But I have seen the difference in the sleaze factor between legalized and outlawed prostitution. I just returned from Beatty, Nevada, where I was one of several curious reporters who visited a legal "cathouse." We had the opportunity to ask one of "the girls"--that's their term--lots of questions about what they do for a living and how Nevada regulates it.
In Beatty, the brothel is a member of the chamber of commerce. The girls get tested at the local clinic weekly for sexually transmitted diseases, and monthly for AIDS. They pay taxes. None of the prostitutes walks the streets, flaunting her wares where she is not invited. So children are not asking their parents, "Daddy, what did that lady want?"
There may never be another state that legalizes prostitution. But we all know that hookers work in every one of them. Nevada has faced that reality head on and made the "oldest profession" a far less dangerous one for both the girls and their customers. Is that such a bad thing?
photo: Ellen Perlman