"Faggots and Hoes" or why gay men should stand up for sex workers

People sometimes ask me why I care so much about sex workers' rights. One of the reasons is because gay men and sex workers have way too similar experiences with stigma, discrimination and harassment, and our struggles for rights and acceptance have a lot in common. For me, the question is, rather, why don't more gay men stand up for sex workers? [This post will focus mostly on gay men since I'm not very familiar with the experiences of lesbians, trans* people and other non-hetero, non-binary or non-cis people]

In the conservative small town in a communist and post-communist country where I grew up, the phrase "faggots and hoes" ("hoes" being sometimes "whores" and sometimes "prostitutes") would just naturally roll out of people's mouths. I would often hear, from my family, neighbours or random people on the street, how faggots and hoes were sick, dirty, immoral and diseased, and had to be locked up, reformed, killed, or at least invisible. No particular arguments were necessary for these qualifications - they were supposedly self-evident and no one questioned them. I only questioned them in my head because it was pretty clear that this hatred of faggots and hoes was not based on any rational reasons or bad personal experience, but on moral objections against the wrong kind of sex (anal, oral and A LOT of it). 

But of course faggots and hoes have a lot more in common than the disapproval of small-minded rednecks in Eastern Europe.

History 

Today, 2 June, is International Sex Workers Day. It commemorates the day in 1975 when 100 French sex workers occupied the St Nizier church in Lyon to demand an end to the constant fines, arrests, prison sentences, harassment and extortion by the police and the mafia. Their bold action quickly became the centre of local and national media attention and was followed by similar actions in other French cities. The occupation lasted for eight days until the police forcibly evicted the women. Although sex workers had organised to demand recognition and resist oppression throughout the ages and throughout the world, this event is often regarded as the beginning of the organised sex worker rights movement. 

By Source, Fair use, Link

Also in June, six years earlier, some of the most marginalised members of the LGBT community - homeless youth, sex workers, trans women, effeminate gays and butch lesbians - rioted in the Stonewall Inn in New York City in response to the frequent raids, arrests and harassment of the community by the police and the mafia. Word of their defiance quickly spread around and soon hundreds of other LGBT people joined them, leading to four days of riots. This event, too, is often regarded as the beginning of the organised LGBT rights movement in the US and internationally. 

Almost five decades later, both the sex worker rights and the LGBT movement have grown in numbers, visibility and influence, and have won important victories. Nevertheless, homosexuality, or aspects of it, remains criminalised in many countries, and in some, is punishable by death. Sex work, or aspects of it, are criminalised in almost all countries. 

Stigma and shame 

Even in countries where homosexuality and sex work are not criminalised, faggots and hoes are highly stigmatised and can be subjected to violence and harassment by the police and society in general, and denied access to social and healthcare services. 

Gay men who became sexually active before the advent of the internet had very similar experiences to sex workers. We [usual disclaimers apply - I don't speak for everyone, blah blah] had to cruise for sex in parks, public toilets, parking lots, backstreet alleys and bathhouses where we risked being robbed, raped or beaten, either by the police or by homophobes pretending to be gay. If we were robbed, raped or beaten, we wouldn't report it to the police out of shame and mistrust in the authorities. If we did report, we risked being beaten or raped, ridiculed, dismissed or exposed. We had to hide who we are from family, friends and colleagues who too could threaten us with outing or ostracise us. We learnt to rely for support on ourselves, our gay friends and perhaps the few NGOs that care about us. When we fought for our rights, our rights were framed as Western propaganda by the powerful gay lobby paid for by George Soros. 

Like us, sex workers, whether working in brothels, on the streets, or as escorts, risk being robbed, raped or beaten in the course of their work but avoid reporting these crimes to the police because of shame, stigma and mistrust in the authorities. If they do report them, they risk being beaten or raped, ridiculed, dismissed and exposed, or "rescued" and "rehabilitated". They hide their occupation from family and friends who can threaten them with outing and ostracise them. Like us, sex workers have learnt to rely on themselves and their colleagues and perhaps the few NGOs that care about them. When they fight for their rights, their rights are framed as propaganda by the powerful pimp lobby paid for by George Soros...

HIV

Faggots and hoes are among those most affected by HIV worldwide, which can be attributed to a large extent to stigma and criminalisation. During raids on gay bars and brothels alike the police confiscate condoms and use them as evidence of "promotion of homosexuality/prostitution". As a result, such establishments may refuse to keep condoms on their premises and faggots and hoes may avoid carrying condoms. In the 1980s thousands of gay men had died before the Reagan administration took the issue seriously. PEPFAR (US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief), a programme that provides testing and anti-retroviral therapy to HIV-positive people, including sex workers, requires organisations to sign a pledge that they oppose prostitution, effectively de-funding sex worker rights organisations and undermining HIV prevention efforts. 

Academics, activists, UN agencies and health organisations have long called for the decriminalisation of both homosexuality and sex work as the only way to drastically reduce the number of new HIV infections globally. 

Faggots and hoes

In general, sex work is not particularly stigmatised by the gay community. Many faggots sell or buy sexual services either regularly or occasionally. We are friends with women who are, or are perceived to be, hoes. 

The overall individual support and the sporadic institutional support, though, is not enough. There is a sense among many in the hoes movement that Western faggots nowadays are so obsessed with conformity and their right to white picket fences and wedding cakes, that they've forgotten about all those in our community who can't - or won't - conform to the "right kind of sex". 

We are family...

The aim of this short and somewhat shallow post was just to give some food for thought to my fellow faggots who don't think about hoes' rights. 

The thing is, as a social group that is oppressed and stigmatised for the wrong kind of sex it has, faggots need to be more sensitive to the needs of hoes who are oppressed and stigmatised for pretty much the same reason. 

If you're outraged about the treatment of our gay brothers in Chechnya, Indonesia, Egypt, or Uganda, then you should also be outraged by the treatment of our sex working sisters in Russia, South Africa, Brazil, India, the UK and so on.

Bobby at a protest of sex workers in Amsterdam, 10 April 2015
(the guy with the bald head in front of the tree)

So how can you support hoes? Perhaps the best you can do is inform yourself, read relevant reputable literature or reports by international organisations (for example, Amnesty International) and contact a local sex worker organisation and ask them how you can support them. If that's not your priority, there are other ways that won't require a lot of time or effort. You can at least like the Facebook page of your local sex worker organisation, or of global ones, like the Global Network of Sex Work Projects or Red Umbrella Fund, like and share their posts, etc. - these things matter to small organisations. You can take part in a protest of sex workers in your city, if you hear about one. Protests are sometimes organised on 3 March (Intl Sex Worker Rights Day), 1 May (Workers Day), 2 June (Sex Workers Day) or 17 December (Day to end violence against sex workers). 

Don't buy into the "fake news" that most sex workers are trafficked or that legalised sex work leads to an increase of trafficking - there is no evidence to support such claims. But also, think of the persistent ways in which homosexuality and paedophilia are being clubbed together to deny rights and recognition to faggots. Like, decriminalisation of homosexuality, or the holding of a pride parade, or the recognition of same-sex marriage, will lead to an increase in paedophilia or bestiality...

