Protect Colorado from Legalized Sex Work
Protect Colorado from Legalized Sex Work
Safe Places Response to the Senate Bill 26-097 to Legalize Prostitution in Colorado:
A bill has been presented to legislators and signed on by four different lawmakers proposing the legalization of prostitution in the state of Colorado. This is a dangerous piece of legislation.
We believe this is not only a policy issue — it is a moral, cultural, and human issue that will shape the future of our state.
First, this idea has already been attempted elsewhere in the United States. Only a couple of counties in Nevada have legalized prostitution. The rest of the country has not followed that path. That alone should cause us to pause. If this were truly a solution that protected women and reduced harm, more states would have seen the positive outcomes of that model and embraced it by now. They have not.
Colorado would become the first state in America to fully legalize prostitution. We should take very seriously why no one else has chosen to enter into this.
We are missing the point when we talk about “cleaning up the conditions” or “making it a better environment” for women to do sex work. The issue is not working conditions. It is not health insurance. It is not regulatory oversight.
The issue is the heart.
Over the years, we have encountered hundreds of women. Their desire is not to see man after man after man. They are trying to survive. They are trying to keep their head above water. They are trying to feed their kids. Many are doing something they feel to be deeply repulsive but are continuing because they see no other way out.
The women we meet on Colfax are constantly telling us, “Pray that I can get out of this line of work.”
It is not, “Pray that we can have better working conditions.”
It is, “Pray that I can stop doing this kind of work.”
That should tell us something.
At its core, this is about how we believe human beings were created. God created us for covenant — one man and one woman in the context of marriage. The idea of sexual transactions hour after hour, day after day, is in direct conflict with how God designed us. When we legalize something, we normalize it. When we normalize it, we reshape the conscience of a culture. For those that care about stopping so-called, “toxic masculinity,” this is it. This is the purchase of women as commodities. This is legalized degradation.
Look also beyond our borders. Places like Amsterdam, in the Netherlands and Germany have legalized prostitution. There are women in windows in Amsterdam. There are mega-brothels in Germany. Legalization has not eliminated human trafficking. It has not eliminated crime. It has not made those nations safer for women and children. It has only grown.
Colorado has already experienced what happens when we become a destination state for a legalized vice. When marijuana was legalized, it brought a flood of people seeking opportunity and profit in that industry. If we legalize prostitution, we will invite sex tourism. We will invite businesses built around so-called “adult services.” We will attract men from around the country and the world seeking fantasy and sexual encounters.
We must ask ourselves hard questions.
Is this who we want to be as a state?
Is this what we want Colorado to be known for?
We have breathtaking mountains. We have outdoor beauty. We have thriving communities, families, churches, and businesses. Do we want to be known as the state that provides opportunities for men to come here for perversion?
This bill does not protect women and children. It caters to the worst of men. It removes the fear of arrest. It shifts the focus toward profit. Profit from the exploitation of women as commodities. There are other ways for our state to generate revenue and protect vulnerable people without institutionalizing exploitation.
Safe Places for Women is strongly opposed to this bill.
We are committed to fighting human trafficking — but not in this way. We believe in helping women exit exploitation, not in building a system that makes it easier to stay in it. We believe in restoring dignity, not commercializing vulnerability. We believe every woman is made with value. We want to honor them, not exploit them. Help us, help them, get the exit they deserve.
We will advocate for churches and believers to stand up for families in Colorado and say clearly:
We DO NOT Want This.
We will be vocal.
We will be prayerful.
And we will continue to fight for women.
See Bill here: (https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb26-097)
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