Current project: Warped, a trans+ horror and sci-fi anthology! Live on Kickstarter now.
What kind of sex worker activism and education do you do?
I've been a sex worker for over 10 years, writing about the experience actively for half of that time, and have been involved with organizations supporting sex workers and advocating for our rights. In every facet of my life, I am surrounded by those in the same industry as me.
You can find my website with hundreds of free articles and resources on the topic of sex work here.
I fight for the full decriminalization of sex work by organizing with groups like THORN and SWARM. I have also worked as a peer support worker at Spectra as part of the ALEX team, running drop-ins for sex workers and offering training to charities and medical professionals. I've been hired as a researcher on projects assessing sex workers' needs. Finally, I am now one of the owners of The People's Letters, a worker co-operative radical leftist bookshop prioritizing work by marginalized writers (especially sex workers).
Where can I find your books?
You can buy them from me directly, from The People's Letters if you're in the UK, or order them from bookshops near you/online by searching for the title! Descriptions included below with a few links to paperback and e-book options.
"Hooker Mentality contains thoughts on society from a sex worker perspective. For those tired of reading leftist theory that degrades sex workers and misunderstands the nature of our work if we are remembered at all, the perspective within is a breath of fresh air. Learn what sex workers’ experiences reveal about capitalism and gender doer and policing. This book covers all the ways that selling sex can give hookers an insight into the systems which controls us all."
"Transactional Intercourse is an anthology of trans and intersex sex workers' writing, including essays and personal narratives from 30 contributors. People who do not conform to society's expectations with regards to our sex and gender are typically either overlooked or made into hypervisible subjects of mockery and hatred, and this is compounded further when we engage in stigmatized labour like sex work. With this in mind, Transactional Intercourse contains a range of perspectives to create a collection which is not solely about empowerment or trauma. It covers topics regarding public opinion of trans and intersex sex workers, stereotypes, family reactions, intersections between whorephobia and other forms of bigotry, client behaviour, the politicization of our identities, and the day-to-day experiences of the writers."
Working Guys [E-book, Paperback (Worldwide shipping)]
"Working Guys is a collection of essays, personal narratives and interviews about the lives of transmasculine sex workers, in our own words. Joyful, traumatic, or somewhere in between, this book preserves nuance and highlights a range of experiences. From selling sex under a female persona to taking advantage of the rise in popularity of trans men in porn, the pieces within provide a snapshot of moments in various transmasculine sex workers' lives."
Contemporary Prostitution: Study of a Social Question [E-book, Paperback (Worldwide shipping)]
"Contemporary Prostitution: Study of a Social question is a book that was originally published in 1884 by Léo Taxil, causing significant scandal for its condemnation of the morality police and its argumentation for the regulation of prostitution to be abolished. It details the lives of sex workers in France, and to a lesser extent elsewhere in Europe, and supplements these accounts with data from the police and doctors tasked with the inspection and treatment of sex workers. Various elements of contemporary prostitution in the 1800s are discussed, from disease to mistreatment at the hands of police to lesbians and gay men selling sex and the sexual vices. The text shines a light on children being registered as prostitutes by the very police claiming to desire to protect them."
Why do you want to fully decriminalize prostitution, instead of criminalizing clients (the Nordic Model)?
Full decriminalization is what keeps sex workers safest. When you criminalize our clients and our workplaces, you force us into interactions with police and incentivise our clients to harm us to keep us quiet. Any part of our work being criminalized turns our earnings into proceeds of crime that can be stolen by cops during raids, makes us vulnerable to eviction from landlords who would otherwise get into trouble for profiting from our prostitution, and keeps us from being able to seek help and openly talk about our work.
When paying for sex is illegal, rates of violence against sex workers go up and our ability to self-advocate goes down.
How did you end up in sex work and what has your experience of it been like?
My early years selling sex were traumatic and I started at age 17, while homeless. I recounted my start in sex work while underage here. Warning for frank discussions of rape.
How I feel about selling sex has changed dramatically depending on my circumstances. I've had periods of hating it and enjoying it. These days find it tedious and uncomfortable even during the times I'm not in danger. While I would like to stop selling sex in person, I can't afford to.
Where can I find your other articles and work?
