As I reported in December, the escort ad site Slixa held a contest for essays about how FOSTA/SESTA has harmed sex workers. Well, the winners were announced this week! I’m going to keep this short so you’ll have time to read the three winning essays, because I think it’s important for my readers to have as many perspectives on this situation as possible. The first place winner was “Against FOSTA/SESTA: One Canary’s Cry From Inside the Coal Mine” by Lucy Kahn; second place was “The Death Of The Dabbler and The Erasure Of Sex Work From The Common Internet” by Grace Marie; and third place was “Global Implications Of FOSTA” by Meghan Peterson. In addition to a cash prize, a sex worker rights organization of each winner’s choice received a matching donation. Kudos to all three winners; we need a lot more sex workers to join them in clearly expressing to the public exactly how much damage the War on Whores is causing everyone, not just sex workers and clients. Because as long as amateurs think their necks aren’t in the government’s noose along with ours, they’ll continue to blissfully sit in the pot while their rulers keep turning up the heat.