Prostitution and trans people

[Natalia]

Hello girls,

Recently I've been a bit away from the forum, but I was concentrated with some brazilian forums and some discussions on facebook.

And I started to notice something very disturbing...

A lot of people and I mean A LOT, are totally favorable to trans people selling their bodies as a way to live.

It seems, as a recent census stated, that at least 90% of the trans people are prostitutes in Brazil 

I know this is a very old and well known problem for the trans community, but what made me perplex was that a lot of girls were defending prostitution and, as trans can't find jobs as easily as cis people, selling their bodies on the streets is a great idea, right?

And when I tried to state that it is too risky...then people told me to shut up because getting STDs from sex is something from the past...today we have ways to protect our bodies, as condoms...Sure, I bet all the clients are willing to have safe sex! :p

Then people started to tell me that prostitution is a great thing and that we couldn't live in a society without it, because it is something that adds a lot to our lives.

Am I a lunatic or is everyone else? I just can't believe I was listening that prostitution is a good thing...since when? I can't see any good thing coming from prostitution...just STDs, husbands cheating their wives, marriages being destroyed...

I know it is damn hard to find a job being trans, but everyone here agrees that selling your body is a viable way to live if nothing else goes right?

I think I'd rather kill myself!

I know I had a lot of opportunities that most trans people on my country hadn't. I study in an excelent university and, although I am trans, it will be easier for me to find a job...even if I can't find one, my family can help me and I could try to open my own small business, or a small restaurant...anything to keep me busy and give me a few cash on the end of the month...

This is not my reality and probably I am being delusional with my ideas...but I keep believing that there are other ways to live without having to sell your body on the streets! For me that seems like the easy way...

I just don't know what to think

I was a bit angry because here everyone considers that, if you are trans, then you are a prostitute...I am not...and I was trying to see how could we change that...but the own community don't want to change it.

I am very disappointed...or probably I am crazy, or I don't know. Perhaps I should start selling my body as it is so normal...and safe...and good....and trans people were born to sell their bodies...

This gave me nauseas...I think I need to puke.

[Jessica Merriman]

<holds Natalia's hair for her>

Some stats are just hard to take girl. It is disheartening when we see them.

[Tori]

Somebody mistook me for a prostitute last night. A creepy guy in a mobility scooter.

[stephaniec]

like it or not they say prostitution is the oldest profession .You live your life according to how you need to live it. some aren't as fortunate as others. Prostitution involves the whole spectrum of LGBT and cis male and female.

[Jill F]

Somebody mistook me for a prostitute last night. A creepy guy in a mobility scooter.

Eww.  I might have been tempted to dump him out.

Sadly, transwomen face so much prejudice and discrimination in this world that sex work is sometimes the only available way to be able to feed or house yourself, which feeds the stereotype that transwomen are all prostitutes, which further feeds the prejudice and discrimination that put them on the streets in the first place.  Transwomen sometimes get arrested for prostitution just because of how they are dressed, regardless of whether a crime has been committed or not.

You think the LAPD hasn't looked at me as if they suspected it?

[Tori]

I am surprised how many cis friends have told me of similar experiences. It also is a female thing in general.

To be fair, I was in THAT part of town, outside, counting my cash and dressed for a club. I was oddly flattered. This 38 year opd's still got it.

Actually, it was really creepy.

[Evelyn K]

A lot of people and I mean A LOT, are totally favorable to trans people selling their bodies as a way to live.

The majority of trans women just don't pass either visually, or vocally, or both. So you can bet they're going to be discriminated against in the work place.

What else can you expect? It's a CIS WORLD after all people.

Couple that with the extreme fetishism of TGirls and the alluring desire to be a sex object, then there you go. It's a perfect storm of opportunity for trans women in dire straights.

[bubbles21]

Very wise words Evelyn and very true!

[TerriT]

It bothers me too. I experienced some of this recently and I just haven't been able to reconcile it emotionally. It looks like a very rough life but the working girls I met seemed to just not give a care. As if it was all perfectly normal. One even exposed her vagina to me and my friend right there in a bar!

