Rep. Will Guzzardi gets clever titling a bill legalizing prostitution
“A conservative is someone who stands athwart history, yelling 'Stop,' at a time when no one is inclined to do so, or to have much patience with those who so urge it,” William F. Buckley.
“Decent people shouldn’t live here; they'd be happier someplace else,” Jack Napier/The Joker in Batman (1989.)
Early this year, Illinoisans were confronted with another gaslighting assault, similar to the claim that the no-cash bail SAFE-T Act will make the state safer.
In February, State Representative Will Guzzardi (D-Chicago) introduced HB3518, the Keeping Sex Workers Safe Act, which he claims is about “decriminalizing prostitution,” or to use a term favored by progressives, sex work.
In order to give you a full understanding of the text of the bill, we'll provide readers with the precise language Guzzardi wrote in HB3518.
“Provides that sex workers shall not be subject to criminal prosecution for engaging in consensual sex work. Provides that law enforcement agencies are prohibited from arresting, charging, or prosecuting individuals solely for performing or engaging in sex work.”
Guzzardi represents Illinois' 39th House district, which covers parts of Portage Park, Bucktown, Hermosa, Avondale, Logan Square, and Belmont Cragin. He is a far-left ideologue and one of the co-founding chairs of the Illinois House Progressive Caucus
So-called decriminalization
At the least Guzzardi is being disingenuous about his sex work bill — lying is closer to the truth. His bill, if signed into law, will legalize prostitution in Illinois. And if that happens, Chicago, which is overwhelmingly the most popular travel and convention destination in Illinois and the Midwest, will become a hub of sex tourism.
Is this what Chicagoans want?
Guzzardi's choice of the word “decriminalization” for his bill harkens to the 1970s when, in some states, laws were changed so people possessing small amounts of marijuana would not be prosecuted.
However, that change opened the Overton window — the generally accepted agreement on what is permissible in society — on weed. Today, cannabis dispensaries are common in many states, including of course, Illinois.
In a way, prostitution was decriminalized in Illinois over a decade ago. “In 2013, the state reduced the crime of prostitution from a felony to a misdemeanor, and that resulted in a reported 97 percent reduction in prostitution arrests,” Fox Chicago’s Paris Schutz reported last month. “Essentially, the police have stopped policing it,” he concluded.
The Overton window on legalizing sex work in Illinois first cracked opened last year when the self-described good government group, the once bipartisan City Club of Chicago, hosted a panel discussion on the “decriminalization” of prostitution.
The monitor of that event was state Senator Celina Villanueva (12); she’s a co-sponsor of the Guzzardi sex work bill, as are state House members Kelly Cassidy and Theresa Mah.
All three co-sponsors are Chicago Democrats.
Guzzardi has made it clear that HB3518 would not legalize the trafficking of sex workers, coercion of prostitutes, and the abuse of minors who tragically become entrapped in prostitution.
“It’s just another form of employment”
In January, while a guest on the Chew's Views show on WCPT Radio, Guzzardi betrayed a naive but dangerous opinion of prostitution.
“Because I think when we get out of the sort-of like Victorian stigma around sex stuff, when we look at this issue with clear eyes, you see that sex work is work. It's just another form of employment that's happening in our world."
"And when you think about it that way, you know, it’s really, this bill is really of-a-piece with my entire legislative career. You know, I was the sponsor of the bill to raise the minimum wage to $15-an-hour in Illinois."
You may want to read those two paragraphs again, because Guzzardi connects his sponsorship of Illinois’ minimum wage law to his goal to legalize prostitution. That’s how progressives frame issues.
Guzzardi is a graduate of Brown University in Rhode Island. His degree is in comparative literature. After Brown, Guzzardi moved on to write for the left-wing Huffington Post. Guzzardi might be book smart, but he’s clearly bereft of common sense.
Here’s a little-known fact: Because of a loophole, in the 2000s some prostitution was legal in Rhode Island. It was during the time when Guzzardi was a student at Brown.
We'll return to Rhode Island in a little bit.
Also in January, Guzzardi was a guest on Lisa Dent's WGN Radio show. Her newscaster, Steve Bertrand, asked a phenomenal question about the legalization bill.
Bertrand: “So, could I put a sign up in my window saying, ‘Sex for $50’ and have people come in have sex with them for $50 and everything’s cool?"
Guzzardi: “What we want to do is to allow people to continue what they're doing today, which as you say, involves advertising their work, but without fear or law enforcement being involved.”
In one word, that's a “Yes” from Guzzardi.
We have some suggested follow up questions for Guzzardi on window signage advertising sex work.
One question would be: Would such signs be allowed near houses of worship or schools if HB3518 becomes law?
A second pertinent question is: Who would want to look out from the window of their home and be confronted by such a sign every day?
Guzzardi claims that once prostitution is “decriminalized,” it will mean that sex work will no longer be “forced into the shadows” and prostitutes will be more likely to report brutal attacks by clients to the police. Which means, according to his reasoning, less violence.
Maybe. While supporters of legal sex work present evidence claiming prostitutes will be safer once their profession is above board, they generally cite anecdotal examples as their proof.
Leftist politicians like Guzzardi usually omit human nature from their thought process when they legislate. And human nature isn't always benevolent. Carnal desires often bring out the worst in people — particularly men. That worst includes violence and murder. Males make up the great majority of the clients of prostitutes. Sex workers are usually female — and men are generally physically stronger than women. Males tend to be more vicious than females.
