A couple of days ago, "Once Were Warriors" director Lee Tamahori was arrested in Los Angeles in a police sting operation while wearing a woman's dress and wig. He had offered an undercover policeman sex in exchange for money, and was charged with prostitution and loitering in a public place.
While this news will have shocked or titillated some, my main reactions were:
1. They still run "sting" operations to catch transvestites soliciting? An undercover cop sits all night in a car and waits to snare unwary prostitutes so they can be charged with a misdemeanour? Is this really the wisest use of police resources?
2. You can get arrested for loitering?? Wow. I thought that was a joke about how in LA you can get charged with walking, but I guess not.
1 comment:
Thanks, Cecilia. I figured there may be some kind of coherent defense of this situation, and you've provided it. I agree that the issue is the unfairness of addressing exploitation by busting the exploited person.
It's not entirely clear whether the Netherlands/New Zealand solution (legalisation) is the answer. I doubt that would fly in many (or any) parts of the US in any case, but even a raving Euro-liberal such as me doesn't presume to claim that it's unproblematic.
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