The Trans Immigrant Project (TRIP), an LGBTQ immigrant advocacy division of Make the Road New York, called for citizenship for undocumented immigrants, advocated for the decriminalization of sex work, and joined calls to disband the NYPD’s vice squad. TRIP organizers Bianey Garcia and Mateo Guerrero emphasized the importance of passing the Stop Violence in the Sex Trades Act (SVSTA), a bill that would fully decriminalize sex work in New York City for all parties involved in the consensual sex trade.

“When sex workers are criminalized, that puts them in danger,” Guerrero said. “They are unable to negotiate better prices, face more violence, and they get harassed not just by other people in the community, but by the police.”

Activists also slammed supporters of the Nordic Model, which only removes penalties for sex workers and not others involved in the sex trade. That model has been slammed by activists who have maintained the position that only full decriminalization would eradicate the stigma sex workers face and reduce risk of trafficking by giving them more control over their work. State Senator Liz Krueger of Manhattan and Assemblymember Pamela Hunter of upstate New York proposed such a bill earlier this year called the “Sex Trade Survivors Justice and Equality Act.”