Here's an assortment of other things I've done:
Articles for Tryst, Podcasts (They Talk Sex, Trashfuture, Yes a Stripper), The hidden trans men in sex work for Irresistible Damage, Being the Catalyst for SWARM, and a hell of a lot of zines that are no longer in print.
What are your other socials?
Find me @mxjackparker on everything, including Instagram and Bluesky.
Authors: Jack V Parker, Eddy, Rob Starkers, Liam, Arc D, Omar, Felix Mufti, Julian Yang, Faye, Mischa, Mx Dagger, A, Mister Saul/Jackson King, Ron Beastly, Dakota Nevaeh, Rush, Eric, Sunan, Trip Richards, and anonymous contributors
Editor: Jack Parker
Genre: Nonfiction
Audience: Adult
Format: Essay Anthology
Summary: Working Guys shares a collection of essays from authors across the spectrum of transmasculine gender identities and with diverse experiences with sex work, to build a nuanced picture of an underacknowledged demographic within sex work. It explores the unique ways a transmasculine identity may impact how someone navigates sex work and vice versa, in the ways selling sex may impact transition or other people’s perceptions of a person’s gender. The submissions are grouped around the topics of “female personas,” “popularity in porn,” “transphobic violence against transmasculine sex workers,” “the cost of medical transition,” “role models for transmasculine people,” and “outside views: radical feminists, progressives, and the right” to cover a broad scope with experiences ranging from traumatic to joyful to mundane and the ambiguous in-betweens.
Reflections: I found this very informative. It was structured to allow for many varied perspectives, including not just different types of sex work, gender identities and expressions, and transition journeys and goals, but also commentary on their intersections with race, disability, etc., while maintaining cohesion within each chapter's broad topic. These experiences were never flattened to fit a simplistic narrative of sex work as purely traumatic or empowering or even “just another job” nor was there any sanitization of the complicated experiences of being transgender or transitioning and the way those experiences might not fit the narrative often sold to cis people and the medical establishments. I took a lot away from the discussions about the practical considerations sex workers have to make if they are pursuing transition, whether social or physical, and how common perceptions of and discussions around sex work, even by “supportive” groups, can be marginalizing or contribute to the invisibility of transmasc sex workers.
I was also intrigued by the section on female personas. It was no surprise to hear that they would often be necessary from a business perspective. But Working Guys also delved into the way these personas could play a different psychological role for transmasc individuals than seemingly similar constructed personas might for women selling sex. The differences in how transmasc people developed this persona and related to it, as well as the trade-off where the female personas could protect from dysphoria or perpetuate it, were very thought-provoking topics explored well.
Warnings: Depictions of transphobia, misgendering, gender dysphoria, medical discrimination, homophobia, whorephobia, verbal and physical abuse, consensual and non-consensual sexual content, racism, ableism, fatphobia.
Voting is now open for our August book club! Catch up with us on Discord or in person at one of our other events to cast your vote -- and don't forget to join us at July's meeting to talk about Diane Duane's The Door Into Fire!
You know, a lot of media doesn't seem to understand the middle ground between "This character's entire personality is being queer", "This character pretends that their entire personality is being queer as a defense mechanism" and "This character's queer relationship was obviously viewed by the creator as a box to check rather than a relationship to develop"
For example, Damien from Mean Girls is introduced as Janis' Gay Best Friend, and stays that for the rest of the movie with no character development or even a romance subplot of his own.
Rae Taylor from I'm In Love With The Villainess plays into the predatory lesbian stereotype because that's all society tells her she can be as an out lesbian, while Jack Parker from Heartbreak Boys plays into the camp gay stereotype because he figures that his peers are going to hate him anyway, especially after he doesn't have Dylan's Status By Proxy anymore.
Luke and Zander from The Music freaks are the main romantic subplot of season one, and the only canon one aside from Droey. Their romantic subplot lasts all of two episodes, having been brought up once prior, and we don't get any insight into how their dynamic shifted due to transitioning from best friends to boyfriends, with us having zero idea about the backstory, likes, or dislikes of one of them.
“Did you just tell the person I was gonna go out with we’re dating?” It suits the story so well-
You're right! It does fit with TNS well but since it kinda-sorta already happened in Ch. 19 with Moon and Jack I thought it would be fun to rework it a bit. Still Jack and Y/N only the setting is different and Sun gets to be the one delivering the crushing blow to poor Jackie-boy!
