THE STRIPATHON EVENT THAT SPARKED PUBLIC OUTRAGE

Do you believe in coincidences? This is the story of how one woman’s struggle inspired an entire community to come together and ultimately change public perception towards strippers forever …  

In 1999, when I was pregnant with my oldest daughter, I moved into a basement suite in Burnaby. The family that lived upstairs became our friends. As I got to know the woman of the house, Jocelyne, we shared with one another that we had both been strippers. Excitedly, we learned that we had quite a few mutual friends and acquaintances.

I also learned that Jocelyne had breast cancer. When I met her, she had no hair. She wore bandannas and wigs to hide the effects of her cancer treatments. Her husband made her fresh juices every morning. Multiple times each week, they went to church where Jocelyne was surrounded by people who laid hands on her and prayed for her recovery. One day, she went to the doctor to get her tumour measured and it was unexpectedly and miraculously gone.

We rejoiced. Life went on. Jocelyne moved out of the house we shared and later we moved out of that house too. But my friendship with Jocelyne remained strong. We related to one another as mothers and strippers, both of which can be very isolating roles. It was wonderful to have one another.

In 2001, I founded The Naked Truth – a website resource for exotic dancers. My intention was to give my stripper colleagues permission to enjoy their jobs and take pride in what they do. I wanted us to be able to share information, which before then had been a weapon used against us by agents. We often showed up to clubs with incomplete, missing, and even fabricated expectations due to the lies we were told. The Naked Truth enabled us to know what awaited us at out-of-town gigs we’d never been to before.

By late 2003, we had an established community in The Naked Truth forums where we congregated to ease the isolation we felt in our families and communities, as people who hid our jobs from everyone we knew. Living a double life is hard but it is easier when you have a community of people who understand to support you. The Naked Truth forums provided the connection that was missing from many of our lives before the Internet.

One day, Jocelyne called me with heartbreaking news. She had cancer again but this time it had metastasized and she was given a terminal prognosis. Jocelyne began suffering through her cancer treatments, as her teenage daughter and friends watched on in horror. We could not ease her struggle. We felt helpless.

I turned to The Naked Truth community, telling them about my friend Jocelyne, who was an ex-stripper, and was now dying of cancer. I shared how helpless I felt and how I wished I could do something for her. One of our forum members suggested we coordinate a fundraiser to honour her and buy her something she needed. The idea gained popularity and before I knew it, my whole community had begun to rally around me to hold a 40th birthday party fundraiser for Jocelyne in February 2004.

We called it “Exotic Dancers for Cancer” and when I say “the whole community” came together, I am talking about current and former exotic dancers, current and former DJs, current and former agents, and all kinds of other industry supporters. The event forged friendships and alliances that led to numerous future arrangements and relationships. The entire experience was an incredible pooling of talents, resources, products, services, time, and energy from people in the exotic dance industry in Vancouver BC, Canada circa 2004.

Over two hundred guests attended the industry-only event held at the Moondancer Pub in the Barnet Hotel, Port Moody. Jocelyne was surrounded by people who loved her. Her duo partner, Brandy, from back in the day still had costumes from one of their shows. She arranged with me in advance to surprise Jocelyne by performing their signature duo act: “Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf.” She literally wore a wolf head and chased me around the stage!

At one point during the evening, we called all former and current dancers onto the stage for a group photo. It was incredible, truly. Words cannot describe how we all felt that night together in the spirit of love and compassion for one of our own. Jocelyne was one of those people who always saw both sides in any conflict. She had taught me to a better person.

Later that year, Jocelyne passed away in a hospice. I was with a few hours before she died. I told her, through tears, that I was grateful to have had her in my life and that she was the kind of person I wanted to be. Jocelyne couldn’t respond to me but I was sure she heard those things I said to her in her final hours. For her funeral, I printed a letter that she had asked me to help her write before she died and shared it with her loved ones.

After Joce passed away, we decided as a community to continue the Exotic Dancers for Cancer event in her memory. The following year, we reached out to cancer organizations looking for a recipient for our donation. However, we had trouble finding an organization that would accept a donation from strippers. A few said they would accept it but only if they could remain anonymous.

I found it insulting that we were expected not to share with the public who our chosen charity was. For one thing, it would make us look like we’re keeping the money and there is no charity. For another thing, it would show that if there is a real charity, it is too ashamed to be associated with us. We kept searching and finally found an organization who was willing to publicly accept our donation: May’s Place Hospice in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver.

