In a dimly lit Brooklyn nightclub on a Saturday afternoon, congressional candidate Suraj Patel is castigating FOSTA, the new law that punishes web platforms for serving sex workers. “Every small-thinking politician that wants to take a bipartisan victory back home can stand around Donald Trump in the Oval Office and pat themselves on the back for coming out against trafficking,” Patel says, referencing the bill’s signing in April. “All they really did was make it very difficult for lots of people in this country to survive, and make it much more likely that they would be exploited.” Soon, he’s drawing cheers from a crowd of around 200 people, gathered at a town hall meeting specifically for sex workers and allies.
Patel’s take on the law...
