Here’s How Strippers Are Surviving The Coronavirus Pandemic

Seven years ago, Chase Kelly, who began working in strip clubs in 2001 and has been a full-time stripper since 2007, created Survive the Club, a consultancy that offers success coaching to strippers and “solidarity for the stripperhood.” Based in New Orleans, Louisiana, Kelly has become a source of support and wisdom for her dancer clients and her over 46,000 followers on Instagram. So, when the coronavirus pandemic began spreading across the U.S. early this year, Kelly become a front line worker at the intersection of the pandemic and strip clubs, providing counseling and support for dancers who, due to the nature of their work, found themselves in dire circumstances. Here, Kelly talks about how the coronavirus has changed the strip club business, why taking things online isn’t the same thing when you strip for a living, and whether or not the coronavirus will wipe out the strip club industry altogether.

Susannah Breslin: When did you first realize that the pandemic was going to radically change everything about this business? Did you recognize it immediately, or was it for you and others a more gradually realization that this sector would be slammed?

Chase Kelly: In early March, I knew things would change for awhile, but I had no clue how widespread the pandemic had actually become, due to lack of testing and tracing. I remember on March 4 hearing that an airport employee at LAX had contracted it. Within that first week of March, I started watching videos of people who had been on lockdown for over 30 days already in Hong Kong and the first stories of people on quarantine in Italy had surfaced. I prepped my apartment and expected a 30-day pause on all activities. At that time, I went between optimism and doomsday panic. Mid-March, Bourbon Street was completely boarded up, and I realized I wouldn't be back to work for awhile. By early April, I had come to realize that some clubs would remain closed indefinitely, and that the ones that did reopen would either take a very long time to do so or open at the risk of becoming new ground zeroes. 

Breslin: What's the number one concern you're hearing from dancers?

Kelly: Early on, it was housing, food, and childcare. I posted every dancer’s Venmo and Cash App who DM'd me saying they were in dire need on my Instagram; it was in the hundreds. Currently, I hear a lot of questions about internet security, webcam, and internet marketing. I doubt that the reason I stopped hearing about housing issues is because the need for it has disappeared, and I worry about my community members who don’t have access to basic needs. A lot of strippers have also had bad luck getting through to or approved for unemployment. Some have said that they are too intimidated by the process to apply. An astronomical number of us is uninsured. I don't think our community at large has even reached the point on the hierarchy of needs to recognize the importance of prioritizing it right now. Many of us are surviving day by day.

Breslin: What do most people not realize about how this business has been impacted by the COVID-19 crisis?

Kelly: We are all out of work. There is little our clubs will do to help us. Still, some have been incredible. I’ve seen clubs that post their entertainers’ social media profiles, OnlyFans links, and payment info online, which is really important because many of our regulars have no idea how to contact us. I’ve seen other clubs go silent, and a friend of mine’s club refuses to pay her out money she’s owed from past shifts, and she can't go after it aggressively because she needs the work when reopening finally occurs. There isn’t a blanket answer for the industry, but the thing I’d be most pleased about when we reopen is the full retraction of house fees, the fees dancers pay to perform. Most strippers pay between $20 and $200 a shift to work, and a portion of their earnings is garnished by the clubs on top of that. The fact that we start our shift owing money is something that is [a] questionable practice all of the time, but during uncertain earning times when we are risking our lives to be there, it should be a given that clubs let us work without paying a fee. 

Breslin: How are dancers managing the transition to going online?