Don't buy into the bullshit that sex workers who openly speak up about their experiences, and sex worker rights organisations are "a few privileged white western women" who are part of the "pimp lobby" funded by George Soros. There are literally hundreds of thousands of sex workers campaigning for their rights and recognition in countries like India, Thailand, South Africa, Brazil or Argentina. But also, just think of the myth of the "gay mafia/gay lobby/LGBT lobby" and how it's funded by the same man. 

Most of all though, if you happen to interact with sex workers, treat them with kindness and respect - not disgust and pity! Think of how you want to be treated by people who know you're a faggot. 

---

* I did a fair amount of reading or grey and not so grey literature but I know that not all claims made here are supported by proper references. If necessary, we can discuss these in the comments section. 

Human trafficking in Bulgaria - interview with Nadia Kozhouharova

This interview was given by Nadia Kozhouharova from Animus Association/La Strada Bulgaria for the newspaper Lichna Drama. I'm translating it with Nadia's permission from Animus' website.

La Strada International is a European network of independent non-government organisations working to prevent human trafficking and support its victims. The members are based in Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Macedonia, Moldova, The Netherlands, Poland and Ukraine. La Strada's focus is on women from Central and Eastern Europe and its main goal is to advocate for the protection of their human rights, including the right to migrate, work abroad and be protected from violence and abuse. Nadia is the national coordinator of La Strada in Bulgaria. 

- Mrs. Kozhouharova, why is human trafficking so widespread? 

- In this time of globalisation more and more people become victims of human trafficking. The profits from this crime worldwide, according to UNODC, amount to 7-8 billion US dollars annually, which is only comparable to the profits from the illegal sale of drugs and arms. Bulgaria is considered one of the main countries of origin for people trafficked to Germany, Belgium, France and other European countries. The main root causes of human trafficking are poverty, unemployment, gender inequality, violence and discrimination. People migrate in search of a better life abroad and as a way to make a living and become vulnerable to exploitation. 

- How long have you been working on the La Strada programme in Bulgaria? 

- Bulgaria joined La Strada in 1998. In 2004 we were among the founders of the International La Strada Association, which is recognised by national and international institutions as the leading European NGO network in the are of preventing of human trafficking and supporting the victims. To Animus, La Strada is much more than a programme - it's a way of thinking, belonging and motivation for development. It's the framework in which we place all our activities against human trafficking. It makes us feel a part of the broader community of the European civil society, which develops contemporary policies and practices for combating human trafficking. Personally, I have been working at Animus Association since 1995. 

- Haven't Bulgarians become more informed, haven't they learned to protect themselves better from becoming victims of trafficking? 

- There are certain differences, but unfortunately mostly in the fact that nowadays more people become victims of labour exploitation abroad, while in the area of sexual exploitation there isn't much change. In the past, human trafficking was referred to as "white slave trade" or "trade in human flesh" and the attitudes towards the victims were very negative. Now the methods of recruitment of victims have changed. For example, in the past, they were mostly lured by newspaper job ads for dancers or waitresses abroad but today it's different - it happens mostly through a close romantic relationship. Nowadays trafficking happens not so much through severe violence or kidnappings but through a more subtle deception - as I said, often through acquaintances or a romantic relationship. Also, many victims of trafficking now know that they will be working in the sex industry abroad. But we need to make a clear distinction here - they leave with the intention of working in the sex industry and not of being exploited. The characteristics of human trafficking are very clear - deception, coercion, violence, exploitation...

- How do you help victims of labour exploitation? 

- Bulgaria has a serious problem with labour migration. We know that many people go for work abroad but are not aware of the risks of being exploited. Unfortunately many Bulgarians who migrate for work do not check carefully the source of the job ads or their rights in the destination country. Unlike women who've been sexually exploited, victims of labour exploitation don't always need accommodation in a crisis centre or psychological counselling, but they need to know their rights and claim them and we can help them with this and, if necessary, connect them with a lawyer. 

- How do victims come into contact with Animus? 

- Usually through our broad network of partner organisations abroad. There is usually a police raid, where victims are identified and referred to counselling centres. There they can stay for different periods of time and explore their options - whether they can and want to stay in the country or come back to Bulgaria. If they decide to come back, the partner organisation connects them to us. We meet them literally at the airport and take it up from there. Trafficked persons more rarely seek help on their own initiative. As you know, Animus Association manages the only crisis centre in Sofia for survivors of violence. In the past 15 years it has accommodated 1600 women and children victims of violence and trafficking and almost 3000 have used the crisis intervention and counselling programmes. 

- What kind of people are usually vulnerable to being trafficked? 

- It's different for the different forms of trafficking. For sexual exploitation usually young women are recruited. I can't say that there is a clear tendency that they are Roma. It's more or less 50/50 from the people that our organisation has supported. These are women who want to improve their lives, who seek better future. When human trafficking for labour exploitation is concerned, the age group and the gender is usually different. Both men and women, also in their 30's and 40's, are exploited in agriculture, construction or as domestic help... Of course, children are also trafficked. Here there is a clear tendency that they are from Roma origin and are usually exploited for begging and petty crime, which is also a form of human trafficking. 

- Is there a specific case of a victim of human trafficking that particularly moved you? 

- I can say that lately we've been working with very difficult cases of women who have been trafficked because of their extreme vulnerability. We work more and more often with victims with mental illnesses that hinder their perception of reality and risks. They've been abused because of their illness. Other difficult situations are those where the victims are completely illiterate. They can't read or write, they don't know in which countries they've been or which borders they crossed. In both cases we are talking about people who don't know how to help themselves or claim their rights. 

- What advice would you give to people planning to go abroad? 

- Everyone has the right to be happy and to seek their happiness abroad. We do not judge anyone for the choices they make. When people strongly desire something, they are likely to forget about the risks or to underestimate even their own "gut feeling" that something is not right. People should trust their intuition and their support networks. If they have even the slightest suspicion of possible abuse, they should not ignore it but take precautionary measures. I would advise everyone to not be afraid to claim their rights and to contact the respective authorities. This is the only way to receive help, if in need. Our hotline +359 2 981 7686 is also always available. 

The demand side of human trafficking

"Demand" is a major concept in anti-trafficking work. All international anti-trafficking legislation urges states to "take measure to discourage the demand that fosters all forms of exploitation". Anti-trafficking organisations often state that "like any economic activity, human trafficking is based on a supply and demand model". Taken more broadly, this suggests that in our consumer society, where we try to have more of everything, we demand cheap goods and services, which in turn puts pressure on producers and companies to lower the production costs, which in turn can be best achieved through exploitative/unfair labour. More narrowly, but more vocally, the concept of "demand" is used to denote men's demand for paid sex, which in turn suggests that more sex workers are necessary, which can be achieved through more women trafficked for sexual exploitation. The #EndDemand hashtag is usually used to call for the prohibition of prostitution or the criminalisation of the clients of sex workers as a way to end the demand for prostitution and by extension of this narrow view - trafficking. 

