Strippers Are Workers  Merges with Queer Power Alliance to Advance Labor and LGBTQIA+ Rights

Historic Integration Unites Adult Entertainment Worker Advocacy with Queer Justice Movement


SEATTLE, WA — 5/7/2025 — In a powerful move to deepen collective organizing for worker rights, safety, and dignity, Strippers Are Workers (SAW), a grassroots organization led by adult entertainers, has officially joined Queer Power Alliance (QPA) as a fully integrated program. This strategic merger unites two deeply aligned movements to advance labor rights, worker safety, and queer liberation across the region.

Founded and led by adult entertainers, SAW has been at the forefront of advocacy to decriminalize sex work, ensure workplace protections, and demand recognition for dancers as workers with rights. The merger with QPA, a long-standing force in Washington LGBTQIA+ community organizing and economic justice, formalizes a shared commitment to liberation that is worker-led, intersectional, and unapologetically queer.

“This merger isn’t about folding one movement into another—it’s about building power together,” said Taylor Farley, Executive Director of Queer Power Alliance. “Strippers are workers. Queer and trans people are workers. Our fights are interconnected, and together, we’re pushing for a future where all labor is respected and all people are protected.”

As a new program of QPA, SAW will continue its advocacy for workplace safety, fair labor classification, and protections for adult entertainers, while gaining expanded infrastructure, fiscal sponsorship, and cross-sector organizing support through QPA’s regional network. Together, the merged organizations will focus on:

  • Advancing policy advocacy for labor protections and fair classification for adult entertainers

  • Destigmatizing sex work and advancing safety reforms through public education and community dialogue 

  • Investing in leadership development and civic power-building  among strippers, queer workers, and other marginalized laborers

The merger comes at a time of escalating attacks on bodily autonomy, worker rights, and LGBTQIA+ safety. QPA and SAW are doubling down on their shared belief that organizing at the intersections of gender, sexuality, race, and labor is not just necessary—it’s transformative.
“We’re proud to grow this work within Queer Power Alliance while staying true to our roots as a stripper-led movement,” said Madison Zack-Wu, Program Manager of SAW. “This is a win for every worker who’s been told they don’t count. We count. We organize. We rise.”

About Queer Power Alliance
Queer Power Alliance (QPA) is an LGBTQIA+ organization based in King County, WA, building collective power through grassroots leadership development, community organizing, and advocacy. QPA works at the intersection of housing justice, economic opportunity, and safety for queer and trans people, especially those most impacted by systemic oppression.

About Strippers Are Workers
Strippers Are Workers (SAW) is a dancer-led organizing body committed to building visibility, labor protections, and political power for adult entertainment workers. Through education, advocacy, and community organizing, SAW fights for dignity, rights, and recognition for all sex workers.

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