Sorry this took so long, this is way more than a drabble! I was having fun!
You had one rule you'd always abided by at every single place of employment you'd had over the years.
It was a fairly simple one; never date a coworker.
The rule had served you well in every job you'd held and it spared you plenty of drama that you'd witnessed others go through time and time again. Your newest job was no different. You'd been there for well over a year and it hadn't been a problem at all to rigidly stick to that rule of yours. Of course, it didn't hurt that the only consistent coworkers you seemed to have were a two-in-one animatronic in charge of the daycare where you spent most of your days.
Every other human employed at Freddy Fazbear's Mega Pizza Plex seemed to come and go faster than the changing seasons. Nobody ever stuck around long enough to even tempt you into breaking that rule. Sure, there had been the occasional attempt at getting your phone number and even one guy who'd had the gall to actually pin you against the wall and tell you that he was taking you out and what he expected you to wear.
But all those people seemed to just... vanish shortly thereafter.
You never thought much of it. After all, you'd always politely declined any advances, no matter how harmless. It made sense to think that you wouldn't see those people anymore after turning them down.
But there was one new face that had been giving you second thoughts about that rule of yours as of late. The new company electrician, real cute guy. Not conventionally attractive but he was witty and funny and every time you'd bumped into him he'd always had a way of making you smile. Jack, you'd learned his name to be. It was already further than you'd allowed yourself to get with any coworker but you'd let your guard down just a bit. You rarely ever saw him around and he was just a bit too sweet to be standoffish toward.
The fact that he'd occasionally pop by the daycare near closing time to “check on the lights” and conveniently happened to have some sort of sweet treat to offer you didn't hurt his chances. You were a sucker for free snacks, after all, and you were genuinely starting to reconsider your position on that rule.
Maybe it wouldn't hurt to just see where things might go with him.
Of course, there was one person who's opinion you valued greatly and you weren't going to make any decisions without at least gauging what he thought. You'd grown particularly close to the Daycare Attendant in your time as their assistant; especially close to the solar counterpart with whom you spent most afternoons and evenings. The two of you had become best friends, bosom buddies as he liked to call it, and his opinion mattered to you above all others.
Thankfully you'd have plenty of time to discuss things with him during your evening shift after all the children had departed for the day.
“So, I'm... thinking about breaking my rule.” You muttered aloud as you went about lining up all the tables and chairs to one side of the daycare so that you could give the floor a thorough sweeping. You glanced to the sunny animatronic at your side as he carried an armload of chairs along with you, his ever-present smile seeming somehow very tense in that moment, though his face was always hard for you to read. “Do you think it's a bad idea?”
A long, drawn out hum of consideration came from your robotic coworker before he erupted in one of his booming, cheerful laughs. “Oh, ho, ho! I'm so sorry, Starlight! I don't think I quite remember what your rule is. Refresh my memory?”
You turned your head toward him, brow crinkling skeptically. “My rule... my only rule that you continuously remind me of every time the electrician stops by... you know?”
“Oh! Yes, that rule!” He replied in a chipper tone, though you thought you detected a hint of strain in his voice.
“So... what do you think?” You prodded expectantly. “Is it a bad idea?”
“Is what a bad idea, Starlight?”
A frustrated huff forced its way from your chest and you turned to fully face your solar themed best friend with a hand on your hip. Was he not even listening to you? Usually he was so eager to chat with you, hanging on your every word at times. Now it seemed you couldn't keep his attention. You waited for him to place the armload of chairs on the floor, then there would be nothing to distract him from the conversation at hand.
“I'm talking about breaking my rule, Sunny. Do you think it's a bad idea for me to break my rule about not dating coworkers?”
Another long, thoughtful hum passed from him, this one much louder than the last. His hand had moved to his chin to emphasize thought and he drummed his fingers against his face plate rapidly. “Oh, gee! I don't really know, Starlight. I suppose it all depends.”
“Depends?” You echoed, head cocking to the side in interest. “Depends on what?”
“Well, if you're considering breaking your rule for the right coworker, I think it could be a wonderful idea.” He answered with a bright timbre, though his voice darkened as he continued. “But I'm sure it can be hard to know for certain if you're choosing the right one.”