Today 8th EU Anti-Trafficking Day: 85% of women trafficked for prostitution. It's urgent to #Enddemand! #brusselscall @EuropeanWomen @ENoMW
— Pierrette Pape (@PierrettePape) October 18, 2014

I am uncomfortable with the issue of "demand" and unconvinced in it but I also don't feel knowledgeable enough to try and disprove it. The Global Alliance against Traffic in Women (GAATW) has published a very good research "Moving Beyond 'Supply and Demand' Catchphrases", which shows the limitations of this oversimplification of an otherwise complex issue. But I still want to share briefly some issues I have with it, before moving to my main point. Firstly, I don't quite agree with the notion of consumer demand for cheap goods and services, which leads to exploitation of workers. "Cheap" is a very subjective notion - what is cheap for me is expensive to someone else and the other way around. Surely millions of people in the world demand cheap apartments, jets and boats or cheap Fendi and Gucci bags and Vera Wang wedding dresses but I haven't seen a large supply of them. And conversely, are we sure that Fendi and Gucci are more fair employers than H&M or could it be that they are just as unfair but simply pay higher fees to designers, more for advertising and their CEO's live more lavishly? Secondly, as for commercial sex, again I don't agree that there is demand for trafficked women in prostitution. There's probably a general demand for cheap, easy, accessible and uncomplicated sex but there are plenty of people who are willing to offer it, whether for money or not. It's not even certain that a trafficked prostitute is cheaper than the free ones - at least in the Amsterdam Red Light District there is a minimum price that all sex workers ask. Thirdly, I don't agree that the demand always shapes the supply. I can't imagine that there was a huge demand for, let's say, cherry-flavoured Coca Cola, where thousands of people begged the company to put cherry flavour in its drink. I rather imagine that someone at Coca Cola had this idea, tested it on the public, saw that some people liked it, and the company started selling it (the actual history is a bit different but still doesn't suggest that there was a demand preceding the supply). Similarly, I'm not sure there was a clear demand for flavoured vodka, camera inside a mobile phone or even smart phones, an app that counts your steps, nylon stockings (note the sentence "The introduction of nylon... began a high demand for stockings..."), etc. These may be silly examples, but my point is that maybe because there are women willing to sell sex - there are men willing to buy it; because there are cheap goods and services - there are people who buy/use them. Lastly, to call vulnerable people, migrants and victims of trafficking "supply" is just humiliating and dehumanising. 

To me there are two demands that lie at the core of human trafficking - the demand of people for better life and the demand of the exploiters for quick and easy profits. Everyone agrees that the root causes of human trafficking lie in the poverty, unemployment, inequality and injustice in countries of origin. In their demand for better life, people become vulnerable to exploitation, whether by migrating to another country, or by undertaking precarious work. On the other hand is the "demand" of exploiters for higher profits/lower labour costs. Obviously there are employers in agriculture, construction or domestic work who provide decent wages and working conditions and others who don't. But to us, the end consumers, the price of prawns or mushrooms or apartments is the same, whether produced through fair or unfair labour, which means that the exploitative employers simply cash in on higher profits. This means that to #EndDemand we need to end the structural deficiencies of global economy and to address the unequal distribution of wealth, gender-based violence, discrimination, corruption and injustice and to ensure decent working and living conditions for all people. Instead, governments of the Global North prefer easy, simple and populistic measures to #EndDemand, such as the criminalisation of sex work, which will only leave even more people in poverty.

The fact is #EndDemand is a position that politicians like, because it absolves them of responsibility for economic coercion. #SexWork
— ActuallyJackThompson (@ThatSabineGirl) October 25, 2014

Fortunately, there seems to be an increasing understanding of the need to address the root causes of human trafficking and the demand for equality, justice and decent life. On World Day of Social Justice, the ILO and OSCE published a joint statement "Fighting human trafficking means fighting poverty, unemployment and inequality", which is also reflected in the 2013 annual report of the OSCE Special Representative for human trafficking Maria Grazia Giammarinaro. I am hopeful that Ms. Giammarinaro will continue this line of thinking in her new position of a UN Special Rapporteur on human trafficking. Dr. Helga Konrad, former OSCE Special Representative, also states in an interview that "combating human trafficking requires addressing social inequality". 

Sadly, at the same time, the EU adopts a resolution to criminalise the purchase of sex as a way to address human trafficking and gender inequality, negotiates the TTIP and ISDS behind closed doors and is fortifying Fortress Europe... 

Кой е по- по- най-

Преди няколко месеца Twitter ми беше избухнал с историята на Моника Джоунс - студентка по Социални дейности в Университета на Аризона, активист за транс права и права на проституиращите и "a trans woman of colour". Моника е била спирана от полицията или арестувана в подозрения за проституция, в общи линии само заради профилирането на черните транс жени. Точно това определение "trans woman of colour" ме замисли и накара да пиша този пост. Замислих се, че аз дори и да "трябва" да се определя като гей, не трябва да определям расата, половата идентичност и пола си. Т.е. "бял", "cis" (cis е, най-накратко казано, обратното на транс - когато се идентифицираш с пола, с който си роден) и "мъж" някакси се подразбират. Замислих се и за "привилегията" - отново покрай туитове и блогове - че макар и гей аз, като бял цис мъж, съм много по-привилегирован от ... на практика мнозинството хора в света (жени, не-бели хора и транс хора). "Привилегията" се изразява в отношението на обществото (като цяло, колкото и абстрактно да звучи това) към теб, и задоволяването на базисните нужди от подслон, работа, връзки с хора, принадлежност към групи и т.н.

Разбира се, като цяло можем да приемем, че белият хетеросексуален (цис) мъж християнин е най-привилегированият екземпляр на света. С условието, че цветът и религията са локализирани, т.е. в арабската, китайската, индийската и т.н. култури се има предвид доминантните религия и цвят на кожата. Та се зачудих, по един малко детински начин, ако премахнем религията, кой е по- по- най-привилегирован и кой е по- по- най-ощетен/дискриминиран? Или какво стои в "хранителната верига" между дъното (черна транс жена) и върха (бял хетеро цис мъж)? 

От дуалистична гледан точка нещата са ясни - мъж надцаква жена, бял надцаква черен, цис надцаква транс и хетеро надцаква хомо. Но какво става когато са смесени? 

Та с условието, че въпросите са глупави и безмислени, че цис се подразбира, а цветът на кожата е условен, как се степенува привилегията? 

- Бяла хетеро жена по-добре ли е от черен (гей или хетеро) мъж? - според мен не - пол бие цвят
- Бяла хетеро жена по-добре ли е от (бял или черен) гей мъж?  - може би в Източна Европа да, но в Западна и САЩ - хм, може би не - мъж идва преди жена
- Бял транс мъж по-добре ли е от черна лесбийка? - според мен не - цис бие бял

и така нататък... 

Затова следващия път когато се почувстваме дискриминирани, можем да си спомним, че ние белите цис мъже, дори и гей, пак сме доста нагоре в хранителната верига. За разлика от нас, някои хора не могат да скрият чертите си и наистина имат ограничен достъп до ресурси и възможности, биват профилирани и тормозени от полицията, гонени от общностите и домовете си и т.н. 

И когато се борим за равни права трябва да чуем и по-непривилегированите от нас. 

