Trans Lives Matter movement. Founder and executive director of Gays and Lesbians Living in a Transgender Society (GLITS) which holistically supports LGBTQ sex workers with survival needs like housing and healthcare. Serves on the boards of SWOP Behind Bars, Caribbean Equality Project, and SOAR Institute." Includes photo of Ceyenne with the following quotes. Quote 1: "I want you to breathe and sustain! I want you to stand tall and proud and Black and live." Quote 2: "We are Whores!" Quote 3: "Giving people opportunities is a wonderful thing ... not failing them is the bigger thing—not letting them fail themselves."

Slide 6. Text reads "Gloria Lockett. She/her. Former sex worker advocating for and supporting sex workers and people living with HIV. Co-founder and executive director of the California Prostitutes Education Project (CAL-PEP), nationally recognized for its effective approaches to working with hard-to-reach, high-risk populations. Winner of the Dr. Robert C. Scott Trailblazer Award for "outstanding accomplishments working with people with HIV/AIDS" and the 16th Annual Madame C. J. Walker Advocacy Award from the Bay Area chapter of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women." Includes photo of Gloria with the following quotes. Quote 1: "I'm just a woman, but I've never been a victim." Quote 2: "We're changing to meet the needs of the communities we serve—and represent—because there's no one else out there doing it."

Slide 7. Text reads "Mistress Velvet. She/they. 1988-2021. Nonbinary Black feminist dominatrix, revolutionary communist, and sex and pleasure educator. Fought for decriminalizing sex work, demanding reparations, and Black and Trans liberation. Had their white male submissive clients read Black feminist theory. Worked on reproductive justice, ending gender-based violence, permanent supportive housing, and LGBTQ+ inclusive sex/relationship education for youth and adults." Includes photo of Mistress Velvet with the following quote: "I refuse to feel shame for the work I do. To feel pride as a sex worker is to resist the capitalist values that render my existence criminal."

Slide 8. Text reads "Kaniya Walker. Trans activist, former sex worker, advocate for sex workers and trans women of color who feel they don't have a voice living in a criminalized world. Works at Heart to Hand, a community health organization that provides resources, education, and support services to People Living with HIV and other sexually transmitted infections." Includes photo of Kaniya with the following quote: "As a trans woman of color and a former sex worker myself, I know what it's like to be targeted for who you are, and to not have anyone to call for help because your job is illegal ... Decriminalizing sex work would help sex workers to go out and make money safely, take care of themselves, and have the option to change careers—if they choose to do that one day."

Ending slide. Text reads "Donation Links. Support the work of our movement mothers! Miss Major: House of GG. houseofgg.org/donate Marsha P. Johnson: Marsha P. Johnson Institute. marshap.org/donate Ceyenne Doroshow: GLITS. glitsinc.org/donate Gloria Lockett: CAL-PEP. calpep.org/donate Mistress Velvet: Sex Workers Outreach Project. swopusa.org/donate Kaniya Walker: Heart to Hand. paypal.me/HearttoHandInc Want to learn more? See our link in bio for sources!"

Donation links:

Miss Major: House of GG - houseofgg.org/donate

Marsha P. Johnson: Marsha P. Johnson Institute - marshap.org/donate

Ceyenne Doroshow: GLITS - glitsinc.org/donate

Gloria Lockett: CAL-PEP - calpep.org/donate

Mistress Velvet: Sex Workers Outreach Project - swopusa.org/donate

Kaniya Walker: Heart to Hand - paypal.me/HearttoHandInc

Sources and more info: