 dystopian time. I'm not sure how many of you talked about this. I didn't actually talk about this, but this is concerning only fans. So they made a lot of noise or pissed a lot of people off, I should say, when they announced that they would be banning sexually explicit content. Now, there were some reasons as to why they said that they decided to do this part of it, was they were not necessarily able to easily secure new investors. Also, banking was an issue JPMorgan Chase apparently was not allowing transactions for certain sex workers on the platform. But I just want to read a little bit of this and get your take because this is a really bizarre story and it makes me feel like we really haven't made progress in the United States when it comes to sex positivity and normalizing sex work and treating sex work as work because like all of the sex workers that built up this platform, just like in one fell swoop, they saw the rug pulled out from under them. And we're not on the platform, but on YouTube, I'm sure that all of us individually have experienced moments where it's like, kind of feels like this isn't sustainable. So this is from Ivana Sarek of Axios. So only fans and online creator platform known for its adult content announced via Twitter Wednesday that it has dropped plans to ban sexually explicit content on its platform in October. The move comes after the proposed ban sparked an outcry from sex workers who relied on the platform to safely make a living. Thank you to everyone for making your voices heard the platform tweeted. We've secured assistant assurances necessary to support our diverse creator community and have suspended the planned October 1st policy change. Now, to make matters worse, I'm not sure if you're you all have been following the story. So after they announced this ban of sexually explicit content, they put out this incredibly patronizing tweet saying, Hey, sex work is work. We support sex workers, we stand by sex workers as they like basically the platform, all of them. So only fans announced the proposed ban on sexually explicit content last week. So just to show you like this is a flip flop within a week, the company has struggled to attract outside investors and the move was done at the request of its banking and payout partners. It said the move concerned many sex workers who had made long term financial commitments, including mortgages based on the presumption that they'd continue posting on the platform. Now, one of the largest creators on only fan says, we should all be suspicious of the word suspended and continue to build up pages on backup platforms as a sex worker. We are never truly safe anywhere we go. And this is really an important point because, you know, finally, when you see a platform in, you know, 2021 America that seems like, you know, sex workers are finally safe. They have an outlet. This happens. So anyone want to weigh in on this because I feel like this story is we've got a long ways to go, folks. I don't know. Maybe somebody has a less doom or take than me. So I remember when I was an intern for a health care workers union and 1199 SCIU. And I was during one of the times I was learning and growing while while studying other other some organizers there, we went and we were talking to political candidates who are going to run in DC for DC elections. And they went on and on and on in conversation. Eventually they turned Dylan is a Dylan. We're about to wrap up. Do you have any questions? And I just thought and I asked the person, what's your thoughts on decriminalizing sex work? And it felt like I had just pulled the pin off of a grenade. I have no idea why it was such a bombshell. This is an industry and a profession that has existed since before the birth of Jesus Christ. And it will exist until this world collapses in on itself. So the idea that people had really considered running for office or going out there and getting that deeply involved in politics and just the word sex work, just like get some a little hot under the collar on what they're about to say is so strange to me because it's not like nobody understands what this is. Everybody knows what it is. So why is it such a dirty word? And so I think the biggest thing we need to do to make it easier for sex workers to work is to de-stigmatize the profession. Now people can make moralistic arguments about, well, I don't like sex work for this reason or I don't like sex work for that reason. And then I could just say easily in response to them that there's a lot of professions that I don't think I would like to participate in. I don't think anytime soon I'm going to be a sword swallower or a fire breather. But you know what? I don't think I can just ignore them and those jobs are going to go away. They're going to continue to exist. They've existed for a long time. So the best thing we can do is make it a supportive environment for these individuals, de-stigmatize this and talk about it so we can actually address the issues that sex workers face so we make make it as safe as possible. Prohibition did not make people stop drinking alcohol. It just meant people started drinking poison alcohol and people died at higher numbers. The more this is stigmatized, the more that this has to be done in back rooms and alleyways and the more risk you place upon sex workers and those who consume the product that they put out there. Yeah, no. And that really is an interesting