Slavery, sex trafficking, exploitation and child labour - some nuances

Slavery

In the latest episode of Game of Thrones (season 4, episode 10), an old man comes to Daenerys the Targaryen to share his grievance. Daenerys had recently freed the slaves of Mereen and become Queen of the city. However, the peasant doesn't find this action as noble as we and Danny would like to think... You should really see the scene, it's just 2.5 minutes, until around 3:05, because I don't want to type the whole thing and it's very interesting but embedding is disabled for this video, so I can't put it here. But in short, the man explains that when he was a slave, he had a roof over his head and was a teacher to his master's children. Now he's a free man but "he's nothing" and lives on the streets. The conditions in the shelters and food banks (or whatever they are called) that Danny set up, apparently are difficult. "With my master I was a teacher. I had the respect and love of his children", he says. "Your Grace, I ask you to let me sell myself back to Master xxx" is what he wants. "There are many outside, waiting to beg the same of you", he adds. In her infinite wisdom and heavenly gorgeousness, the Mother of Dragons agrees to grant him his request: "... But freedom means making your own choices. I will allow you to sign a contract with your former master..." The man is grateful and exits. (Seriously, though, see the scene, very interesting exchange).

Daenerys freeing the slaves of Mereen a few weeks ago was a beautiful and epic scene (you can see if from this moment or watch the whole video if you like GoT). And what she did was brave, noble and just and so on. And she gave choice and purpose to the previous slaves she freed - they now stand behind her as her soldiers on their own free will. But here in Mereen we have a moral dilemma. Is slavery wrong, degrading and against human dignity? - Of course! Was this man better off as a slave than as a free man? - I think he would say "Of course"!  Or to paraphrase Milton, is it really and always better to be a free man in Hell than serve in Heaven? Are freedom and independence a "one size fits all" solution? 

Similarly in the anti-trafficking world, I notice more and more often the nuances in the personal experiences of trafficked people. What is voluntary and what is forced? Should you submit yourself to exploitation when you have no other means to support yourself and your family? Is it a crime to help a person find a job and then demand payback for your time and efforts? Like the old man from GoT, are the Cambodian prostitutes rescued by Somaly Mam better off as garment factory workers than as "sex slaves"? Who defines the line between helping your parents, and by extension, yourself, and being "deprived of your childhood" through child labour? If people don't regard themselves as victims, why are we so quick to label them "victims", based on definitions and indicators? 

Of course I am fully aware of the cases of trafficking, exploitation, slavery and child labour involving violence, abuse and coercion, but I would like to share my thoughts here on the more grey areas, the nuances, the situations that are wrong from the point of view of the law, the outsiders and society in general, but are more complex from the point of view of the individual that we perceive as the victim. 

Sex trafficking 

This part is pretty much just a shorter version of "Who are these human traffickers?" by Felicia Anna. Anna is a Romanian sex worker in the Amsterdam Red Light District and as such she cannot be dismissed as "unrepresentative" since everyone in The Netherlands will tell you that the majority of prostitutes come from Eastern European. In her blog Anna writes about another side of the Red Light District - one that you will rarely see in anti-trafficking studies. And about the nuances in "sex trafficking". Her post is quite detailed, so I will try to present the idea more concisely here. Whether this is Anna's story or not, I don't know, but I'm sure it's the story of a lot of women (and at least some men) who come to The Netherlands to sell sex. A low-level street/highway prostitute in, for example, my home country Bulgaria, doesn't make a lot of money - from what I've heard, it's 5-10 Euros for a blowjob, and not more than 25 for intercourse and because of the uncertain legal status, prostitutes are often arrested and forced to give sexual services to policemen to avoid being detained. So imagine that a friend or an acquaintance tells one such girl that in the Netherlands she can earn 10 times more and do her job legally. She wants to but she doesn't have any money to move, to settle down, doesn't speak a foreign language and doesn't know the procedures how to get started. He offers to help her - to lend her money, arrange documents, find a place for her to live, a place to work... for a certain price, of course. Now add together the price of a plane ticket, (at least) one month's rent and one deposit, costs for legalisation of a birth certificate, costs for the Chamber of Commerce, for renting a window and who knows what else, and you easily come to 3000 Euros or more, including the cost of the "friend's" time and help. And since she can't start making money as soon as she lands at Schiphol but at least one month later (if everything is to be legal and right) she actually starts off with a huge debt and has to work long hours and meet a lot of men to clear that debt. If, for whatever reason, she can't pay this debt regularly, the "friend" becomes abusive. Now personally I'm not prone to violence and I'm convinced that violence is not the answer but there have been occasions when friends have owed me 1000-2000 Euros for months on and I've really wished I were bigger, stronger and more violent! I mean, banks and other institutional creditors have their ways of getting their money back, right? And they have millions of Euros and plenty of time to wait, while private people - not so much.. Again, I don't condone violence, but I also think that when you borrow money you have to repay it or face the consequences. In anti-trafficking terminology we call this debt bondage and coercion, but in this case, is it really so much different in effect from other business transactions involving credit? 

In my previous job at an NGO providing services to victims of violence in Bulgaria, we would often meet victims of trafficking who refused counselling, shelter or any other services and refused to press charges - they just wanted to go back home (and in some cases probably find another way to migrate to sell sex). Perhaps they were deceived, abused and exploited but did they perceive themselves as victims? - No. And it wasn't necessarily because of dissociation or denial, the trauma, PTSD, Stockholm syndrome or threats of retaliation. It's because they saw the whole experience as going abroad to find a job and make money and ... failing. So then who are we to tell them they're victims more than any of us are victims of society, social prejudice or... capitalism? Why do we claim to know better than them who they are and what they need? 


In the interest of readability, I will continue about labour exploitation and child labour in another post (I've been told my posts are too long!:-) 

A daily dose of hate - Somaly Mam - sex, lies and videotape

First I want to give credit for the title of this post - "A daily dose of hate" is a Facebook page and a blog I follow, which I think are maintained by my distant acquaintance Magdalina Genova - a brilliant blogger (in Bulgarian) and sort of a political and social activist for all things good and fair. Magdalina and I are born on the same date - 30 March - and while I know personally about four more people born on this date, Magdalina's blog sometimes sounds like my thoughts - always annoyed/angry at and ranting about some injustice in the world or another. If you can understand Bulgarian and care about politics and justice - I recommend it. 

So today I want to be angry about a disgusting story of sex, lies and videotape - the one of Somaly Mam and her foundation. This post may at times repeat or be inspired by other articles on the topic by Maggie McNeill, Melissa Gira Grant in the New York Times, and Salon.com. 

