phoenix calida

2 I was born to a drug addict/alcoholic dad and a severely mentally ill mom. In the west side of Chicago. They had no water, no heat, no food. It was real since I took my first breath. Eventually child services got us. I went to foster care. This was life pic.twitter.com/93ufvuVtcN

3 in foster care, we got shuffled. Nobody wanted all of us. I eventually ended up w/ a white conservative family that wanted a cute black girl to show off/clean the house. It was shitty, but better than “all you can eat popcorn night” eating make u realize how good food ispic.twitter.com/JTSwSHsu9R

4 I was routinely abused and quite literally locked in a basement with a rapist during my teen years. I hate to discuss this, Bc I know how past trauma is seen with sex workers, but fuxk it. I’m speaking truth. So I got raped. A lot.pic.twitter.com/FEtLCg3xhs

5 I got pregnant (not by the rapist). I didn’t get child support. I had a child born with a condition. By the time my baby was 6 months old, he’d had multiple kidney surgeries. Also, medical care in America is expensive. I had a job waitressing. But I couldn’t pay the billspic.twitter.com/VtXvMitJbb

6 a customer asked if he could pay for sex, my sex work career took off. I wouldn’t call it empowering. Or amazing. But I did make enough money to keep my son alive. And as someone who got locked in a basement with a rapist? Sex work was way less rapey overall (for me)pic.twitter.com/scu5fuAkf5

7 I was in and out of the industry for years. It’s been 2 decades now. (Yes I’m a millennial) In that time I did street work. Sometimes sex work was my only job. Soemtimes I lived in my car. Soemtimes cops found me and raped me. Sometimes it was awful. But I didn’t diepic.twitter.com/jKIGlk6CCJ

8 so now, as someone who got in the Industry young, But is old enough to be an OG? F*** anyone who tells kids what consent is/isn’t/should be. In an ideal world, nobody would be forced to trade sex for anything. But F*** you if you think you know consent better than these kidspic.twitter.com/6O63HTS9Bs

9 I know I’m not alone. I know other people- Bc they’re queer or trans or single parents or disabled or sick or WHATEVER- engaged in sh*t they didn’t want to do Bc they needed to survive. How thee f*ck ever, nobody gets to dictate that lived experience.pic.twitter.com/EFuGrmxmDB

10 sex work was often shitty. But it was less shitty than be locked in a room with a rapist. It was less shitty to f*** for dinner than to have another popcorn night. And I will not tolerate anyone telling me I don’t understand nuance around consent or lived experiencespic.twitter.com/FmFmqlLW7V

11 my experiences are my own. Regardless of trauma. Regardless of a plethora of choices. I get to determine what’s best/worst for me, even if trading sexual services offends your sensibilities. I get to decide if f*cking for food or starving is more degrading.pic.twitter.com/T8euR8V0I2

12 I am more than my trauma, more than a victim. I survived in a society that tried its best to kill me. I kept my kids alive. I found a way. Nobody gets to dictate what *my* real consent is. Or what *real* rape is. I determine my own story. Bc it’s MY story.pic.twitter.com/8uej3fmv8g

13 remember this when talking to survival sex workers. We are more than stats or trauma. We are people who makes the best choice available and lived to talk about it. Stop shaming us for surviving. #RightsNotRescue #SexWorkIsWorkpic.twitter.com/WdvCtTN6lZ