How a trans-inclusive strip night found a way to thrive during quarantine

• For its one year anniversary, Jolene, an LA-based trans-inclusive strip night, hosted a Zoom event.
• The inclusive show is comprised of cisgender, transgender, and nonbinary performers from various backgrounds.
• Virtual events like Jolene offer an opportunity for sex workers to make a living during an unprecedented national crisis.

As cities across the country went into lockdown amid the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the hardest-hit industries was nightlife. But many club communities have figured out ways to thrive in the virtual realm. In 2019, EthicalDrvgs, a Los Angeles based performer started Jolene, a transgender-inclusive stripper night at Hollywood's Cheetahs nightclub. The event later moved to other venues around LA and right before the coronavirus crisis hit, there were plans to take it on the road for Austin Pride.

As a transgender woman of color, EthicalDrvgs made a notable impact in the LA scene by organizing an event that adamantly rejected the fetishizing, objectifying dynamics which are fairly common at adult clubs. With a diverse roster comprised of cisgender, transgender, and nonbinary performers, Jolene celebrates feminity in all of its forms and provides a space for dancers from various backgrounds. On June 11th, to celebrate Pride, raise money for social justice causes, and create an opportunity for sex workers impacted by the pandemic, EthicalDrvgs hosted a Zoom rendering of the event that updated it's fun, irreverent spirit for the reality of quarantine.

The pandemic has been particularly hard for the sex industry

Well before the COVID-19 pandemic, sex workers were in a particularly precarious position. In 2018, Congress passed FOSTA-SESTA, an anti-sex trafficking law that further criminalized the sex work industry and stood to push it further underground. In March, right after the country went into lockdown, Congress passed the CARES Act, hoping to stimulate the economy and provide relief to the jobless. Many sex workers, however, feared they be left out of the benefits provided by the legislation due to administrative rules that exclude giving loans to businesses of a "prurient sexual nature" and unemployment benefits that don't extend to many sex workers whose jobs have been criminalized.

Amid a debilitating recession, seasoned sex workers have to compete with an influx of newcomers and influencers suddenly jumping on OnlyFans and other amateur porn platforms. "Because of COVID, a lot of regular people decided that they were going to become sex workers and cam girls and so even those of us who were doing cam work before COVID happened, our livelihood got cut off," Jordan Kensley, a co-producer of Jolene's Zoom show.

Being immunocompromised, Bella Bathory, one of Jolene's dancers, has been restricted to her home and feels worried about meeting with clients. "I can't speak for everyone, but what I've seen is a lack of ability to work and a fear of working, and at the same time clients pushing boundaries," the award winning adult entertainer said. "I can't speak for everyone, but what I've seen is a lack of ability to work and a fear of working, and at the same time clients pushing boundaries," the award-winning adult entertainer said. But she remains defiant and believes that the community can overcome and thrive. "We have to come together and we have to support each other. We have to pool our resources, we have to show up and we have to continue doing what it is we've always done," she said.

Cyber shows come with advantages

Digital events can mirror the restrictiveness of nightclubs, excluding performers who don't fit a highly specific mold of femininity. Jolene welcomes dancers who may not find work at other spaces because of their ethnicity, body type, or gender identity. A few of the performers spoke to Insider about the positive aspects of going virtual.

Before the pandemic, Sasha Colby ran a monthly trans-inclusive night at The Chapel, a gay bar in West Hollywood. In

addition to dancing for virtual Jolene, she has done cyber drag events and views these opportunities as therapeutic. "Performing lets me go through my emotions so being able to be intimate in a place like your home, you can work through whatever problems you're going through with your life and the collective energy we are going through in the world and put it out there as an online diary," Colby said. Though she misses interacting with other dancers and clubgoers, digital events come with the advantages of not having to worry about Uber rides and lugging costumes around town.

Onyx Black, a dancer who also hosts a monthly marijuana themed strip broadcast, believes that since they can garner a larger audience, virtual shows offer a chance to increase the political message and visibility of inclusive events. "This could reach people around the world and let them know that the LGBTQIA community, especially the trans community, is something to love and revere and they've been here for forever and they'll always be here," she told Insider. Black noted that with clubs now out of commission, dancers have to take initiative. "We all just had to say f-ck it. It's a survival thing and just go into business for ourselves," she said.