thing that you mentioned about how it was like a bomb when you asked the politician about this. I feel like that's even true on the left. Like on the left, we like to talk about how egalitarian we are, how advanced we are in our thinking. But really, like a couple of years ago, like I saw conversations from a left wing standpoint that this whole industry is horrible. There's exploitation. And Mac, what do you think about this argument that from a left wing standpoint, we shouldn't necessarily support this because it's inherently exploitative. Oftentimes, sex workers, they don't do it because they want to. Like I feel like this argument is bogus and everything that is a negative from a left wing perspective about sex work, that's like all the more reason why we should bring it to light, stop making it remain in the shadows, make sure that it's decriminalized and legalized. What's your take on that? Yeah, no, I mean, 100% would fall in the same camp as Dylan on this. I mean, I think that's a ridiculous argument. But no, I mean, 100%. Like this is the same thing as the abortion argument to me is like, you can criminalize abortion, but people are still going to get abortions and all you're going to do in the process of criminalizing it and making it more difficult for people is you're just going to make it more dangerous for people. So it's just ridiculous. 100% right by Dylan that, yeah, we need to be destigmatizing it, talking about it as much as possible. And just on another front, I don't even understand this from a business perspective, from the perspective of only fans. Like, wasn't this kind of like the whole thing that they were doing? And then they just kind of decide, oh no, now we're going to bow down to the credit card companies and completely change our business model. It just, it didn't really make any sense for me the entire time throughout this story. So I kind of understand why they backtracked and then realized like, oh shit, okay, maybe we're going to be losing a substantial portion of our business. So, it doesn't matter if we have the credit card companies, but yeah, no, I think 100%. We need to be destigmatizing it, talking about it openly. It's not something that should be in the shadows of society or anything like that. Yeah, yeah, I totally agree. I wanted to ask your thoughts on this, Farron, because you've covered politics publicly for longer than any of us. Have you seen any progress on this issue? Do you think that sex positivity is something that has increased over time, even like in leftist circles? I still feel like it's really, really, you know, if people are pro sex positivity or pro sex workers, they still don't necessarily want to talk about it. Because in America, we kind of have this like weird aversion to, you know, discussions about sex and sexuality. And I feel like that's starting to change in large part due to younger generations just being more vocal. But do you have you seen any progress? Because I feel like if we've made progress, it's been almost nothing. No, I mean, there's been progress, but it's almost so small that you don't really notice it. You know what I mean? We've changed attitudes in some ways. We're starting to come around to certain things. But then when it comes to actual sex work, that one is still the big taboo. You can't talk about it. You can't do it. You can't, you know, be near it. You can't even say that I'm okay with it without that massive stigma. And it's so weird how we have these stigmas on these things here in the United States because people get cringy about it only because they feel like they're supposed to. You know, that's really what it comes down to is just these trained behaviors like, okay, you're talking about this thing. Well, I think I'm supposed to not be okay with this. That's that's how I was taught. And that's because that's how they were taught. There's no real logic when you start digging into these people's arguments of why this is not good, why you shouldn't support it. There's nothing there. It's just because we've been pounding it into our heads for decades and centuries, really, that, oh, no, this is only what the what the bad people do. But that's not the case. That's absolutely not the case here. And I think only fans has been a wonderful outlet for people to do this again and stay safe doing it. And then, you know, they try to go corporate. And we all know what happens when that happens. It's the same thing that happened when, you know, drug companies were suddenly allowed to advertise on TV. Oh my God, look at how much money we're making. Let's focus more on the money than on the creating new things. That's when drug prices in the US skyrocketed. When you started having defense contractors, you know, Lockheed, Martin and Boeing advertising their services in general dynamic, general electric on corporate media. That makes no sense. Are you going to go out and buy by missiles? Are you going to go buy a jet? No, you're not. But what they're doing is they're buying the loyalty. Any time the corporations start coming into something, they destroy it is the point. And that's what they tried to do with only fans. And hopefully this is more than just a suspension of this, you know, change of heart. Hopefully it's okay. We realize, wow, we messed up. We're not going to do that again. Things are going to keep rolling the way they were. And everybody's happy. I agree that we need more