The Heaux History Project is a sex worker-led collective and international network that documents erotic labor histories.
Launched in May of 2019, the Heaux History Project is a sex worker-led collective and international network that documents Black, Brown, and indigenous erotic labor histories and sex workers’ rights movements through essays, zines, digital archives, exhibitions, interviews, and film.
Founder and “Heaux-storian” Rebelle Cunt describes their work archiving the histories and current realities of Black sex workers. “I started doing more research around sex work history and I realized that I was looking for my elders and ancestors, Black and Brown sex workers, because I feel like by this point, a lot of work you can find on sex work is so white-centered,” Cunt said. “But I know we were there.” [1]
“Clarifying the reality and asserting our existence and historical relevance is the whole basis of Heaux History. As of today, there’s still so little documentation.” [3] “A main point for us,” Cunt continues, “is constantly reminding folks that when it comes to social justice movements, particularly post-slavery, there is no social justice movement that exists that doesn’t involve the contributions and the existence of Black sex workers.” [2]
“We’re used to hearing about sex worker history from a very specific group. We’re knocking that door off the hinges and saying not only are we here and we don’t need your invitation to be able to share our stories as really important, but also creating a home for other people like us who want to see themselves in documentaries, to want to document themselves, or document their own communities…
I say it continuously, but where there is revolution there is renaissance and I think that’s what we’re seeing right now with the sex workers' rights movement. In particular, Black sex workers deciding that we don’t need an invitation to someone’s table to be able to do what we need to do. We’re going to figure it out one way or another. I do not need a white ally to invite me into this room or into this university. We can do it ourselves, and I think that’s been really inspiring for other Black sex workers who are interested in doing this kind of work. My hope is that in the future they find themselves that much easier, that they’re able to add to this canon, that they’re able to use it for research — even for non-sex workers to understand the cultural value and influence that Black sex workers have — and that they can also use the research from some of our projects to create their own, or influence their own, or draw inspiration for their own projects.” [2]
Past projects include “Celebrating Miss Velvet & Black Domme Tradition,” an exhibit at the Leather Museum; “Red Maps Project,” a collaboration with Under the Red Umbrella mapping the history of erotic labor in Chicago and San Francisco; as well as regular events and “masterclasses” to present research and workshop creative documentation strategies with community members.
Sources:
[1] Sam Stroozas, “Mapping sex work in Chicago,” Chicago Reaser, August 24, 2022.
[2] Moderator Raquel Flores-Clemons of the Blacktivists, “The Cookout: A Community-Based Archiving Conversation,” Sixty Inches From Center, July 16, 2023.
[3] Lina Bembe, “The Chicago collective unearthing the history of Black erotic labour,” Dazed, May 5, 2022.
Updated 2/25/2026