Kelly: Not all dancers are going online. We have different situations and skills but are overall a very resilient workforce, so we are doing all kinds of things. To transition to online sex work requires special circumstances that we don’t all have: privacy and a space that looks appealing to stream from, a computer or laptop that is in good condition, access to makeup and wardrobe (mine is held captive in my locker at the club—it’s been months since I’ve even been able to apply mascara), and if they really want to be successful, a tripod and some nice lights. The competition out there is thick, and the models who have been working the internet a long time have home-court advantage. Additionally, it’s a privilege to be able to take your business online. You need to be willing to be “out” as a sex worker, because while it’s unlikely your parents or civilian associates will find out you work at a strip club that you drive three hours to dance at, your porn will be discovered. Online work can also be more labor intensive if you're used to the strip club model. Clubs are very cut and dry in the way that they operate, prices are set, you get into a routine. Streaming is different. You can’t read a person through a screen by studying their body language and nuance and simply cater to their fantasy. Online, the spark all needs to come from the performer, so it also takes a different type of creativity. But again, strippers are doing things other than webcam. Lots of my friends are doing grocery delivery, some of them are nurses and mental healthcare workers, some are volunteering at food banks, and one close girlfriend works in a lab that is processing COVID-19 tests 24 hours a day. I think intimacy is important and really supports mental health by providing basic human connection. Sex work saves lives, especially during a time when we are all separated, but I think something that would surprise people is how much intimate care providers also provide for other community needs. These brave workers are saving peoples’ asses in more ways than by showing theirs. Not that showing their butts isn’t having a positive impact on the world right now, because it is, but these butts also deliver your food and provide your healthcare!

Breslin: What do you see next? Will coronavirus decimate the strip club sector forever? Or do you expect to see this business to return to business as usual one day?

Kelly: No, you can’t take us out. It’ll change things for awhile but people will always need entertainment, and sex will always sell, and we are always going to find a stage to dance on. We are the most tenacious workforce I've seen. Many things have tried to snuff us out, but we aren’t going anywhere. Clubs will close, but in their place new clubs will open. I’m not giving up my art form, anyway, so we will have to find a way to make it work. Maybe if we’re lucky, we will see the return of the peep show in the U.S. 

Breslin: What about club clients? I assume some women have been able to transition their clients from the clubs to online sessions. Do you some clients still seek out real world sessions, and are dancers providing them?

Kelly: Unfortunately, misguided laws have made it almost impossible for many of us to keep in touch with clients. Even taking a business card is an act of solicitation in most states now. It's a frustrating anomaly in the sales world. It would be like telling a nightclub promoter they can't take a guest's phone number because they might sell drugs instead of a VIP table, or a car salesman they can't sell a sports car because the driver might speed during the test drive. If you follow the rules, which I do because I work at a strict club and like my job, you don't have any regular customers' contact info. My Instagram followers have been more essential to me than my club clients, but I bet I would be in much better shape financially had I been allowed to share my info with my customers without being accused of doing anything other than my actual job. If entertainers are fortunate enough to have client information, I hope they are maintaining those relationships so that they don't dry up.

Breslin: What have you found to be the most inspiring thing about how dancers are handling the pandemic?

Kelly: We've been really quick to help one another financially, spiritually, and physically. We've been great at staying in touch with our friends, giving advice on how to get benefits, sharing money-making opportunities, hosting free workout and yoga classes, and self-care practices among ourselves. Personally, I launched Self-Care Sundays via Survive the Club’s Instagram live with weekly guests who share unique perspectives and skills that have been helping our workforce stay afloat. I'm honestly never not inspired by this community. I'll probably be a part of it in one way or another until I am 100 years old.

Breslin: Sex workers are among the most hurt and least supported in this crisis. What can people do to help? 

Kelly: Support directly! I don't think there is anything more positive on a sex workers life than individual financial support and the message that you care what happens to them. If you know a sex worker who is struggling, just ask their preferred method of online transfer and pay them. If you know a sex worker who is an artist and is selling art, an OnlyFans, a Patreon, buy and subscribe! No one is forcing you to look at their content, but if you want to see someone succeed and survive, tip them. You should also call your reps and ask them to repeal FOSTA/SESTA and tell them that you support full decriminalization of sex work. FOSTA/SESTA has made it even harder for workers to safely share content online and full decriminalization would eliminate state governance over people's autonomous bodies, not to mention it would wipe out those dumb laws that keep me from getting my customer's twitter handle. 

This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.