Welcome to our first ep of 2019! We're starting off by taking some time to educate ourselves on something that none of the On the Dresser hosts have lived experience with and that is asexuality.

Enter Taryn. She's a blogger and educator. Her site www.AceInTheHole.com is a place where she reviews sex toys and chronicles her journey as an asexual person. She chats with Vanessa about representation and discovery and gives us helps us better understand our friends on the Asexual and Aromantic spectrum. Afterward, Danny Cruz and Lauren Kiley chat about how to best support a loved one who may trust you enough to "come out" to you. We chat in the context of asexuality, but it really applies across the TLBGQIA spectrum.

Plus! Vanessa and Danny come to you from the American Bar Association (ABA) Mid Year meeting in Las Vegas! Our own Vanessa Carlisle co-wrote a guide with friend of the show Kori Cordero for writing legislation that bans gay conversion therapy for minors. Currently, only 15 states in the US ban the practice. The ABA's Commission on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity (SOGI) adopted a resolution urging all federal, state, local, territorial and tribal governments to enact laws that prohibit state-licensed professionals from using conversion therapy on minors. You can find the resolution, the guide and more information at: https://www.americanbar.org/groups/diversity/sexual_orientation/

While we enjoyed the scenery in Vegas, it was hard not to feel like we were being watched. That's because that we woke up to the news from journalist and author Melissa Gira Grant that Marriott Hotels were training their staff to “identify trafficking victims” by behavior like turning down housekeeping or traveling with too little luggage! All in the name of human trafficking (of course)THREAD: https://twitter.com/melissagira/status/1089170470895783938

Later that week, Elizabeth Nolan Brown who is an associate editor at Reason Magazine wrote a piece detailing Marriott's increased surveilling of women in their hotels and how it ties into the government's expansion of "see something, say something" targeting women and sex workers.Are You a Woman Traveling Alone? Marriott Might Be Watching You.https://reason.com/archives/2019/02/05/hotel-surveillance-state-sex-trafficking

If that didn't feel like enough eyes on us, we heard from frequent business traveller Clementine Crawford who wrote an essay about her experience being a single woman at a New York City Restaurant. At one of her regular dining spots when she travels in from London, she was surprised to find that she was no longer allowed to sit at the bar! "Company policy." "The Night I Was Mistaken for a Call Girl" https://drugstoreculture.com/the-night-i-was-mistaken-for-a-call-girl/

Finally (and probably most grossly), we'll chat about a bill that was proposed in the Utah state legislature. HB 153 would amend provisions regarding the completion and amendment of a birth certificate in order to prohibit transgender citizens from being able to change the gender on their birth certificates. Luckily this bill was held and is effectively dead, but we'll talk about how these all these things fit the larger theme of policing sex, gender and bodies. All of it, On the Dresser!

Want to get in touch with the On The Dresser team? Send us your questions, comments, suggestions or signal boosts to [email protected] (or securely @protonmail.com or find us on Twitter @Onthedresser!

Visit our website at www.onthedresserpodcast.com. And, if you're so moved, consider donating to this venture in queer sex worker media. Thank you for your support and for listening along. We're thrilled to be starting our Fourth Year of edutitillation.

Co-Ho(st)s/Production team:Dr. Vanessa Carlisle (twitter.com/vcarlisle)Lauren Kiley (twitter.com/xoxolaurenkiley)Danny Cruz (twitter.com/adannyboy)

Sex. Queers. Politics. What's On Your Dresser?