Sex is big business in America.
Many are not in the business by choice, but some are. There are 21 legal brothels in the U.S., and all are in Nevada, the only place where sex for money is legal and out of the shadows.
Newsy, owned by the E.W. Scripps Company, interviewed people who are supportive of the legal sex industry as well as people who are against it.
'SOLD IN AMERICA' DOCUSERIES
SOLD IN AMERICA: The Workers
SOLD IN AMERICA: The Trafficking
SOLD IN AMERICA: The Buyers
At Dennis Hof's Moonlite BunnyRanch in Nevada, paid sex is legal. Tiara Tae, an employee there, said she was a dancer prior to working for Hof, and that she was propositioned for sex every night as a dancer.
Tae never thought she's be working in the legal sex industry and she used to talk down on it, she said. Her mindset has changed since looking into it and finding out that Hof's place runs as an orderly business, including testing for sexually transmitted diseases among the employees and required background checks.
Each time a customer shows up at the BunnyRanch, the women who work there line up, and the customer selects one with which to have sex.
"I got picked, like, my first time and I was like, I'm scared," Tae said. "It was good to get it off my shoulders. My first time standing in the lineup ... it is intimidating."
Her first booking, or "party" as they call it at the BunnyRanch, was easy, she said.
"It went really smooth and it was what I thought it was going to be."
Tae immediately wondered what she would do with the money she brought in, including starting a retirement fund. She said she expects to have a half-a-million dollars saved in just a few years.
"I'm not going to lie, I'm expensive," she said.
Watch the video or click on the links provided above to learn more from the "Sold in America" series, and hear from people on all sides of the issue.
