Margo St. James: Difference between revisions
Added references list |
Added reference to husband's death |
||
| Line 8: | Line 8: | ||
She began attending international conferences: the [[United Nations]] Decade of Women Conferences in [[Mexico City]], the [[1976]] [[Tribunal of Crimes Against Women]] in Brussels, the [[1977]] [[International Women's Year Conference]] in [[Houston]], the [[1980]] [[Decade of Women Conference]] in [[Copenhagen]], the [[1976]] [[Democratic Convention]] in [[New York]]—where St. James organized ''loiter-ins''—and the [[Republican Convention]] in [[Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City]]. |
She began attending international conferences: the [[United Nations]] Decade of Women Conferences in [[Mexico City]], the [[1976]] [[Tribunal of Crimes Against Women]] in Brussels, the [[1977]] [[International Women's Year Conference]] in [[Houston]], the [[1980]] [[Decade of Women Conference]] in [[Copenhagen]], the [[1976]] [[Democratic Convention]] in [[New York]]—where St. James organized ''loiter-ins''—and the [[Republican Convention]] in [[Kansas City, Missouri|Kansas City]]. |
||
She worked closely with [[Gail Pheterson]]—editor of ''[[Vindication of The Rights of Whores]]'' from [[Seal Press]] and author of ''[[Prostitution Prism]]'' from [[University of Michigan Press]]—beginning in 1983 in [[Rotterdam]]; and with [[Priscilla Alexander]]—co-editor of ''[[Sex Work]]'' from [[Cleis Press]]—since [[1977]]. In [[1984]], [[COYOTE]] hosted a [[Hooker's Convention]] and drafted a Bill of Rights which underpinned the [[World Whores' Charter]] drawn up by the [[International Committee For Prostitutes' Rights]] in the [[European Parliament]] in [[Brussels]]. The conservative swing in the US and the [[women's movement]] prompted her to move to [[Europe]], so she could put more energy into international organizing. She returned in 1993 and married |
She worked closely with [[Gail Pheterson]]—editor of ''[[Vindication of The Rights of Whores]]'' from [[Seal Press]] and author of ''[[Prostitution Prism]]'' from [[University of Michigan Press]]—beginning in 1983 in [[Rotterdam]]; and with [[Priscilla Alexander]]—co-editor of ''[[Sex Work]]'' from [[Cleis Press]]—since [[1977]]. In [[1984]], [[COYOTE]] hosted a [[Hooker's Convention]] and drafted a Bill of Rights which underpinned the [[World Whores' Charter]] drawn up by the [[International Committee For Prostitutes' Rights]] in the [[European Parliament]] in [[Brussels]]. The conservative swing in the US and the [[women's movement]] prompted her to move to [[Europe]], so she could put more energy into international organizing. She returned in 1993 and married journalist Paul Avery . , San Francisco .-.,<ref> |
||
Agenda & Minutes Archive, City and County of San Francisco Board of Supervisors, http://www.sfgov.org/site/bdsupvrs_page.asp?id=11845, URL accessed September 5, 2007.</ref> |
|||
In 1996 St. James received about 76,000 votes in her bid to become a member of San Francisco's Board of Supervisors. She finished fith, but only the top four vote-getters were elected. In the late 1990s, she served on the Board of Supervisor's Drug Abuse Advisory Board.<ref>December 20, 1999 Agenda & Minutes Archive, City and County of San Francisco Board of Supervisors, http://www.sfgov.org/site/bdsupvrs_page.asp?id=11845, URL accessed September 5, 2007.</ref> |
|||
| ⚫ | |||
| ⚫ | |||
== Books == |
== Books == |
||
Revision as of 12:32, 5 September 2007
Margo St. James (b. 1937), a sex-positive feminist and a political activist, advocates prostitute's rights. She has been a candidate for the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, but has never been elected—she received 76,000 votes in the 1996 election and finished fifth in an election where the top four took office, and then ran again in 1998.
History
Margo St. James was President of the San Francisco Sexual Freedom League in 1967-1969. She advocated women's rights and organized sex parties and orgies. She claims to be a "former prostitute", and for this reason, she has been criticized by anti-pornography feminists including Dorchen Leidholdt. The claim to be a former prostitute is based on a 1962 prostitution conviction.
Margo St. James founded the St. James Infirmary in San Francisco to help provide health care to the sex worker community. She founded COYOTE in 1973. The forerunner of COYOTE was WHO: Whores, Housewives and Others; Others in this case meant lesbians. The first meeting of WHO was held on Alan Watts' houseboat; and the name COYOTE came from novelist Tom Robbins who dubbed her a coyote trickster.
She began attending international conferences: the United Nations Decade of Women Conferences in Mexico City, the 1976 Tribunal of Crimes Against Women in Brussels, the 1977 International Women's Year Conference in Houston, the 1980 Decade of Women Conference in Copenhagen, the 1976 Democratic Convention in New York—where St. James organized loiter-ins—and the Republican Convention in Kansas City.
She worked closely with Gail Pheterson—editor of Vindication of The Rights of Whores from Seal Press and author of Prostitution Prism from University of Michigan Press—beginning in 1983 in Rotterdam; and with Priscilla Alexander—co-editor of Sex Work from Cleis Press—since 1977. In 1984, COYOTE hosted a Hooker's Convention and drafted a Bill of Rights which underpinned the World Whores' Charter drawn up by the International Committee For Prostitutes' Rights in the European Parliament in Brussels. The conservative swing in the US and the women's movement prompted her to move to Europe, so she could put more energy into international organizing. She returned in 1993 and married journalist Paul Avery, who died in 2000.[1]
In 1996 St. James received about 76,000 votes in her bid to become a member of San Francisco's Board of Supervisors. She finished fith, but only the top four vote-getters were elected. In the late 1990s, she served on the Board of Supervisor's Drug Abuse Advisory Board.[2]
In April 2007 she was reportedly living on Orcas Island in Puget Sound, Oregon.[3]
Books
A Vindication of the Rights of Whores by Margo St. James and Gail Pheterson ISBN 0-931188-73-3
Notes
- ^ Paul Avery, Longtime Newspaper Reporter, by Paul Avery, Longtime Newspaper Reporter, San Francisco Chronicle, http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2000/12/13/MN35304.DTL,
- ^ December 20, 1999 Agenda & Minutes Archive, City and County of San Francisco Board of Supervisors, http://www.sfgov.org/site/bdsupvrs_page.asp?id=11845, URL accessed September 5, 2007.
- ^ Imus Isn't the Only Problem, by Clarence Page, http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/04/imus_isnt_the_only_problem.html, URL accessed September 5. 2007.