investment in here. We need to build the next generation of flesh lights as soon as possible. We need to invest in this industry, move forward. Okay, I am looking forward to the technological bliss that awaits us. But I have one question for the group. There is, when I bring this up, and I do bring this up with local politicians, and it is a topic that gets them uncomfortable, because the term that comes up is red light district, that well, this is an interesting idea. But if we do it here on the locality, what we'll do is create a red light district and we're going to make a lot of people feel a little unsafe, because then our little locality is where everybody is going to do to travel for sexual tourism. And then we're the the city of the quote, unquote degenerates. How do you guys think we should respond to that? Because the red light district talking point has been has been thrown around because a lot of people don't necessarily want to be like Amsterdam. I think the best way to say that is, it's already happening. You just don't know about it. But I think people, oh, you know, because you don't know about it, suddenly you think it's not that it's not in your community. No, it is. It is, you're just happy living in your little ignorant bubble, not knowing the the terrors that that face these sex workers every day. If we can provide them with safety, you know, if we can make sure that everything is cool, calm and under control, properly vetted, you know, and protect these individuals, this might actually be a net benefit and not actually, it definitely would for local economies. And again, as you said, you may not like what they do. And yeah, there's plenty of jobs. I don't like that people pump oil out of the ground. But I'm not saying you shouldn't have a right to do that job. So, you know, I think there's definite inroads that can be made there. Possibly somebody more eloquent than me, you know, would be able to explain it a little, a little better and maybe convince more people. But people need to understand that just because you don't like it, just because you don't want it happening. Yeah, it's already happening where you are. I can promise you. Yeah, I think one thing. Oh, sorry about that. No, go ahead, Mac. I was just going to add on, yeah, I think Farron is right is that like, it's like, you know, the abortion thing is like, you can criminalize something, but it's not going to go away. But then in addition to that, to answer Dylan's question, I think that I think that a lot of reasons why Americans would be like super hesitant to accept something like that is because of the nature of how sex work functions currently in the United States and how we typically have understood it historically here because we've never had communities that are accepting of it or, you know, having actual protections and changing that dynamic. So it's like, you know, it's something that we haven't even had a perspective on here in the United States. So I kind of, you know, would understand why people would would be hesitant to accept something that would be such a dramatic change. But yeah, that's why we have to continue, I guess, destigmatizing it and making it more mainstream like that. Yeah. On that note, I think that destigmatizing it is that would be accelerated if the law changed. And I've seen this, you know, so many times just in my lifetime, just in the time that I've been covering politics, like when marijuana was legalized in Colorado and Washington, I mean, immediately within five years, you know, people who I knew personally who were very anti pot, I'm buying them weed for Christmas, you know, everything marriage equality 2015, you know, since it was legalized support for marriage equality skyrocketed. So I think that in the event sex work was actually legalized and brought to light, I think that that would have a cultural impact. And just to kind of go back to what we were all talking about, the this weird cultural aversion to sex in the United States, I'm going to date myself here. So I was a manager at Blockbuster before, and I've talked about this on my streams. And I would have parents sometimes they bring up movies and they say, do you know if this movie is like appropriate for kids? And I'd be like, no, no, this movie that like they chop off heads, like it's you don't want to you don't want to watch this, like your kids are too young. And they'd be like, well, I don't care about that. But is there any sex in it? And like, wait, wait, sex is natural. Shopping off heads is not natural. You want your kids to see the heads getting chopped or don't it just it's really weird to me that we even are more comfortable with violence as a society. And of course, that's anecdotal. But you know, it just it's such a weird thing. And it kind of goes back to what Dylan was speaking to just this like, ooh, like someone brings it up. Even in 2020, I know that Bernie Sanders had a lot of criticisms from sex workers, because he voted on a bill that I think got rid of some website that I don't remember, like I'm blanking on the details here, that made it more dangerous for sex workers. And so this is something that I feel like we're going to have to work on. And the only fans issue, if nothing else, at least kind of got the gears turning in people's heads. It certainly made me think about, oh, wow, we, we, we, you know, we need to do more as leftists, I think to try to normalize this issue.