Entre Putxs

Entre Putxs was born during the beginnings of the COVID-19 pandemic in response to a
collective need for economic and emotional sustenance and solidarity between LGBTTQIA+ sex
workers in Puerto Rico. As we faced a pandemic crisis, with few resources, drained from living
the colonial-cis-hetero-patriarchal-ableist and racist conditions of our society, with increased
health risks if we decided to work the streets, without social or state support, on the contrary,
censorship and stigma, we found ourselves in the trenches reaffirming our collective power in
our efforts to generate income and spaces to continue working in a dignified manner.
Entre Putxs is currently divided into three subprojects: Esoterixxx, La Osadía, and the Exquisite
Cabaret Art Residency, each led by Karaya, Akila, and Xávila, respectively. 

After a yearlong hiatus from stripping as they prepared to bring their first child into the world, Karaya has already had their comeback event, Esoterixxx, which will be a recurring pop-up strip club event led by sex workers in collaboration with allied businesses. Esoterixxx was created because strip clubs continue deteriorating on the island, and a vast majority of clubs force the strippers into offering "full service" or they get kicked out. All the while the clubs are filthy, the drinks are too cheap which encourages floaters (men who come to look and don't tip), the house fees are high, and management decides how much you get to make. Many strippers have had no choice but to leave their clubs. So, spaces like Esoterixxx offer an alternative space that is for sex workers, by sex workers.

Akila is coordinating spaces in the western region of Puerto Rico focused on the education of
the art of pole dancing that originates from their foundation as a sex worker, as well as in the
production and participation of events that provide opportunities for strippers, whores, women
and people from the LGBTTQIA+ communities to exalt themselves and expand their knowledge
within their movement and performance. Akila coordinates La Osadía, a self-managed
ephemeral strip club in Mayagüez, and co-coordinates the Sensual Coraza Showcase, a
collaborative and pioneering artistic exhibition event for adult beginner pole dancers, half of
which are Akila’s students, and the other half, students of sensual dance instructor, Jenn Ruiz.

I, Xávila, have had the honor and pleasure of coordinating a sex worker and slut exclusive art residency in collaboration with some of the best trans and queer movement instructors on the island. We held both virtual and in-person auditions and have been workshopping bi-weekly since April. These writing and movement workshops have served as a safe space for sex workers and sluts of the network to grow both professionally and artistically. And the workshops have been tailored to work with themes related to trauma, catharsis, and pleasure. With the funds that we have received so far, I have been able to cover transportation costs, babysitter costs for mothers in the residency, food costs, the costs of the space where we are holding the residency, our first excursion to the west side of the island where we collaborated with sex workers of that region through workshops, networking and collective healing. We have been able to fund the equipment and materials used, care packages made in collaboration with collectives such as Sembrando Resistencias and Matrilineo. And this is just the buildup to what will be the production of the Exquisite Cabaret, which will take place next summer in El Teatro Shorty Castro. One day, we hope to have a permanent, physical residency that offers transitory living options, workshops, and a space for community healing, called Casa Exquisita.

Entre Putxs has been a network of support and possibilities to imagine ourselves in a better
world, as we are reminded each day that the world we live in was not made for us queer, trans,
nonbinary, Black, neurodivergent, fat, immigrant, and physically/functionally diverse whores,
many of whom face food and housing insecurity. Not everyone in our network is a sex worker,
but we consider many of our trans siblings to be adjacent to the work that we do, because it's so
difficult and violent to find a job as a trans person, many resort to sex work as a means of
generating income. Entre Putxs exists to provide trans, queer and nonbinary people with an
alternative choice that honors us.