Red Umbrella Rights is a film about sex worker rights that focuses on founders of the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers and members of Bay Area Sex Worker Outreach Project (SWOP). This film uses the annual International Day to End Violence event to explore issues of sex workers’ rights, LGBTQ rights, and the targeting of sex workers in violent attacks. Featured in the documentary are significant LGBTQ and sex-positive activists including Carol Queen, Annie Sprinkle, and Carol Leigh (aka Scarlot Harlot), who famously coined the term “sex work.”
Molly Merryman, PhD, is a professor of sociology and the founding director of Kent State University’s Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality. She is an author and ethnographic filmmaker whose documentaries have screened internationally and been broadcast on regional PBS stations. She is co-founder of Ohio’s first LGBT Studies program and played key roles in the development of Kent State University’s LGBTQ Student Center and the university’s diversity course requirements.
Dr. Merryman serves on editorial boards for the Journal of Video Ethnography, is a reviewer for the journal Visual Studies, and guest editor for the Journal of Homosexuality Special Issue: The State and Continuing Development of LGBTQ Studies Programs.