Photo above: courtesy of Antonia Crane
By: Antonia Crane, originally published by LA Local
In this essay, Crane reflects on the intensifying criminalization of sex work in Los Angeles in the lead-up to major global events – including the FIFA World Cup 2026, the 2027 Super Bowl, and the 2028 Olympics – and the heightened policing already being experienced in neighborhoods such as Koreatown. Drawing on her own experience of arrest and organizing, she examines what these shifts mean for sex-working communities and other marginalized residents living under increasing surveillance and enforcement.
Antonia Crane is an author, queer sex worker, filmmaker, and doctoral candidate at USC. She is the author of the memoir Spent, and her most recent essay collection Une Travailleuse (A Worker) was published in 2026 by Tusitala Press. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Nation, LA Public Press, N+1, Knock LA, and many other outlets. She is also the founder of Strippers United and the Stripper Workers Center, organizations dedicated to labor organizing, education, and legislative reform. The piece is accompanied by a striking image of Crane holding a megaphone, an apt visual echo of the themes of voice, resistance, and collective organizing that run throughout her work.