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Our organization was founded by Margo St. James in San Francisco in the early 1970's to fight the existing prostitution laws that caused her to be arrested, even though she was not then a prostitute. It evolved into a support network of other sex workers and non-sex worker supporters, feminists and others who believed the laws against prostitution were detrimental to women's rights.
For several years, C.O.Y.O.T.E. chapters sprang up all over the United States, as women in the sex industry realized if they were to make changes, they needed to network and support each other as had other minority movements.
With Margo's leadership, women formed monthly "bad girl rap groups" in which they identified themselves as "whores" - whether or not sex workers. Periodic 'hooker's conferences' were held, usually in San Francisco. Because of the notoriety she gained in the beginning of the movement, she was able to persuade people of note to sponsor the conferences. Margo had extensive media coverage for the new movement, and was encouraged by the interest in the prostitutes' activities.
Margo formed a close relationship with Priscilla Alexander, a non-prostitute feminist who served as the Action Coordinator for the California NOW. Through their efforts, California NOW adopted a policy platform demanding that prostitution and all it's ancillary activities, such as pimping and pandering, be decriminalized, giving women complete autonomy. Unfortunately, it has not yet been decriminalized.
Margo and Priscilla formed an umbrella organization called "The National Task Force on Prostitution" and later with a Social Psychologist and feminist non-sex worker, Gail Pheterson, built an international organization, the ICPR (International Committee on Prostitute's Rights) aimed at connecting sex-worker's groups all over the world. An international conference was held in Brussels in 1986, which resulted in a book about the conference edited by Margo, Gail and Priscilla, called "The Vindication of the Rights of Whores".
Margo moved to Europe shortly thereafter. In Atlanta, Dolores French launched her organization, "H.I.R.E. (Hooking Is Real Employment), and in New York, P.O.N.Y. (Prostitutes of New York) began establishing itself as a viable organization.
Gloria Lockett and Priscilla Alexander co-directed the San Francisco chapter of C.O.Y.O.T.E., but Gloria had to devote most of her energies to the newly formed Cal PEP (Prostitute's Education Project) a non-profit government funded organization which proposed to pass out condoms and sterile needles to street prostitutes and engage in AIDS awareness and education. In Los Angeles, the designated executive director of the Southern California chapter, Norma Jean Almodovar (the former L.A.P.D. Traffic Officer turned Call Girl), spent 18 months in prison, leaving no one to take over her duties. Since her release, she has spent most of her time trying to rebuild her life. For a while, Norma Jean was the sole member of C.O.Y.O.T.E. LA, because other women in the sex industry did not want to experience the same kind of police harassment that she had.
The past several years have brought a tremendous increase in media prostitute bashing. It has been a formidable job trying to combat the misconceptions and stereotypes of prostitution perpetrated by the media in movies and the press.
In San Francisco, Samantha Miller picked up the reins of C.O.Y.O.T.E. when Priscilla left for Europe to work for the World Health Organization.
Encouraged by the response that C.O.Y.O.T.E. San Francisco was receiving from the sex workers and the media, Norma Jean decided to try to organize other men and women, sex workers and supporters, in the Southern California area. With the help of a political ally from New York, C.O.Y.O.T.E. LA was reborn.
We maintain a phone line to answer questions about decriminalization of prostitution, and give information to the media, students, writers and others who call.
We offer advice for those who want information about our legal rights under current legislation. Our legal counsel offers a free consultation to those who have been arrested for a prostitution related offense.
We offer moral support for those who have been arrested under any prostitution law. We also 'adopt' those who end up doing time for a prostitution related offense.
Our 'adoption' policy is to write as many letters to the inmate as possible, so they continue to have a sense of connection with the outside world. We also send stamps and writing material, and make it possible periodically for them to have someone to call collect. When permissible by state regulations, we visit them while they are incarcerated. Occasionally, a trust fund has been established for their children while the parent served time.
We make speakers available to colleges and various other groups, lecturing on such subjects as safe sex, the psychology of prostitution, and prostitution and the criminal justice system.
When Rand Corporation was conducting their study on Prostitutes and AIDS, we worked with the field researchers finding women to participate in the study.
We maintain a library of hard to find books on the history of prostitution and various reports, articles, studies and movies done on the subject. We make this information available to the media and students.
When prostitution is attacked by the media, feminists and others, we write letters or make phone calls in response.
We network with other prostitute's rights organizations all over the world, and attend and sometimes assist in organizing conventions with our affiliated groups.
We want to see an end to all laws which prohibit consenting adult activity whether or not for money. The term we use for this is "decriminalization'. This differs from legalization in many ways. The most important one being that it simply removes the existing prohibition against such consenting adult activity- that is, prostitution and all related adult activity would no longer be a crime.
Prostitutes wish to be allowed to run their businesses without interference from the government- as other service professionals do. Laws which already apply to other businesses could be applied to our industry, without passage of new laws requiring more government bureaucracy.
Studies show that despite the fact that our profession is illegal, and therefore women are not required to have medical check-ups, prostitutes still have an extremely low rate of sexually transmitted diseases. The reason for this is simple- professional prostitutes have been practicing safe sex for years. The only way to continue to have steady work is to have a disease free reputation.
We would like to see the police resources now spent enforcing the laws against us, returned to the community and give real protection from violent crime. No one is made safer because the police arrest women who charge for sex that they could legally give away.
As we know from the "Beverly Hills Madam" Alex and Hollywood Madam Heidi Fleiss, police routinely use prostitutes as informants- through coercion rather than cooperation. When the women no longer have to fear their "protectors," women can report those who violate their rights, and/or who hire underage sex workers. We want to be able to report crimes perpetrated against us, as any other group of people can, without fear of being arrested.
Criminal lawyers interested in working with us are also encouraged to join.
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