'Sex, Drugs & Revolution' flier - am I over sensitive or is this horrible?

[WeirdWording]

I have followed the work of Release for a long time, as I've been close to people who have struggled with addiction, including one who died, and support their work in harm reduction and decriminalisation.

I don't think I'll follow or support them in future, I find this event advertisement (below) really tasteless on many levels. Tell me if I'm being over-sensitive! I don't think decriminalisation of 'sex work' is logically connected to decriminalising drugs, but fair enough if they want to do a joint fundraiser. But the way they're presenting it is really grim. Like, surely they recognise that there's a lot of trauma in the industry, and in drug addiction, but the tone here seems like middle-class anarchist kids thinking it's all really cool. I thought it was just misjudged, but then reading again it looks like deliberate trolling - wtf is with "rolling up our sleeves" and "both of our movements love a good party"?! Sounds triggering as fuck for anyone with actual (even second-hand) experience of either the sex industry or addiction... yeah, that's a party that someone who's fought their way clean or got out of escorting is going to want to go to.

I just feel like whoever came up with it probably lived with a girl posted some tasteful nudes or foot pictures on onlyfans after uni, and maybe dabbled in party drugs, or smoked some heroin at a party and has been dining out on the stories of their wild youth ever since. And I look at my friend who is out of an addiction that she got into at the age of 15, more than 20 years later, that took her into dark places and situations, and I feel pretty fucking angry at this. And yeah, my ex who died was known for loving a good party.

DecrimNow on X: "Want to get in on the hottest left wing party of the year? We’re putting on ‘Sex, Drugs, and Revolution’ with @Release_drugs on the 8th of March from 8 pm onwards at Pelican House - and you’re invited! (1/5) t.co/ghf9QGGkXe" / X (twitter.com)

Want to get in on the hottest left wing party of the year? We’re putting on ‘Sex, Drugs, and Revolution’ with @Release_drugs on the 8th of March from 8 pm onwards at Pelican House - and you’re invited!

(1/5)

2024 is all about building deeper cross-movement solidarity; that's why we are teaming up with Release to throw a post-sex/work strike event for the benefit of both harm reductionists and sex workers. After all, we share a lot of common ground between our movements:

(2/5)

We both know what it is like to be denied bodily autonomy & we are both sadly used to support services speaking over us. We know that our experiences of policing aren't about sex or drugs but about policing specific communities of ppl along lines of race, gender + class.

(3/5)

We both have become accustomed to rolling up our sleeves and taking care of our own communities. And because of this, we are both really good at doing more with less, working creatively, and cultivating communities of care and support, not punishment or coercion.

(4/5)

And of course... both of our movements love a good party. So come support not one but two important causes at the funnest political events of 2024.

Tickets here: https://tickettailor.com/events/release/1150143#…

(5/5)

Its a shift in tone from "X being illegal does more harm than good so we should legalise it" to "X is a super positive thing therefore should be legal. Yayyy". Both arguments can and have been applied to drugs and using prostitutes. So I can see how it might make sense on a superficial level to join forces, but it actually doesn't follow that if somethings true for one its true for the other (good old force teaming). Plus I think the shift from one argument to the other is stupid in both cases.

I suspect one of the reasons for the shift is actually an authoritarian idea that if something is bad it should be banned. If something should not be banned logically it is good.

Also communities bleurgh. That language puts pimps, prostitutes and Johns in the same community. It also presumably puts drug dealers, Tarquin the stock broker who gets like totally wasted at the weekends, the 13 year old kid going country and a heroin addict in the same community as well. Vile.

Yes, that's something that's annoyed me from other (usually student) groups before - something set up to promote policies that reduce harm and deaths end up cheerleading drugs without discrimination. But they usually cheerlead weed and maybe hallucinogens, I haven't seen wink-wink jokes about heroin being cool before.

I hadn't thought of this - "I suspect one of the reasons for the shift is actually an authoritarian idea that if something is bad it should be banned. If something should not be banned logically it is good." - And I think that's a really important point. I bet its people who are making their careers out of being 'good people' and 'on the right side of history' who are doing this sort of messaging, and the attitudes that drive it are not that different to the Daily Mail types they oppose.

Very different messaging from organisations run by actual drug users -
Canadian Association of People Who Use Drugs (@CAPUDofficial) / X (twitter.com)

Yes, this too! I'm really glad I posted, I thought I was just ranting, but both comments so far are really insightful. And when I start to think about something more critically it takes some of the anger out! They're both situations where often people end up being taken advantage of because of the same 'we're your family now vibes' and there's a lot of the kind of desperation and brutality that destroys communities. Yes people do manage to build friendships and community within those situations, and on their way out, but to blindly accept everyone in 'the sex trade' or 'the drug taking community' as an ally to any other vulnerable person is extremely naive and dangerous.

I wrote out a really long rant and then deleted it because it was too much. But (for my own biased reasons) I really hate people like this. And I really don't hate many people.

Another link- I've seen more and more the argument (from men) that the Nordic model is stupid because "we don't criminalise drug users and consider drug dealers victims". I can't even be bothered to go into why that comparison is stupid. But its definitely in some peoples interest to conflate these causes.

What's a post-sex/work strike event?

(For me, it's a cup of tea and a nice sit down.)

I agree with the forced teaming into one happy community being a shit idea, coming from people who don't seem to have considered the devastation addiction and prostitution have on so many lives.

It's giving me the ick, Op. It doesn't sound healthy or for anyone attempting a healthy recovery.
It's incredibly tone deaf and insensitive to anyone who has lost anyone through addiction.

I'm glad you asked. I can't make head nor tail of that phrase. Anyone got any ideas?

@NoBinturongsHereMate I think its a sexwork strike (where sex workers go on strike for a few hours or something. Which doesn't make sense in context but does if you have a very shallow concept of politics based on watching half of Billy Elliot and conclude that being left wing is like something to do with strikes or something.)

And then there is an event after the sex work strike (which only lasts a few hours. Just like the Billy Elliot film did.) So the whole thing is a post sex work strike. Yay.

That sort of makes sense (in a doesn't really at all way, but I understand what you mean).

I'm still baffled by the / though.