The Somaly Mam Foundation is officially an organisation working against human trafficking in Cambodia, bearing the name of Somaly Mam - an anti-trafficking activist. I heard about it a few years ago, thinking first that it was an organisation of Somalian mothers or something. Somaly's star was shining bright in the anti-trafficking sky - receiving awards, attending UN and US Congress hearings, being proclaimed woman of the year and one of the 100 most influential persons, appearing at gala's with actors, musicians, statesmen... It took me, though, one look at the foundation's website to realise that the star was shining brightly in ALARMING RED - it was all about 'those poor girls', 'millions of children', 'trapped in sexual slavery', and accompanied by photos of bruised, abused and chained girls. The usual moral panic that always makes me feel sceptic about an organisation but is so attractive to celebrities, media, authorities and their dollars. To mention some of the recognition Mam received: CNN Hero Award 2006, Glamour magazine Woman of the Year 2006, US State Department "Heroes of the Anti-Trafficking" Award, Time Magazine's 100 Most Influential Persons in 2009 with a speech by Angelina Jolie. And, of course, 2.8 million dollars of donations to her foundation only in 2012. 

But all this glamour and success tumbled down this week when Newsweek published a story revealing the lies on which Somaly's work was based. They were actually first revealed already two years ago by Cambodia Daily but after the piece in Newsweek, Somaly finally resigned from her own foundation. So Somaly's success was due not only to the moral panic she was generating and maintaining but mostly to the lies she concocted. It began apparently in 1998 when a French TV aired a video about Somaly's organisation where a 14-year-old girl told her story of being kidnapped, raped, sold, trafficked and what not. Two years ago she finally admitted that none of this was true but she was reading from a script that Somaly had given her. Somaly also had a couple of personal horror stories - that she was herself an orphan, kidnapped, raped, abused, trafficked from age of around 10 (depending on who she was talking to, apparently the age was changing too). People in her village, though, admitted that she had parents, went to school and was a happy child - no selling, raping or orphaning.. Somaly also claimed that her own daughter was kidnapped, raped and had her eye gouged out by pimps and traffickers as a retaliation for her mother's work. Somaly's husband later clarified that their daughter's eye was actually removed by surgeons because of a medical condition and that she had run away with her boyfriend and was not kidnapped by anyone. And so on... 

Somaly's supporters and her foundation are now trying to convince us that it was all worth it, because, you see, they "rescued", "saved", "empowered", "sheltered" thousands upon thousands of women and girls from trafficking, slavery, kidnappings and rapes. But this begs the old question - when and to what extent does the end justify the means? Should you kill a killer? Is dictatorship justified if it, let's say, improves the economy? Should an NGO tell a few "white lies" if this will help it do good work? I am outraged that there are so many good anti-trafficking NGOs that adhere to strict ethical principles and, as a result, hardly receive any media, let alone celebrity attention, and struggle for money and recognition but do their job honestly. NGOs which always say that we don't know how much trafficking there is in the world and we should be careful when interpreting figures; that trafficking happens in the unregulated labour sectors, such as the sex industry but also agriculture, construction and domestic work; that sex workers should be consulted on anti-trafficking policies; that "sex trafficking" is wrong terminology and "sex slaves" even more so. And so on. On the other hand, organisations like the Somaly Mam Foundation fabricate stories to create moral panics and to receive millions of dollars in donations without ever having to write "logical frameworks", "sustainability of the action" and justify the "value for money" budgets and then keep every single receipt to account for the meagre amounts they received. How low can you stoop to attract more money and to further your agenda? 

Finally, not only was Somaly's work based on lies but it was damaging to sex workers in Cambodia. In a country torn by conflict, a lot of women turned to sex work as their only means of making a living. However, Somaly's rhetoric led to their arrests and prosecutions or, at the very least, their "rescue" from brothels. There are two famous stories, involving the Somaly Mam Foundation and Pulitzer-Prize winner and New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof - in one he "purchased" a victim of trafficking from her pimp (unclear to me now if she was such or a voluntary sex worker) for 200 USD or whatever and in another - he live tweeted a brothel raid in Phnom Pen. To anyone with a sound moral judgement, this is the opposite of empowerment and assistance - it's abuse and re-victimisation! And what happened to the "rescued victims" - they were placed by Somaly's Foundation to work in garment factories in Cambodia for two-thirds the living wage. I have to wonder, who is the slave and who needs to be rescued - the sex worker who decides when and how to work and probably makes reasonable money or the garment factory worker who can't leave and has to toil long hours for a measly wage? It may sound slightly like a "conspiracy theory" but Salon.com claims that Nike funds the foundation of Nick Kristof, which "rescues" women from the sex industry only to place them in the garment industry: "Most women in Cambodia live under conditions of poverty and desperation, and the garment industry’s insistent refusal to meet living-wage standards ensures this will continue for some time. Still, garment workers know an entire international trade system relies on their willing participation... The big brands know it too, which is why the Nike Foundation funds Half the Sky — as do other multinationals that both enforce, and rely on, women’s desperate poverty around the world."

Prostituto - part 2

So, to continue my rant about prostitution and the similarities between the anti-sex work and anti-LGBT discourses... 

Out of sight - out of mind

Invisible man

As I mentioned in part 1, in Bulgaria (for example) there are a lot of tolerant, compassionate and progressive people, who don't want to see all LGBT people dead or in a mental institution. Or anywhere else, for that matter. A typical statement you can read in message boards and comments under news articles is "I have nothing against gay people but I don't understand why they have to parade their sexuality" or "I don't discriminate against anyone, let them do whatever they want in their bedrooms but not go out on the streets and demonstrate their sexual orientation". (And believe me, this IS a tolerant attitude over there!) These sentiments are repeated at the highest political and social levels. In 2008, before the first organised and largely promoted Sofia gay pride, the then Prime Minister, now chair of the Bulgarian Socialist Party and the Party of European Socialists, Sergei Stanishev, when asked about the pride parade, said that the Bulgarian government fights discrimination and protects the rights of all its citizens but "personally, I don't like the demonstration and manifestation of such orientations". [On an irrelevant but related note: rumour is that Stanishev himself is gay and has (had?) a relationship with the current Foreign MInister Vigenin...] Under pressure from united nazis and Christians, the then mayor Boyko Borisov moved the pride march from the city centre to a more invisible place outside the centre (and later moved it again back to the city centre...). A couple of years later, when Borisov was Prime Minister, he stated that "in GERB [his party] men love women and women love men". Yes, in his party, there are no LGBT people. 

Invisible woman

The anti-sex work debate usually focuses on street prostitution and the abuses that street workers face. Even though some estimate that street prostitution accounts for not more than 20% of all prostitution, the anti's love focusing on this 20% to make their point, disregarding the other 80%, which includes call girls, escorts, webcam workers, etc. who are far more high-level, protected and well paid and where trafficking, abuse and exploitation occur much less often. So it seems the main goal of the anti's is to see street prostitution disappear, i.e. to simply not see any sex workers. But the main way in which sex workers are made invisible is by ignoring their voices. When it comes to policies around sex work, real, actual, active, present- or past-day sex workers are largely ignored, in favour of fake "survivors of prostitution". The Council of Europe Rapporteur I mentioned in the previous part is a perfect example. 

By making any group invisible and ignoring it as small or unrepresentative, governments, policy makers and society find it easier to ignore the group's demands, rights and needs, instead of improving laws and policies that actually protect them. 

When they say your sister is a whore... 

There's a saying in Bulgarian that goes along the lines of "When they say your sister is a whore, you can't prove anymore that you don't have a sister". It sounds a lot wittier actually but the idea is that once a claim/rumour is out there, it's really difficult to disprove it as false, even if it's something as simple as the fact that you don't have a sister.

