COYOTE

For other uses, see Coyote (disambiguation).

In 1976, COYOTE, led by St. James, led a lawsuit

against Rhode Island. In the case, COYOTE v. Roberts,
the argument was based on how much power the state
should have to control the sexual activity of its citizens.
The lawsuit also alleged discrimination on how the law
was being applied. Data was submitted that demonstrated
selective prosecution: the Providence police were arresting female sex workers far more often than the male customers. St. James testied in the case. Although the case
eventually was dismissed when Rhode Island General Assembly changed the prostitution statute in 1980, COYOTE and St. James are given credit as one of the reasons prostitution in Rhode Island was decriminalized,[2]
although prostitution was outlawed again in 2009 (see
Prostitution in Rhode Island). Samantha and Gloria Lockett were co-directors of COYOTE in the early
1990s. They had been critical of the group for focusing
on higher class prostitutes (such as call girls and escorts)
and white sex workers, while ignoring the concerns of
streetwalkers and ethnic minorities.[1]

COYOTE is an American sex worker activist organization. Its name is an acronym for Call O Your Old
Tired Ethics, a reection of the fact that sex work tends
to be stigmatized primarily because of male-imposed
standards of ethics (which many women, especially female sex workers, perceive as being misogynistic and
meant to keep the female sex worker unbreakably dependent upon, and hopelessly inferior to, anti-sexual prudes,
who tend to be male) whose earliest impositions date
back a number of centuries. COYOTEs goals include
the decriminalization (as opposed to the legalization) of
prostitution, pimping and pandering, as well as the elimination of social stigma concerning sex work as an occupation.

COYOTEs mission includes advocating for all varieties

of sex workers of all genders, including strippers, phone
sex operators and adult lm performers. COYOTE provides counseling and legal referrals for sex workers, and
As of 2012, Norma Jean Almodovar serves as the execassistance in leaving sex work for dierent careers.
utive director of the Los Angeles branch of COYOTE.[3]

Services

3 See also
A Vindication of the Rights of Whores

COYOTE provides expert advice and sensitivity training

for social service and law enforcement agencies that deal
with sex workers. COYOTE members have testied as
expert witnesses during trials. The organization works to
educate the general public about sex work, and promotes
education about safe sex, AIDS and sexually transmitted
disease among sex workers, their clients and the general
public.

International Day to End Violence Against Sex

Workers
Margo St. James
Sex-positive feminism
Sex worker rights
Sex worker

World Charter for Prostitutes Rights

History

COYOTE was founded in California in 1973 by Margo

St. James, a feminist and former prostitute. She chose
the name COYOTE because novelist Tom Robbins called
her a extquotedblcoyote trickster extquotedbl and came
up with Call O Your Old Tired Ethics extquotedbl to
t the chosen acronym. St. James believed that sex work
should be considered labor equivalent to any other career,
writing in 1977 that to make a great distinction between
being paid for an hours sexual services, or an hours typing, or an hours acting on a stage is to make a distinction
that is not there.[1]

4 References
[1] Chapkis, Wendy. Live Sex Acts: Women Performing
Erotic Labor (1997, Routledge, New York). ISBN 0-41591288-1.
[2] Arditi, Lynn (2009-05-31). extquotedbl'Behind Closed
Doors How RI Decriminalized Prostitution. The Providence Journal. Retrieved 2009-07-03.
[3] Norma Jean Almodovar Interview. Danndulin.com.
Retrieved 2012-08-03.

Further reading
Jenness, Valerie. Making it Work: The Prostitutes
Rights Movement in Perspective (1993, Walter de
Gruyter, Inc., New York)
Pheterson, Gail. A Vindication of the Rights of
Whores (1989, Seal Press, Washington.) ISBN 0931188-73-3.

External links
Records, 1962-1989.Schlesinger Library, Radclie
Institute, Harvard University.
What is COYOTE? from COYOTE Los Angeles
COYOTE information from BAYSWAN
Call O Your Old Tired Ethics
Las Vegas sex workers demand Rights and Respect

EXTERNAL LINKS

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

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