Montreal museum spotlights sex workers history of activism and resistance

When community group Mile End Chavurah held an event in 2023 to name Jewish Montreal's "new patron saint," Maimie Pinzer was the winning choice.

When community group Mile End Chavurah held an event in 2023 to name Jewish Montreal’s “new patron saint,” Maimie Pinzer was the winning choice.

As an activist, Pinzer established a community space for her fellow sex workers in 1915.

Decades later, she is honoured with a black, white and hot-pink mural in the Mile End neighbourhood. She has also become the namesake and inspiration for sex worker advocacy group Stella, l’amie de Maimie.

Now she, and generations of other “defiant women,” are at the heart of a Montreal exhibit highlighting sex worker activism, both in the defence of their way of life and as part of other social causes, from the fight against AIDS to anti-poverty.

Timed to coincide with Stella’s 30th anniversary, the exhibit is “to demonstrate our 30 years of resistance and what that looks like, and most importantly, how sex workers in this city have been resisting for so long, beyond the 30 years, of course,” said communications coordinator Jenn Clamen.

Titled “By and For: 30 Years of Sex Worker Resistance,” the exhibit features a mix of artwork, historical photos and newspaper articles, as well as information about the organization’s mission. It will run until March 15 at the Centre des mémoires montréalaises.

Black and pink panels show sex workers participating in protest marches, symposiums and ad campaigns for various social causes, in Montreal and internationally. Their activism spans multiple sectors of society because of their intersecting identities, Clamen said.

“Sex workers are part of two-spirit LGBTQ communities. Sex workers are part of homeless communities, part of Asian communities, part of Jewish communities, part of Indigenous communities,” Clamen said.