Out100: 9 LGBTQ+ Names at the Forefront of Beauty and Business – Out Magazine

Sex worker, educator
@andreshakti

When the pandemic started, sex workers were one of the hardest hit demographics. Strip clubs and in-person events were no longer safe, and the government banned relief funds from going to “businesses of a prurient sexual nature.” In the face of this, Andre Shakti hosts and produces a weekly LGBTQ+ virtual strip club called Sanctuary, found at sanctuarytheclub.com, which provides essential income and community to marginalized sex workers impacted by the pandemic.

“We launched right at the onset of the pandemic in March 2020, and during the pre-vaccine quarantine period people were reliably hungry for work, hungry for human connection, and hungry for any distraction from the world at large,” she says. When things started changing again, she didn’t know how that would affect Sanctuary and was worried it might put the club in danger. Instead, the club continues to flourish. “I feel extraordinarily grateful for our fan base as well as our incredible team of gorgeous, resilient, exceptionally talented dancers,” she says.

Shakti has a lot on her plate, but she’s undaunted by the work. “I’m an active sex educator, sex worker, and veterinary technician in Baltimore…and I keep myself busy with work, multiple partners, and a large menagerie of both domestic and exotic animals,” she says. “It takes a ton of time, labor, and dedication to keep myself afloat, but every single day is different, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.” — Mey Rude, Photo Oscar Merrida IV