$pread

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$pread magazine is an independent publication by and for sex workers and their allies in the sex industry. While many of the contributors are sex workers themselves (strippers, porn actors, prostitutes, fetish workers, and so on), articles are also written and edited by figures from academic, cultural, and literary backgrounds. The New York based magazine was founded by activists Rebecca Lynn, Rachel Aimee, and Raven Strega. Other editors have included Mary Christmas, Eliyanna Kaiser and Audacia Ray. Hadassah Hill is the magazine's current art director. Current non-editorial staff members include Astrid E. Allen, Erin Siegal, Kevicha Echols, Theresa Anasti, and Dorothy Schwartz. Strega and Christmas are no longer on staff.

$pread released its first issue in March 2005, and subsequently won the 2005 Utne Independent Press Award for Best New Title. $pread is based in New York City and is sold throughout the United States and Canada at independent bookstores and via national distributors.

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$pread is a quarterly, glossy magazine by and for sex workers and those who support their rights. The magazine has a focus on personal experiences and political insights, and contains practical information like news, features, health columns, and resources related to the sex industry. $pread builds community in the sex trade by featuring the honest and diverse perspectives of those who know it best: the women and men who work within this sensationalized, highly stereotyped industry.

Founded in the summer of 2004 by three women, the magazine has already garnered lots of press attention as well as winning the coveted Utne Independent Press Award for “Best New Title of 2005” after only three issues. $pread actively confronts various stigmas surrounding sex work, raises awareness of legal and political issues affecting sex workers, and encourages support for the rights of all people working in the sex industries.