Progressives love to racialize issues and to present themselves as the champions of the oppressed. But prostitution is indeed a racial issue — and a class one. Clients are predominately white and wealthy. Sex workers are usually poor and members of a minority group.
Legalization will change none of this.
But Guzzardi says it’s all really about freedom. “We are currently living in a time where too many powerful forces are trying to take away people's bodily autonomy,” he says in his proposed legislation.
Guzzardi then went on to make this absurd claim: “We can't be truly free when our adult consensual sexual relationships are criminalized.”
Rhode Island’s wrong turn
In 2003, a state judge ruled that a loophole in the state’s prostitution law legalized sex work indoors — streetwalking remained against the law. Until a new law closed that loophole in 2009, Rhode Island was a sex tourism destination.
Eight years later, Elana Gordon of WHYY, a PBS station in Delaware, looked back.
“And with that, the alternative newspaper’s advertising section exploded. Full page advertisements and numerous listings for things like body rubs and table showers flooded the back pages."
Rhode Island, home to a little under a million people, gained a pretty big reputation for its now legal sex industry.
When Bella Robinson learned indoor prostitution was decriminalized in Rhode Island, she packed up her stuff and moved to Rhode Island from New Jersey.
"I can go there and be free, and not worry finally,’" she remembered thinking.
If prostitution is legalized in Illinois, we can expect many Bella Robinsons relocating to Chicago. And that will mean more sex work — and more violence against sex workers. Although Robinson, who is an advocate for the rights of sex workers, told WHYY that she experienced fewer attacks while working legally as a prostitute in Rhode Island.
But there is another side to that story.
Thomas Verdi, a senior-level Providence, Rhode Island, police officer, recollected to Gordon about Asian women who would "spend anywhere from three to five weeks, sometimes longer, before someone from the [trafficking] organization would pick them up and then take them to another city, whether it be New York, Philly was involved, Chicago.”
There is one key difference between the 2000s and the current decade. There was not a nationwide migrant crisis occurring then.
The next time a reporter interviews Brown University graduate Guzzardi about HB3518, Rhode Island needs to be discussed with him.
Sex tourism
While there are plenty of legitimate activities available to vacationers in Thailand, the Philippines, and Jamaica, these three nations are well-known sex tourism spots.
Closer to home, Nevada is another sex tourism destination — prostitution is legal in 10 of its counties. And even though sex work is banned in Las Vegas, the Strip is clogged with men handing out risqué palm cards touting women who will visit your hotel room for a fee.
If HB3518 becomes law, such a scene might become common in Chicago’s Loop and the Magnificent Mile.
Legalization of prostitution in Illinois will spread STDs and other diseases. Mental health and substance abuse problems plague prostitutes in places like the Netherlands, where sex work is legal and regulated by the government. With legal prostitution in place, Pandora's Box will be open — and even worse activities will spread, including trafficking and the abuse of minors. As was mentioned earlier, carnal desires often bring out the worst in people. The free market has an evil side.
Legalization of sex work will also bring problems to the rest of Illinois. Think of a cross-country truck driver on Interstate 70 who sees a billboard offering prostitution —remember Bertrand's “Sex for $50” example posed to Guzzardi — at a self-described massage parlor located at the next exit.
Or imagine a fraternity at a downstate college that hires sex workers for a pledge week party.
Chicago already has one sex tourism pocket, the notorious Viagra Triangle on the Near North Side.
It can happen here
True, Guzzardi’s bill is just that — a bill to legalize prostitution. It's not scheduled for a vote, and it's not likely that Governor J.B. Pritzker would sign that bill into law —largely because he's planning a presidential run. Presently, HB3518 sits in the House Rules Committee. That committee is chaired by Robyn Gabel, an Evanston Democrat.
On the other hand, a decade ago, the notion of abolishing cash bail in Illinois was an extreme idea favored only by the far-left.
As I previously mentioned, the Overton window on legalization of sex work is open in Illinois. Leftist politicians are patient — they play the long game. Moderates and conservatives don’t.
“It can’t happen here” sometimes happens.
That is why destructive and out-of-the-mainstream ideas need to be immediately stomped to death — like that first cockroach that you find crawling on your kitchen floor.
The SAFE-T Act and Guzzardi's sex work bill are convincing arguments against partisan gerrymandering. In last year's presidential election, 45 percent of Illinois voters did not choose the Democratic candidate for president. Illinois isn’t a deep blue state; it’s just drawn that way.
Yet far-left Chicago legislators are trying to impose their lack-of-morals on the rest of Illinois. Why? Because they can. Because the Democrats have super-majorities in both chambers of the General Assembly.
Here is some good news: Many decent people indeed live in Chicago, and that includes residents of Guzzardi's district.
The decent folks don't want a dystopian city.
If a legalization of prostitution advisory referendum was placed on the ballot in Chicago in the next general election, it would be soundly defeated. And a statewide vote on such a referendum would almost certainly be a blowout victory against legal sex work.
This article began with a quote from a conservative Republican, but its last words are from a Democrat, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart.
“Are you trying to tell me that there's any set of parents anywhere on this planet that when their daughter is born, and they're looking at that little angel, and they’re holding her hand, they're saying, ‘You know what? Oh my God, I hope she grows up to be a sex worker. Oh my God, that would be our dream.’ I mean, give me a break.”
