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| May 15, 2003
Visitors from Southeast Asia study
Nevada's prostitution
Visitors from Southeast Asia studying
United States policy got a bonus Wednesday -- a
spur-of-the-moment tour of the Moonlite Bunny Ranch.
As
part of the Department of State's International Visitor's
Program, nine people from across Southeast Asia have traveled
from Washington, D.C., to Los Angeles. There are three from
the Philippines, two from both Thailand and Vietnam and one
from both Indonesia and Malaysia.
During their two-day
stay in Nevada, the group heard from state officials on
elements of Nevada's legal prostitution, from health testing
to the laws regulating brothels.
Giving historical
background on the "world's oldest profession" Wednesday in the
old Supreme Court Chambers at the Capitol were state archivist
Guy Rocha and a spokesman for the Moonlite Bunny
Ranch.
Rocha's background started with the history of a
state with a disproportionately large male
population.
"The attitude on the frontier was, 'These
men need an outlet,'" he said.
At that time Nevada was
not exceptional for allowing the sale of sex -- it happened in
many cities.
"What made us exceptional was
progressivism," he said. Nevada resisted the push to change
human behavior by prohibiting it.
By the 1920s, the
Silver State was the only one to allow prostitution.
As
his history of the Nevada sex trade continued, it developed
into a discussion of "healthy" and "normal" behavior.
A
visitor asked why Nevada's prostitutes, if they are legal, are
kept low key or hidden.
"The fundamental question is --
they're citizens, they're paying taxes -- so why are they
second-class citizens," remarked Rocha.
Rocha, who said
he faced a stigma growing up because his mother worked at a
casino, said it's not fair for sex workers to be discriminated
against.
"I feel very strongly that these women are
human beings -- that they deserve equal rights," he
said.
The International Visitors Program group also met
with Bob Erickson, of the Legislative Counsel Bureau, to learn
about laws governing prostitution; Doug Burghardt of the
Nevada Division of Health to learn about required testing; and
state epidemiologist Randy Todd to learn about health
implications.
Today the group will visit the
Immigration and Naturalization office in Reno to learn about
Nevada's handling of human trafficking.
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