In any debate it's easy to spread rumours and unfounded and unprovable claims but it gets worse when you employ rheological fallacies, which make it seem like your claim is or can be true. In the anti-LGBT (or rather, anti-gay) discourse there are plenty of unprovable claims like "God hates fags" or "75% of gay men have had sex with more than 1500 men" or "Gay prides are not about rights but pure pornography" but I will mention here a few recent and very absurd ones designed purely to create a moral panic, which on the outside, to the dumb reader, may appear to be substantiated. 

- The EU wants to legalise incest seems to be another legitimate sounding rumour. The EU and US and their human rights are, of course, the worst enemies of Bulgarian, Russian, Serbian, etc. law-abiding orthodox Christians and it follows that after legalising same-sex marriages, the next logical step is legalising incest, peadophilia and zoophilia. Just last year I heard at an unfortunate encounter in Bulgaria that "The European Parliament is now discussing measures to legalise incest because the Nordic countries, especially Norway and Iceland, are pushing for it". The idea that the EU will have a say in incest and even "legalise" it may sound legit to some but that Norway and Iceland are in the EU is simple ignorance with which you just can't argue (or next you'll find yourself trying to convince someone that Africa is a continent or that the Earth is round..) The rumour itself was started by a crazy Russian woman who claimed that her Norwegian husband and his family molested their son and the social workers and the whole state actually encouraged paedophilia and incest and then spread like wildfire in all Putinesque media and circles. So someone heard a fake story about incest in Norway and decided that the EU will legalise incest and that incest and paedophilia are "Western values".

Jamie and Cersei at a hearing in the EP...

I would probably find it more believable if someone told me that Jamie and Cersei Lannister are lobbying the EU to legalise incest than Norway and Iceland :-) 

- The Netherlands is a country of gays and paedophiles. The Netherlands was the first country in the world to legalise same-sex marriages and is also popular for its liberal stance on marijuana use and, of course, prostitution. The Dutch government, its embassies and Dutch foundations fund a lot of LGBT initiatives around the world, including contributions to all gay prides in Sofia. In the narrow minds of extreme conservatives and Christians this makes the whole country worse than Sodom and Gomorrah. But my example - in 2013 the Bulgarian judiciary organised a seminar with Dutch experts on improving the workload of magistrates. A recently leaked letter from a high-level magistrate quotes his reasons to decline the invitation: "I see that there will be a Dutch expert. As you know, this country is ruled by gays and they also have a paedophile party, which is making its way to Parliament"... While there are open LGBT people in Dutch politics, none are in the government and you can hardly claim that the country is ruled by gays (of course the claim itself is preposterous enough). The mere existence of Association Martijn, however, allows all anti's to use it as "proof" that the country is infested with paedophiles (and by extension - gays). In reality, the association is not a political party, has hardly any support, let alone trying to make it to Parliament or have any sort of power. It's been banned and unbanned a few times and in April 2014 it was banned for good. But once the claim is out there - no one cares about these "details". The magistrate who refused to allow a Dutch expert to teach the "Orthodox, traditional-value" and completely rotten Bulgarian judiciary was awarded 40 monthly salaries upon his retirement in 2014. 

Lastly, I want to share my frustration with the campaign for EP elections in Bulgaria - if you listen to some of the candidates and their messages you'll get the impression that next year the EU will force every Bulgarian to marry someone of the same gender and then have sex with animals in front of kindergartens every morning... 

In the anti-prostitution discourse there are even more ridiculous but legit-sounding claims that seem founded in "carefully selected" research. Maggie McNeill has a long list of them in her blog and in the Washington Post and Dr. Ronald Weitzer more here. 

But to mention a few for my readers: 

- The average age for entry into prostitution is 12-14 years 

As Maggie points out, this is first of all a mathematical impossibility because it suggests that for every sex worker who started at 20, there's one who started at 6 to 8... Or for every one who started at 24 there's one who started at ... 0 to 4. It took me five seconds to do the math but the myth is more important than the math... Anyway, it seems the myth refers to a study of the first sexual experience of minors. And minors are always below the age of 18 but myth or math - who cares, let's create a moral panic..

- In The Netherlands 50-90% of sex workers are forced. 

This is another commonly repeated lie because (apart from "the Dutch are always to blame":) it came from an Amsterdam city official in 2009 which was not based on anything but a simple guesstimate. In reality, a 2007 official evaluation on the lifting of the ban on brothels found out that around 8% of the interviewed sex workers said they had started under some form of coercion. Sex workers in the Red Light District will tell you that the forced prostitutes are even fewer than this. 

- More than half of Amsterdam brothel owners have criminal records. This is not one that's particularly pervasive internationally but I'm including it because of its utter distortion and absurdity. It was used in the reasoning behind the European Parliament resolution on prostitution from the end of February 2014. When real researchers actually bothered to trace this claim they found that: it wasn't about Amsterdam but only part of the Red Light District; it wasn't more than half but less than one-third; and the most spectacular one - it wasn't about brothel owners but about coffee shop (where they sell marijuana) owners... But when you start your sentence with "A 2009 study found out that..." and don't provide proper references, you can get away with it, even if you're a Member of the European Parliament. 

The anti's will always find rumours, hear-say or unfounded claims to further their agenda. Luckily, there are also always diligent researchers and activists who are ready to refute these claims, but once it's out there - most people react to the scandalous, the morally outrageous claim and can hardly ever be convinced that the reality is different. But of course - no victory comes easily... 

Tempters, homewreckers and sinners!

Now this part came a bit unexpectedly, I hadn't thought about it until I got into a sort of an argument in the comments of the blog post "Does legalised prostitution really increase human trafficking in Germany" on FeministIre. A certain georgefinnegan was one of few very vocal commenters against sex work. At first I thought the guy was just conservative or religious but from several different comments, something here, something there, I was left with the impression that he objects to prostitution because prostitutes sleep with married men, therefore they ruin marriages, therefore their job is a disgrace to society and traditions, therefore it shouldn't exist, let alone be legal (in a way it's a refreshing attitude not rooted in the "victims of human trafficking" or "violence against women" paradigm). In another comment, george had admitted to talking to a prostitute once, even flirting with her. All of this made me assume, whether correctly or not, that he actually wanted to visit a sex worker and use her services but didn't because of moral considerations (and I admire his level of restraint in the name of fidelity and marriage!). We also know, although I can't quote sources now, that the people who most vehemently oppose LGBT rights are often people who themselves have homosexual desires. I'm sure that, like me, a lot of gays and lesbians have had sex with married men and women but to shift the responsibility only to gays, lesbians or sex workers for people's infidelity is simply not serious - it's a two-way consensual and conscious interaction. People who want to cheat will cheat, be it with sex workers, people of the same sex, or their secretary or possibly anyone they come in contact with. Obviously we can't ban interpersonal communication to prevent cheating. And while with gays and lesbians these outside-marriage activities have the potential to cause romantic complications, with sex workers it's actually just a business transaction. But some straight and bi men and women prefer to have an easy scapegoat, which they can blame for their failed marriages/relationships instead of making an effort to understand what's wrong and work it out or leave and try to be happy with someone else... Someone had told me that this is why so few men actually support sex workers rights - because they are scared that they will appear to want to use sex workers' services (whether they actually do or not). Needless to say, in the same way in backward countries like Bulgaria, so few straight people defend LGBT rights, again out of fear of being perceived as gay/lesbian themselves. 

