J. Leigh (they/them/theirs)
As a multiracial genderqueer researcher, J. Leigh Oshiro-Brantly has studied the transphobia and queerphobia experienced by LGBTQ sex workers, analyzed data for an international qualitative study on casual sex, and co-produced an ethnographic film, CAER for an international research project SEXHUM in collaboration with transgender LatinX sex workers from the Colectivo Intercultural TRANSgrediendo in NYC. They began doing sex work in Vermont in 2012.
For MOMA/PS1’s Sex Workers’ Festival of Resistance and the 2018 International AIDS Conference, J. Leigh co-curated sex worker film programs and spoke about multi-gendered sex work. They have also presented at numerous conferences, rallies, workshops, and panels on (dis)ability sexual inclusion, trans, and sex worker harm reduction principles. They currently serve on advisory boards for Gays and Lesbians Living in a Transgender Society (GLITS) and the Sharmus Outlaw Advocacy and Rights (SOAR) Institute. They are the Research and Project Manager for Decriminalize Sex Work—all organizations that fight for the rights of sex workers, trans/queer folks, and survivors of human trafficking.
They have also been an advisor for the Museum of the City of New York’s Transgender Activism Exhibit and received the 2019 Marsha P. Johnson Community Leader Award from New York Transgender Advocacy Group, where they currently serve as an advocacy consultant and as the president of the New York State Gender Diversity Coalition.
J. Leigh has worked on Showtime’s Billions and Fox’s The Following, been featured in TIME magazine, VICE News, and TimeOUT NY. In 2019, they co-wrote an amicus brief to fight the anti-sex work legislation SESTA/FOSTA in the U.S. courts. When the pandemic allows for it, they plan to re-start their PhD studies focusing on sex workers and their mobility-impaired clients. As a survivor living with multiple disabilities, they are passionate about grace, forgiveness, and occasionally overcompensate for sex work stigma by constant achievement and workaholism. They are working on this and learning how to rest and play more.