06/02/2026
Lessons from Our Elders Series: Carol Leigh
Today is International S*x Workers' Day.
Carol Leigh was a q***r s*x worker, activist, writer, and artist who spent her life insisting that s*x workers are experts on their own lives.
In 1978, at a feminist conference in San Francisco, she coined the term "s*x work." Two words that said: this is labor. We are workers. We deserve rights.
That term is now used in public health, human rights law, and international policy globally. One phrase. One woman.
She died in 2022, still organizing. She was also bis*xual — loudly so, at a time when the gay community erased bis*xual identity. She belonged at Pride. All of her did.
We honor Carol for everything she's done for us to follow in her footsteps.
