Love For Sale

Intimate profiles of four sex trade workers from very different walks of life.

By Michael Harris; Photographs by Brian Howell

There is no categorical prostitute. If we understand that, then categorical imperatives (Ship ’em over the bridges! Designate a red light district!) look awfully clumsy. The sex workers who share their stories here are a highly varied bunch (though they all smirked before giving their age).

DJ (32) works amid a haze of abuse on a corner in the Downtown Eastside yet maintains an inspiriting air; Cory (28) loves his work and is indistinguishable from any other gay urban professional; Sue Davis (37) is a community activist with experience gained from the street, massage parlours and newspaper ads (she might also be the happiest hooker in town); and Versace (21) is a transsexual so coquettish you might miss the entrepreneurial spark in her immaculately made-up eyes.

The fact that Davis alone offered her family name speaks to a dread of disclosure in the sex trade. Protective residents and businesses have pushed sex workers onto our most dangerous streets, and those who work through newspapers and the Internet, are still wary of public censure (and criminal proceedings). These four people are exceptional for speaking publicly. But it’s the ones who refused to appear, the voiceless souls you’ll never hear about, who are most likely to go missing one day. That’s one more thing these four have in common: the ability to tell their own stories.

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