Tuscany, part 1 - Arezzo

Интродуционе

Всеки път когато пътувам някъде си мисля как трябва да си водя записки, или след това да си опиша спомените и ... никога не го правя. А времето си минава, спомените избледняват или се изкривяват и ми става криво и на мен за това, че не съм записал нищо. Но - по-добре късно, отколкото никога. И това е първият ми пътепис - за разходката до Арецо и Флоренция. 

Организацията, в която работя, беше поканена в Арецо, провинция Тоскана, Италия, на конференция за трафика на хора. Конференцията е 4-5 часа, на съвсем местно ниво, със световно неизвестни организации от региона и колежките ми бяха твърде заети, за да й обърнат внимание. Единствените други външни гости на конференцията бяха Паола от германската организация Hydra, и Даниела Данна, професор по социология в Университета в Милано. И двете познавах само като име от света на анти-трафика и проституцията. Тъй като от Ла Страда се изискваше само да направим една 20-минутна доста обща презентация за това кои сме и как работим, аз изявих желание да отида. Мога да говоря общи приказки за организацията и 40 минути, ако трябва, а в Тоскана не съм бил никога, особено пък без да плащам самолетен билет и две нощувки в хотел :-) Шефката ми се съгласи, а организаторите бяха ужасно доволни, че някой от Ла Страда ще ги удостои с присъствието си. Тъй като ми взеха билет до Флоренция, аз поисках да остана един ден повече, за да разгледам, на свои разноски, разбира се. 

Във конски вагон... 

И така, пристигнах във Флоренция в понеделник следобед, леко притеснен - знае се, че италианците не говорят много английски, а аз отдавна не съм нито слушал, нито опитвал да говоря на френски, за да успея поне нещичко да измисля как може би се казва на италиански. И както обикновено ми се случва когато трябва да кажа нещо на език, който не говоря, започнах да бълвам прости думи на холандски - ja вместо si, een вместо uno, dank je wel вместо grazie. Това водеше до фрази от сорта на een caffe americano, por favor. Качих се на бавния пътнически влак от Флоренция до Арецо (който щеше да спира през около пет минути на всяко село и паланка и да отнеме час и половина) само умерено подразнен, тъй като очаквах да гледам тосканските пейзажи през иначе удобния влак, а и бях решил да чета новозакупената книга на Maggie McNeill "Ladies of the Night". Маги е бивша проститутка и пише блог за проституция, сексуалност и собствени преживявания, който често чета и много харесвам. Постовете й са много аналитични, остроумни, откровени и на места политически, и като че ли очаквах и книгата да е такава, макар че е fiction. Представях си как на фона на тосканските пейзажи ще чета истории за проститутки и ще си мисля за изискани италиански дами на нощта, които ядат тирамису преди работа. (Лирично отклонение - още отдавна бях чел в уикипедия, че тирамису означава нещо като "вдигни ме", заради многото какао и кафе в тортата и че италианските секс работнички я хапвали, за да могат да стоят будни, свежи и в настроение по цяла нощ). Не знам и аз как точно си представях тосканските пейзажи - може би безкрайни полета от маслини, домати, грозде, босилек и прошуто - но тосканският пейзаж от влака упорито приличаше на този между Враца и Лом... Хълмчета, горички, малки неподдържани селца (на които спирахме през пет минути) и много храсти около релсите, които да пречат на и без това невпечатляващата гледка. Все пак - ХЪЛМОВЕ - такива неща не бях виждал от почти една година, та беше приятно да си ги припомня. Първият разказ, който зачетох, пък изобщо не беше свързан с проститутка, а през повечето време героинята сънуваше много, много странен сън. Все пак, разказ за много, много странен сън е също доста, доста интересен. С други думи, пътуването с влака се оказа различно от очакванията ми, но и много приятно. 

Граппа, кианти, панцанелла и много много месо

Пристигнах в Арецо и се настаних в хотела си. Като влязох в стаята, почти прихнах да се хиля - луксозна та кичозна - два тежки фотьойла, три тежки картини със златисти рамки, тежки пердета, розов полилей, банята и тя в сходен стил... Не можах да не направя няколко снимки и да си представя, че съм я Медичи, я проститутка на Медичи :-) Организаторите (Провинция Арецо) ми бяха оставили бележка да се насладя на тосканската кухня като техен гост в еди-кой си ресторант. В еди-кой си ресторант, на виа еди-коя си, пристигнах около 8 часа, казах буона сера и дадох писмото от общината. Бързо разбрах, че никой не говори английски там, но се разбрахме лесно, че искам вода "но гас" и една малка граппа. От там насетне всичко протичаше без моя контрол и знание - не ми донесоха меню, а вино (Chianti, разбира се), след известно време плато антипасти (с брускети, панцанела, прошуто и салами), след още известно време талиатели с кайма. Самичък на маса, без никаква представа дали ще идват още ястия, какви и кога, и без да мога да питам някого, седях, пиех си виното, блеех си в телефона, излизах да пуша и размишлявах как би се чувствал някой вегетарианец на моето място, например колежката ми Марийка, ако тя беше дошла. Ами ако аз бях вегетарианец? Можех да избълвам нещо като "но карне, йо соно веджетариаано", но какво от това - менюто явно беше избрано предварително, все с месо. Щях да изям две брускети и панцанелата, и да се надявам, че ще има десерт - джелатто без месо :-) И докато с омаяния си, едновременно объркан и отегчен мозък размишлявах за южняшката кухня и неволите на вегетарианците, видях как сервитьорът ме показва на едно младо лъчезарно момиче, което бързо стигна до моята маса, прегърна ме, разцелува ме и каза "здрасти, аз съм ПиДжи" (вече на английски, слава Богу). 

