How Nashville's Sex Workers Helped Save the City
Did you know sex work was once legal in Nashville? Last month, local historian Betsy Phillips introduced us to Rebecca Higgins, Nashville’s “Queen of the Demimonde,” in her cover story for the Nashville Scene. Today, Betsy joins creative producer (and lover of the history of the world’s oldest profession) Marie Cecile Anderson to uncover the fascinating and often overlooked history of sex work in Music City. From Rebecca Higgins, a savvy 19th-century madam, to Jack Bender, a sex worker whose story raises questions about gender that the historical record can’t answer, we explore the lives of people who helped shape Nashville.
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