The oldest profession organizes /

Margo St. James (born September 12, 1937), a self-described prostitute and sex-positive feminist, founded the organization COYOTE (Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics), which advocates decriminalization of prostitution. In this recording she discusses her work with COYOTE with Jan Legnitto of KPFA. She discusses the one-sided laws concerning prostitution in the United States, whereby female prostitutes are punished for providing their services but their male customers are rarely criminalized. She explains why she is for decriminalizing, but not legalizing, prostitution, and how police crackdown on prostitution does nothing to prevent its occurrence and, in fact, reinforces the gender and class imbalances inherent in American society. The interview was recorded in 1973. Contains sensitive language.