Well now he had you even more interested. “Yeah, I'm gonna need you to elaborate on that. What do you mean by the right one? How would I even know?”
“Oh, one would think it'd be obvious, Starlight.” Sun replied rather wryly for your liking. “It should be someone you've known for a while... someone you've spent a lot of time with. Someone you feel comfortable around, who you can confide in and rely on. Someone you trust completely.”
“You're basically describing a friendship, Sunny.”
“Yes, well they do say friends make the best lovers.” He chimed, grin seeming to widen.
You let out a snort and rolled your eyes, returning your attention to stacking the chairs neatly out of your way. “Where the hell did you hear a thing like that? You're not watching those crappy reality tv shows again, are you? You know management will start restricting your internet access if you keep filling your processors with that tripe.”
You heard a small noise from him, something akin to a disappointed sigh that you assumed was his best effort at conveying that he was annoyed with your judgments on his entertainment choices. When you returned your eyes to him you saw that he'd once again taken to clearing the tables and chairs out of your way. With that aspect of the task nearly completed, you decided to leave him to it while you went to claim the broom and dustpan.
You hated that you had to actually leave the daycare and trek upstairs to the theater concession stand to retrieve the items you used nightly. You'd put in a request months ago for a designated utility closet closer to the daycare but it'd been turned down... some bullshit about budget constraints. But the little venture upstairs would give you time to think about further discussion with Sun. He wasn't really giving you a clear cut answer to your question and you had an inkling that you knew exactly why.
Sun knew you liked Jack, made several remarks about it in fact. And for whatever reason, despite all of the electrician's best efforts to get on Sun's good side, the animatronic didn't seem to like him. Loathed was a more accurate term, really. Sun was not a fan in the slightest and it truly showed any time you even mentioned the man's name.
Perhaps that was why you were so eager for his approval. It simply wouldn't work out well if your best friend disliked your potential future boyfriend.
Whoa there, dial it back. You weren't even certain about breaking your rule yet.
You reached the back storage area of the concession stand and grabbed the broom and dustpan along with the mop and bucket because you were determined to not have to make two trips. Then you started the awkward, clumsy trip back with your hands full. When you reached the top of the first set of stairs you paused momentarily to stare begrudgingly down at the steps in front of you. One of these days you were going to trip and break your neck on the way down, you just knew it.
But as you eyed the steps with malice, a familiar form caught your attention in your peripheral vision. Through the daycare's large viewing windows you could see Jack, his back to you as he stood talking to Sun.
Well, that wasn't something you expected to see. With Sun's unreadable features and the electrician turned away from you it was hard to determine just what they were discussing but a knot in your stomach told you it couldn't be anything good. Sun had the tendency to be a bit passive aggressive and although Jack was a smart guy, the animatronic's vitriol seemed to fly straight over his head which only ever served to further annoy the solar robot.
You shuffled as quickly as you could down the stairs with your armload of cleaning supplies and deposited them just outside the daycare doors before making your way nervously inside.
“Jack, hey!” You heaved, a bit out of breath from your rush. “What brings you here?”
Jack whipped around to face you, a smile on his face although it looked less genuine than you knew of him. Oh god, had Sun's distaste for him finally pushed its way through that thick skull of his?
“Oh hey, there you are! I'm just on my bi-monthly rounds around the Plex to check on the lights and such. Everything still good around here?”
“I told you that it is.” Sun interjected, his voice pleasant but oozing with that underlying hostility only you seemed to detect.
You glanced to Sun and quickly nodded in agreement before turning a nervous smile back to Jack. “Yeah, everything still seems in good order since your last visit. I appreciate you always coming all the way here to check on our little corner of the Plex.”
“Just doing my job.” He said with a shrug. Then he lifted his hand in your direction and his gaze fell to the small plastic container he was offering you as though he was desperate to avoid your stare. “Oh, here. Before I forget, I picked you up a little something at the bakery. I know you like the butter buns.”
An involuntary smile worked its way to your lips as you accepted the takeout box. “Ah Jack... you know, you don't have to keep bringing me all these yummy treats.”
