Oregon officials will make nearly $600,000 in federal funding available to local strippers and sex workers of color who have lost income because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Oregonian reported.
Haymarket Pole Collective, a Portland-based organization that advocates for Black and Indigenous adult-entertainment workers, will administer the grant to people who earn money “using their or other people’s sexuality to financially assist themselves,” Cat Hollis, Haymarket’s founder, told the Oregonian. She said Black, Indigenous and transgender applicants, as well as those who are homeless or live with minor dependents, will receive priority.
The relief funding is part of $45 million in health equity grants that Oregon officials plan to distribute to nonprofit organizations and tribal governments across the state to address the pandemic’s disproportionate effect on those tribal communities and communities of color.