Джиджи ПиДжи

Моето временно бести ПиДжи

ПиДжи се казва Паула Джойа нещо си, италианка е и работи в организацията Hydra в Берлин и е абсолютна джойа да бъдеш около нея - весела, енергична, умна, непринудена, симпатична... Представям се и аз кой съм и откъде съм и спонтанно започваме да се чудим защо точно нас са поканили на тази конференция и какво очакват от нас. Аз само съм чувал за Hydra, и тя ми обяснява, че е по-скоро организация за проституиращи, отколкото против трафика. Аз подхващам обичайния си рант за това как ме дразни анти-проститутското говорене, защото като гей мъж, ми прилича на анти-гей говоренето. Дали като отговор на това "откровение" и ПиДжи решава да ми камаутне и казва, че самата тя проституира, освен дето нали и консултира проституиращи в работата си. Някак си ми става още по-интересна и приятна. През това време носят и на нея плато с антипасти, след това и талиатели с кайма, а аз си сърбам виното, все още в неведение какво още ще ни черпи провинция Арецо, ако изобщо нещо. Споделям това с нея, тя пита сервитьора и разбираме, че ще идва ... второ основно ястие (май се оказа, че пастата се брои за първо основно или нещо такова). Шегува се, че ще яде бързо, за да можем да свършим заедно... Въпреки че ми става много смешно от този коментар, кой знае защо се чувствам и малко некомфортно и отивам да пуша, защото сама сигурно ще свърши по-бързо, хаха (не го казвам де). През остатъка от киантито, телешкото с три бейби морковчета (вече и двамата размишляваме за неволите на вегетарианците в южна Европа) и джелатото, аз съм почти пленен от историите, ПиДжи ми разказва. Дали заради италианската си природа или не, говори много, увлекателно и с чувство за хумор. Не помня конкретния ред на нещата, но до края на вечерта научавам, че е на около 33 години, има PhD отскоро; дисертацията й е била за това как езикът се използва за ограничаване на миграцията и потискане на мигрантите; мнението й за проституцията и връзката й с феминизма, патриархата, сексуалността и джендъра; че е родена в Рим, живяла е в Барселона, Лондон и Утрехт, а сега в Берлин; че е купонясвала цял уикенд в Барселона и от там летяла за Берлин и след това за Флоренция и сега е много гладна и изтощена; че е лесбийка, но когато проституира, го прави с мъже; има за гадже (когото нарича партньор) гей мъж; проституира само когато е в Лондон, защото Берлин е беден град, а и тъй като проституцията в Германия е законна, там е пълно с проститутки, което сваля цената и не си заслужава човек да проституира там... Вътрешно се забавлявам толкова много от тези истории, че за момент ми се прииска аз да съм този гей мъж партньор, за да бъда свидетел на всичко това. Не можех да спра да си мисля колко интересни човешки отношения има в света. Най-нестандартната връзка, която аз познавам май е тройката на Хю, Христо и Крег, която ми изглеждаше почти банална като история, в сравнение с това, което чувах... В хода на вечерта стана дума и за Даниела Данна, която също се оказа, че е лесбийка и се познават с ПиДжи и си ходели на гости в Лондон с гаджетата. Даниела така и не се появи в ресторанта, и ние с моето ново временно бести се прибрахме в хотела. Аз - с водка за 8 евро, която купих от магазин с продавач, който приличаше на румънски ром. 

Борис и Беатриче

Помпозната Сале ди Гранде

На сутринта видях бестито на закуска, но тя бързаше да си довърши презентацията (така е, който купонясва цял уикенд в Барселона). Запознах се с Даниела, обаче, която е по-възрастна, около 45, да речем, по-тиха и сдържана, но много умна жена. В 8.30 дойде Франческа (от организаторите) да ни закара до мястото на конференцията - палацо ди нещо си (понастоящем сградата на общината), в сале ди гранде. Салето и то като хотелската ми стая - гранде и кичозе. Макар да бе обявена за 9ч, конференцията, вероятно по стар италиански обичай, започна към 9.45-10. In the meantime, Франческа ми доведе Beatrice - моята лична преводачка. Макар да ми се представи като Биàтрис и да говореше с приятен британски акцент, аз реших, че всъщност е Беатриче - като любимата на Данте. Беатриче изглеждаше като лелка на средна възраст (въпреки че може да е била и на моята, ох!) и беше също приятна и приказлива жена. За мен беше облекчение да има още един човек, с когото да мога да си говоря на английски и си бърборихме за всякакви глупости докато започна конференцията. Няколко официозни лица откриха - президентът и вице-президентът на провинция Арецо, някой си от регион Тоскана... В думите на всички витаеше известна фрустрация от това, че явно вече няма да има провинции в Италия (поради административна реформа или нещо такова) и не се знае дали ще имат пари да продължат проекта си за трафика, който успешно върви от десет години. Помислих си "Добре дошли в света на НПО-тата"... Мислех си и как тези малки незначителни факти ще ми останат в главата, както само малките, незначителни факти могат... След официалните лица, които се и изнизаха към други задължения, дойде ред на "Борис Джерасимов", като най-виден анти-трафик експерт... Въпреки че и аз съм правил консекутивен превод и знам колко е гадно, когато някой не прави редовни паузи, някак се отплеснах и забравих да правя редовни паузи по време на презентацията си. Беатриче се справяше доста добре, но аз все пак забавих и се нагодихме. Макар че всички говориха по 5-10 минути, аз говорих около 25, вероятно и заради превода, дори към края реших да попретупам, за да остане време за другите. Хора си водиха записки, други ми снимаха презентацията, което приех за добър знак. След мен говориха и ПиДжи, и Франческа, и Даниела и още няколко души и най-сетне свърши конференцията (която продължи само пет часа и не знам защо казвам най-сетне, но вероятно и вие си го мислите вече). 

Via Petrarca

С ПиДжи и Даниела

Така с моите вече две бестита, ПиДжи и Дани, си тръгнахме от конференцията и решихме да се разходим малко из Арецо. Бях питал някого вече какво интересно има в града и ми казаха първо, че филмът на Бенини La Vita e Bella (Животът е хубав) е сниман тук. Май и аз го бях забелязал - рекламираха се туристически маршрути, които обикалят местата, където е сниман филмът. Макар и интересно, като един филолог уж интелектуалец, обаче, бях забелязал и Виа Петрарка и питах дали пък и поетът не е от тук. Потвърдиха ми го и ми указаха как да отида до къщата му - Каса ди Петрарка. Обзе ме странно и познато усещане. Още преди пет години, когато за първи път бях в Италия, имах чувството, че съм роден в малка, незначителна и никому с нищо неизвестна страна. За да не се депресираме, нека добавя, поне в сравнение с Италия. По която и улица да минех, на който и площад да се спрях, бяха все кръстени на имена, които съм чувал. Тогава бях на гости на един познат в малкото, никому неизвестно градче Omegna, на брега на неизвестното езеро Lago D'orta, и се оказа, че там е роден Джани Родари. Приятелят ми се учуди, че знам автора, както и днес приятелките ми се поучудиха, че знам Петрарка. Аз ги уверих, че съм много умен, макар че не знам нито едно заглавие от Петрарка, но не там е въпросът. Как така всеки от нас може да назове поне (поне!) 10 известни италиански автори, художници и музиканти, от Данте и Бокачо до Ерос Рамацоти, а сигурно никой чужденец не може да назове дори един известен българин? :-( Е, ясно е как де - те имали Ренесанс и Сан Ремо, ние - не точно и Златен Орфей..

Макар и леко фрустриран от тези мисли, с беститата обиколихме Арецо за половин-един час и седнахме да пием кафе. Научих още, че Даниела е във връзка, но по принцип не ги изкарва повече от шест месеца - нетипично за лесбийка; че ПиДжи има досадна майка (кой ли няма?), а гаджето (партньорът) й говори осем езика, докато тя самата - само шест... 

Купихме си и по няколко сувенира и беститата трябваше да си заминават, а аз се прибрах в хотела си да пиша този пост...

Всичките ми снимки от Арецо и Флоренция могат да се видят във Фейсбук, дори без регистрация. 

Част 2 - Флоренция (на английски)