I’m going through kind of a scary time, financially speaking. The company that I work for is struggling, and decided to boot me off the payroll and hire me back as a part-time “contractor.” That means that where I was getting over $2,000 a month take-home pay, I’m now getting $1,000, and over $300 of that will have to go into COBRA payments.

I’m just saying this to underscore that I’m being more tight-fisted than usual with money, and not giving to a lot of crowdfunding drives. But this morning, I plunked $10 down on the newly-launched crowdfunder for Red Light Legal.

Red Light Legal is a fledgling organization started by Kristina Dolgin, a sex worker, activist, and law student here in the San Francisco Bay Area. Right now, Red Light Legal is little more than Kristina and whoever she can get to help at any given time, but I really want to see the organization flourish. If the fundraising drive makes the $15,000 goal, it could be a really important step in making that happen.

The basic resources that the rest of us take for granted are hard to come by for sex workers; whether you’re deliberately out of the closet or you’ve been outed because of a bust by the cops, there’s a ridiculously complex system of bureaucracy and law dedicated to denying sex workers everything from checking accounts to housing. In 2014, for example, the Oakland City Council passed an ordinance requiring landlords to evict tenants who were engaged in prostitution. Even Kristina’s choice of crowdfunding sites is reflective of anti-sex worker policies: Most of the major crowdfunding platforms will immediately shut down  campaigns by known sex workers, even if the campaign itself isn’t related to sex work.

The same is true for legal and health services.For the latter, San Francisco has the legendary St. James Infirmary. Last December, Greta and I used the Godless Perverts Holiday Fun Time party to raise over $900 for St. James. Now, I’d like to see the legal options for sex workers expanded.

Kristina is good people; I’ve known her for some time, and used her as a source for several articles. She’s also one of our fellow unbelievers, and co-moderated an incredible session of the Godless Perverts Social Club about sex work. She’s driven and knowledgeable, and I’d really like to see her succeed.

Like I say, I’m broke, and it’s scary to spend any more than I absolutely have to. There are people who are even more broke than I am, and that ten bucks could mean the difference between dinner or no dinner tonight. I understand and sympathize; none of us can afford to donate to every worthwhile crowdfunding campaign out there.

But if you do happen to have a few bucks that you can spare, Red Light Legal is a good place for atheists with a passion for social justice to put their money.

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