Naomi, a dancer who worked at Jumbo's Clown Room and now hosts a strip broadcast from her home, enjoys the artistic liberty of performing online. "You're not having to rely on a club as your venue so you can do your own set decorating and make things exactly how you want them. There's no one else's rules to follow other than the platform you're streaming from," she said. Naomi stressed the significance of Jolene having a digital show during Pride month. "You still need to enjoy yourself, you still need to feel pride, and celebrate. It's really special and important to carry that over into the virtual world since we can't congregate right now," she explained.

"It's giving us the chance to bring in new girls from other places because we're in a virtual realm. We don't need to rely on a physical space and the rules within them," Kensley told Insider. She added that with a digital event, she doesn't have to deal with bar tabs, hostile security guards, and restrictions regarding costumes or nudity.

Even with these advantages, not all performers have access to streaming equipment or poles. To ensure that everyone had a chance to live stream, Jolene's organizers arranged for a few of the dancers to broadcast together from Cuties, an LGBTQ coffee shop in East Hollywood.

The Jolene dancers leaned into the creativity that comes from streaming at home

The night began with EthicalDrvgs in a fluorescent bedroom, dressed in a silk bathrobe and sporting a lively grin. After thanking her guests for tuning in, she encouraged them to send money to the talent via Venmo, Cash App, or Paypal in lieu of normal physical cash tips. Later in the evening, she said that whoever had "the biggest tip energy" would win a gift basket of lubricants, massage oils, and scented candles courtesy of Hustler Hollywood. While the majority of the nineteen dancers streamed from their homes in Los Angeles, some performers broadcasted from Portland, Oregon and Austin, Texas.

Though Jolene was started as a night for strippers, the virtual version featured a wide array of erotic performances with dancers fully embracing the creative freedom that came from being at home. Adorned with ram horns and sparkly lingerie, Bathory emerged from a black coffin and did an elaborate striptease to Marilyn Manson's "Say10." She ripped pages out of a Bible, pulled rosary beads from her panties, and doused herself with holy water and to top it all off, strapped on a belt and shot off sparks using a grinding power tool. Erica Solitaire also made use of props — she ended her show by putting on a surgical mask and spray painting a black heart onto a poster.

Naomi performed to System of A Down's "Hypnotize" in front of a green screen projecting black and white swirls layered with cheeky, brainwashing mantras — "Your feet are so heavy, you cannot move them." Others delved into the stay-at-home vibe. Wearing a cheetah print swimsuit, Domino did a sultry dance to Tove Lo's "Bikini Porn" from her bathtub, turning on the shower to wet her hair and then stripping for digital onlookers. Teddy B. Ruxpin pranced around a neon-lit bedroom and straddled a stuffed animal, ending her floorwork act by seductively eating chicken nuggets. While there were plenty of outlandish stunts, many of the dancers pulled off impressively acrobatic pole sets. Elise brought the club to quarantine by sporting glow-in-the-dark platform heels and twirling around a pole as it rained dollar bills. The evening also featured a few unexpected cameos with some dogs and cats occasionally hopping into the frame.

The organizers of Jolene are planning a 24-hour livestream strip extravaganza

In the midst of an international coalescing around the Black Lives Matter movement, the June 11th show raised money for a handful of social justice initiatives — Black Visions Collective, the Sex Workers Outreach Project's emegency COVID-19 relief fund, Trans Women of Color Collective, and the ACLU of Southern California. "Not only do we want to help sex workers be able to eat, we want to raise awareness and raise money for causes that need it right now," EthicvlDrugs told Insider. Seeking to build off the momentum of her digital show, she is planning a July 3rd event and later this year, a 24 hour livestream fundraiser featuring dancers from around the world. During trying times, events that bring communities together are increasingly necessary. Jolene's Zoom show offered a welcomed escape from a chaotic news cycle and proved that talent doesn't diminish under quarantine.

The evening ended with Kensley giving EthicvlDrugs a birthday lap dance while other performers rocked out in their respective Zoom boxes to Robyn's "Dancing On My Own." At the end of the song, the audience was unmuted and joined together for a roaring — and CDC approved — round of applause.

Save the date! We’ve got another edition of of Jolene: Pride and Protest. Taking place on the final day of the Stonewall rising we’ve decided to celebrate the success of one uprising in hopes of bringing that energy to our current one. Save the date and keep your eyes peeled for more details! // graphics @ianophelan

A post shared by Jolene (@otherwomxn) on Jun 20, 2020 at 7:28pm PDTJun 20, 2020 at 7:28pm PDT