“Y-yeah, I should probably stop.” He mumbled in a dejected tone before returning his eyes to your face and offering the most fractured smile you'd ever seen. “I guess consider this one a celebratory gift, though? I hear congratulations are in order.”
Your brow collapsed in instant confusion and you tilted your head to the side. “Congratulations?”
“Yeah, for your anniversary.” He answered meekly and that only served to perplex you more. Did he mean your anniversary of working at the Pizza Plex? That had passed by months ago and you were pretty sure you'd mentioned it to him back then. But before you could ask him for clarification, he gave it unprompted. “A year is a big milestone for a relationship. Congrats to both of you. It's... great news.”
Okay, what the fuck?
You were even more baffled then and you opened your mouth to question him about what exactly it was that he meant but you were cut off by Sun ushering him toward the door. “Oh, would you look at the time! Boy-oh-boy is it getting late! Welp, you'd best be on your way! This is a big building after all and you're only one very small, frail human. I'm sure you've got lots of work ahead of you! We wouldn't want you falling behind in your workload, that's how accidents happen, you know.”
You watched in flabbergasted awe as Sun quickly shoved the electrician out of the daycare and slammed the heavy wooden doors shut. You watched Jack's retreating form for a moment before turning a disbelieving stare to your animatronic companion.
“Sunny, what the hell just happened?”
“Wh-whatever do you mean, Starlight?” He asked with a nervous laugh, eyes directed anywhere but on you.
“What I mean is whatever the hell that exchange was!” You countered, a twinge of anger you'd never felt toward him before working its way into your words. “Why is Jack congratulating us on our anniversary? What anniversary, Sunny? Did you... did you tell him that we're dating?”
Sun turned his back to you and his rays shrank back in a tell-tale sign of guilt. “I... may have strongly suggested that the two of us share a certain closeness... a strong, serious and committed relationship. A-and it is technically the one year anniversary of us becoming best friends so-”
An annoyed scoff fell from your lips and you crossed your arms over your chest. “Sun, that is so messed up! Why would you do that? You know I like him! I was... I was considering breaking my rule for him and everything! We were just talking about it not even ten minutes ago!”
“But why him?” Sun asked and you noticed his fists clenching at his sides before he turned to face you. “What makes him so fazzing special!?”
You recoiled in surprise, not just at his use of the kid-friendly expletive but at the unfamiliar tone in his words. His voice sounded dark, much more akin to his lunar counterpart despite the lights shining brightly overhead.
“Sunny, what's gotten into you?”
He stepped toward you, fists relaxing and clenching again and it did not go unnoticed by you. Your body tensed in a way you hadn't experienced in a long time and even back then it hadn't been him who'd made you feel that way but his other half. You took a step backward but you bumped into the security desk before you could make it very far. The plastic takeout box in your hand fell open onto the floor with a splat.
“I've been right here this whole time, Starlight! I've been your closest confidant, your shoulder to cry on! I've been everything for you day in and day out! I make you laugh, I make you smile... I make you happy, don't I? Don't I!? I have been patiently waiting for you to see that! I've been obedient and loyal to you all this time! I've removed every barrier that's threatened to get in our way and yet you still don't see it!?” He reached up to take your face in his hands and the action caused you to jolt in fear. His eyes gave a flash and a dark rumble escaped his voice box. “What more do I have to do, Starlight? Should I remove this new barrier too? Would you prefer that? Would that make you see?”
Your mouth went dry as a chilling realization poured over you. You were quickly beginning to understand why the employees at the Pizza Plex, at least the ones unfortunate enough to interact with you, seemed to come and go like the wind. Your whole form began to tremble under Sun's burrowing gaze and you managed to shake your head.
“N-no, Sunny. You don't have to do anything else... please.” You swallowed hard and lifted your quivering hands to delicately clasp his wrists. “Y-you were right! You're always right... I-I should've never considered breaking my rule for someone like Jack. He's... he's nothing. He's nobody to me. Forget him.”
It was silent between you then, save for the deafening throb of your terrified heartbeat in your ears. After a moment Sun's posture shifted, his hands fell away from your cheeks and he dotted the tip of your nose with a gentle tap.
A pleased hum passed from his voice box to your ears and that honey-sweetness of his voice returned.
“If you're gonna break that rule for anyone, Starlight, it better be me.”