“We are an organization that believes in the dignity of individuals,” said Erin MacNeill, director of development. “We respect the dignity of Jocelyne and the dancers who donated their time.” The “Naked Truth” event raised $3120.59 for the hospice. Tri-City News, Kate Trotter, January 29, 2005

The following year, I still had my heart set on finding a cancer charity. I decided to write a heartfelt letter explaining how the Exotic Dancers for Cancer event had come to be. I shared about Jocelyne and what a beautiful person she was; how she left behind a teenage daughter and countless people whose lives she impacted (including mine). I sent my letter via email to the Breast Cancer Society of Canada (BCSC). To my surprise, they accepted!

Rany Xanthopoulo, executive director of the Society, said the charity was proud to accept the donation. “Our bottom line was that any woman can get breast cancer. It doesn’t matter what they do, what their profession is.” The Province, Elaine O’Connor, February 19, 2006

We were absolutely thrilled that the BCSC was willing to publicly accept our donation. In 2007, we planned to give the proceeds from our event to them again. But when I reached out before the event, they didn’t respond to me. A month before the event, everything was finalized and all we needed was confirmation from the organization that they were to be our recipient. I sent them another email explaining the urgency. They responded:

“We are certainly very appreciative that once again you have chosen our charity to receive some of the proceeds from your annual event. This year, unfortunately we will have to decline your kind offer as we have certain major donors that are not in favor of this connection … This decision came as a result of donor disgruntlement and together with the Board of Directors we have decided not to accept any donations from what donors consider controversial sources. I am hoping that you’ll understand that we are in a position that we cannot ignore the wishes of major donors to our Society.” Rany Xanthopoulo, Executive Director, Breast Cancer Society of Canada, January 30, 2007

Our disappointment was massive. The wind went out of our sails. One month from our event and we had no charity willing to accept our donation. I couldn’t bring myself to write another heartfelt letter. Not when my heart was broken. So, I wrote a press release instead. It said:

Former exotic dancer, Annie Temple, is asking the media for help to find a cancer charity willing to accept donations from an upcoming Fourth Annual Exotic Dancers for Cancer event on March 4, 2007 at the Drake Showlounge.

Last year’s triumph when the Breast Cancer Society of Canada (BCSC) willingly agreed to be the chosen charity turned into this year’s disappointment when Temple received a rejection letter from the national society.

Now, a month before the event, the exotic dance community is anxious to find a new charity willing to publicly accept their donation.

“We realize that our donation is a drop in the bucket for many of these large cancer organizations,” says Temple. “But we feel that our contribution should be valued the same as any other – cancer does not discriminate after all.

“We are confident that there are organizations out there that would value and appreciate our contribution, as well as give us the respect we deserve.”

My local paper picked up the story, and then a Vancouver daily, then The Province featured us and that’s when all hell broke loose. The story went viral. Not only was my face plastered on newspapers across Canada but bloggers were writing about us around the world. Overnight, I went from getting nothing in a Google search for my name to getting hundreds of thousands of hits. I was even interviewed by MTV.

The shocking revelation was that people in society were not outraged by strippers getting naked for charity. They were outraged by a large cancer organization declining our donation. They were on our side and they proved it by inundating newspapers with letters to the editors. Two newspapers dedicated entire pages to letters written in support of the “Exotic Dancers for Cancer.” The outpouring of public support was beyond anything we could have ever imagined.

Cancer organizations that had turned us down in the past, now came out of the woodwork to say they were willing to accept our donation. We had so many options that we didn’t know who to choose. It took a lot of discussion and research among us to decide on Rethink Breast Cancer, which if my memory is correct was an organization dedicated to researching cures for breast cancer in women under 40.

The Breast Cancer Society of Canada did not handle the crisis very well for their organization. They should have apologized, but they defended themselves instead calling us exploited dancers. We weren’t hurt by the behaviour of the BCSC. We were used to being discriminated against. But we were shocked at the support shown to us by so many civilians in our society. That was something we were definitely not used to. Many members of our community were brough to tears by it all.

We never had trouble finding charities to accept our donations again. I like to think that we caused a major shift in public opinion with that one viral event. Not only did we bring together our community of exotic dancers and our coworkers in the industry, but we brought together society as a whole in defense of what is right; that strippers deserve dignity and respect when we contribute to our communities, just like anyone else. We are people too.

We didn’t know that we would have the impact we had when Jocelyne inspired Exotic Dancers for Cancer. We had no idea the momentum that would build, the stereotypes we would smash, or the camaraderie we would inspire from a society that usually abhorred us. We did it because it was the right thing to do for our friend Jocelyne and we kept doing it because it was the right thing to do for humanity. And when the masses showed up to support us, they did it because it was the right thing to do for strippers.

Hallelujah.

Love Annie xoxo

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