My friend later asked me if her's looked right or not.

I dislike it as a profession. I lived in neighborhoods where it was very prevalent. Even the location to get the trans girls was well known. One night I sat in a friends house across the street and watched as the cops would drive by every half hour and the girls would all act like they had some place to be and walk away, then just re-emerge. Johns would just pick them up and drive off, who knows where.

[Jill F]

The majority of trans women just don't pass either visually, or vocally, or both. So you can bet they're going to be discriminated against in the work place.

What else can you expect? It's a CIS WORLD after all people.

Couple that with the extreme fetishism of TGirls and the alluring desire to be a sex object, then there you go. It's a perfect storm of opportunity for trans women in dire straights.

You think so?  I've met a few that you'd never guess in a million years were trans.   You only notice the ones you notice while rest just fly right under your radar.   

[Evelyn K]

^^ Exactly. The ones who pass just blend in like a secret society. So you never really know or hear about them.

Ergo ... the majority of trans women just do not pass.

Here are examples of a trans woman who absolutely pass.







Unless they have a tendency to give themselves to the dark one, I don't believe they'll have any problems finding employment anymore so than regular CIS women.

[TerriT]

^They are pretty but I know the girl in the middle has done a bunch of porn and stuff. I know it's not the same, but still.

[MikaylaGC]

I'm a little surprised anyone is kind of like going omg brazillian Tgirls work as prostitutes. I think maybe some of us are looking from a 1st world perspective down at second and third world Tgirls and judging them based on the opportunities and access to well everything that we have.
I mean Im going to guess that these girls would more than likely self medicate, have no endo's, come from extremely poor backgrounds and would probably have LESS income if they stayed male. Theres limited public health for them to use(if any) and they need to pay for everything themselves etc etc. And I have no doubt girls in places like Thailand, the Phillipines, Columbia, Mexico etc etc face the same probs.
As for the other kind of situation at the top end of brazillian life(ie middle class and above), there on a par with us. They prolly have access to endos/medical benefits or insurance, so there using the same logic alot of Tgirls use in the 1st world. Transitioning costs ALOT of money based on what you want...boobs, laser, clothes, facial surgery, SRS, bla bla, we all know that to be a truism and I'm pretty sure there like right I'll do this for 2 or 3 years, target higher end clientele and pay for my stuff, get it done then stop. I know of a Tgirl here in Australia who did that. Its the same deal as cisgirls putting themselves through college via Dancing or Prostitution, its a matter of your personal morals, need and circumstance.
And I guess onto your point of changing peoples perception, its kind of difficult, most ppl who pass completely slip quietly away into stealth mode and get on with there lives, I know there are a few like Gigi Gorgeous, Carmen Carera who are out and proud but there a minority. So the only ppl the wider public 'see' are prostitutes, porno actresses and all that, that we are stereotyped as, I dont see how we change that(Is that being negative?). Ok well the only way I see it changing, is to have more stealth girls who are leading successful lives come out, be in the public eye more, educate bla bla.....but we all know how that goes... 

[Evelyn K]

^^ Really Tiff? Oh cool. Welp, she's definitely top shelf.

^ Yeah there is a certain truism about being trans in 2nd and 3rd world populations. Prostitution is high across the gamut of orientations there.

[TerriT]

^Top shelf, lol!

I'm talking about in SF though. Prostitution is HIGH in SF. The girl I met was like "I get all my ->-bleeped-<- done in Mexico, I need a made in Mexico tattoo!" She was not very shy.

[V M]

Hi friends 

Let's make sure to post within forum rules

10. Bashing or flaming of any individuals or groups is not acceptable behavior on this web site and will not be tolerated in the slightest for any reason.  This includes but is not limited to:
Advocating the separation or exclusion of one or more group from under the Transgender umbrella term
Suggesting or claiming that one segment or sub-segment of our community is more legitimate, deserving, or more real than any others

Topic temporarily locked

Thank you

V M