Education is learning what you didn't even know you didn't know.D. J. Boorstin

First off, I'm a Second Life addict...oh wait, wrong blog. "That's interesting, but how doeswould this fit into a discussion on sex?" On the surface, that's a reasonable question. Out of curiosity, I decided to run a few simple comparisons between sex work in real and virtual life.

• Is being an escort a viable employment option (in both RL & SL)?

Depending on several factors in RL--location, background, physical appearance, experience--escorting can provide anywhere from a few $L for the latest fashion collection in SL to several thousand $USD for those in the RL business.

 Of all the types of work offered in Second Life, those concerning sex work such as escorts, dancers, sexually explicit toys and clothing makers, and animation designers appear to be the most prolific  as well as some of the most profitable means of employment.

Me in my 'office' reading up on research methods...

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ) and immigrant rights are two hotly contested areas of policy advocacy and community organizing in the United States today. Millions of immigrants marched on streets of large and small cities of the US in spring of 2006 in their opposition to draconian immigration bills, and demanding legalization for all immigrants. While Gay marriage, Employment Non-Discrimination, equal treatment in the US military, and Hate Crime legislation has been the clarion call of the LGBTQ movement in the recent years.  LGBTQ immigrants find themselves uniquely positioned on the boundaries of both these movements. Voices of LGBTQ immigrants have often been on the margins of these movements.

There is little discussion of how immigration is also an issue for LGBTQ people, and even less analysis of the structural similarities between queer and immigrant struggles. LGBTQ immigrants are marginalized or invisible at the intersection of two identities. As a whole, more complex family structures -- such as those of binational...