The most surprising thing I learned when I started telling people I work at a legal brothel? Not a single one has been remotely phased. Only a handful knew brothels were illegal outside Nevada. Many people don’t know exactly what a brothel is or what it means, much less why it’s important or why I delivered the information as if letting them in on a personal secret.
This is a starter guide to understanding legal brothels in the United States—specifically the state of Nevada, which is the only place brothels are currently legal.
1.
What is a “brothel”? Definitions.
brothel | ˈbrôTH(ə)l, ˈbräTH(ə)l |
noun
a house or other premises where people pay to have sex with sex workers (prostitutes).
ORIGIN
mid 16th century (originally brothel-house): from late Middle English brothel ‘worthless man, prostitute’, related to Old English abrēothan ‘decay, deteriorate’.
AKA:
bordello, ranch, house of ill repute, house of prostitution; disorderly house; maison close; whorehouse, cathouse, drum; knocking shop; creep joint; crib; euphemistic massage parlor; archaic bawdy house, house of ill fame, bagnio, stew.
I also have been known to call it any of the following things:
hot girl summer camp (all year long), full service creative retreat, center for creative exploration, modern or reverse convent, healing station, pleasure oasis
And at the Resort at Sheri’s Ranch in Pahrump, Nevada, it is brothel that consists of twenty-four rooms of ladies (I call mine the Lunar Temple because it is a space or worship) three specialty rooms, five VIP Bungalows and one Giant Playland which is a 5,000 square foot adult Disneyland—on a property where anyone 21 and over (bring your ID, bring a passport if you’re from another country) can visit a courtesan’s room and have a business meeting to legally discuss the exchange of professional, risk-aware sex for money.
In case you didn’t know, it is against the law in all other places in the United States to offer or ask for sex for money, aside from a few loopholes related to surrogacy work that is typically overseen by a licensed therapist. And from the sex surrogates I’ve spoken with, those sessions are a very different vibe, though I would posit that the potential for healing if needed is available both places. Legal Brothels offer more freedom and flexibility for a guest to choose the experience they desire.
The property at Sheri’s Ranch also includes a bar and a hotel, though those hold separate licenses from the actual brothel itself. This is why Sheri’s hotel guests can visit ladies in the legal, licensed brothel areas to partake in services—which we call “partying”—but not the other way around.
A legal brothel is so much more than a rent-a-lady.
Sheri’s is a safe, open-minded place for visitors to have the luxury experience of hiring a caring love goddess—i.e. hands-on, interactive professional sex worker—to play with.
A legal brothel is a place where you may simply let a lady (or few!) of your choice know what you want and get straight to the fun. You can skip the initial investment of first, second, third, fourth, fifth or however many dates might be required to get to intimate bits with someone you are potentially attracted to. At the oasis that is Sheri’s Ranch, you can bare yourself almost right away, after a perfunctory discussion where you come to an agreement of mutual overlap, and before you know it, you’re enjoying playtime with other people on this planet who love and are experienced when it comes to the naked joys of life.
You can prioritize pleasure. You can let go of worrying where the relationship will go. You don’t need to think about changing or restructuring your life to accommodate a new person. Even the most luxurious sessions are a bargain compared to what one might spend in the course of courting or marriage, and you get to pick the type of experience you desire. Whether you see a lady once and treasure a fleeting connection or return to nurture and be nurtured again and again, it is an exchange of energy and investment in another person—and permission for you to receive, deeply.
Whether you’re looking to try something new, revisit something you love, make a fantasy come true, regain your balance in a transition moment, a pleasure tutorial, or simply treat yourself in the most delicious way, a legal brothel is a place where you can get specific about how you’d like hands, mouths and intimate parts to create an experience pleasure and joy in safe, legal, adult ways.
2.
What makes a brothel “legal”? What are the laws?
The laws of the country, state and county where the brothel exists will govern specifics.
Via Wikipedia: In the United States:
brothels are currently illegal throughout the United States, except in 10 rural counties in Nevada. Prostitution outside of the 19 licensed brothels operating in 6 of those 10 counties is illegal throughout the state.[18]
All forms of prostitution are illegal in Clark County, which contains the Las Vegas–Paradise metropolitan area.[19]
In coming months, I’ll be contacting each ranch directly to get better info directly from them—if you want to fund or add to research for this mission, send me a message.
Again, requirements and fees vary county to county per local ordinance.
In Nye County, a sex worker must have a green light on these tests before they are legally permitted to get their sheriff’s card and be eligible for work:
Once a month for blood (HIV, syphilis)
Once a month for swabs (gonorrhea and Chlamydia trachomatis)
Coming into a new tour, we pay $150 each out of pocket for testing with blood work and swabs. If we do a second week of swabs only, we $120 and the testing fee is deducted from our next paycheck.
There is no testing requirement for visitors of legal brothels, though it is very nice when clients report a regular testing practice with clear results. A genital inspection where we look for bumps, cuts, sores or…plug your ears for a second if you’re squeamish…gunk…is part of the process before finalizing a booking.
Work Cards:
Once a legal brothel worker’s testing is cleared, we are fingerprinted and background checked at the Sheriff’s Office every quarter for $150 + fees.
They are very particular about how we fill out their forms even though said forms are unclear—last time I was reprimanded because I didn’t list “Sheri’s Ranch” as an “Employer”
…because I am an, in fact, an independent contractor. But the Nye County Sheriff’s Office was nonplussed with my earnest, confused attempt to clarify. They did not care about w-2’s and 4’s vs. 1099’s, and I was bad-girl’d again for not writing the city and state of my birth, as well as the country, even though the “place of birth” spot on the form was tiny and nonspecific.
They both looked at me icily when I requested the email of the person who creates the form so I could offer helpful clarifications to the instructions in both places—I am on the autism spectrum and follow directions pretty literal-mindedly by default, and imagine I am not the only one who might not read their minds about these details.
I was informed that the ranch has their contact info and could request changes on my behalf if they felt it necessary.
Since my background is as a professional creator, I totally forget that whorphobia is real until I stumble into it when I act like a normal person in a sex work space and get treated completely differently than when I’m operating with my artist or photographer or podcaster sides first.
I can’t fix the world—but I can be the change I want to see, which in this case includes telling you why I love legal brothels so much!
3.
How do Legal Brothels Work? An overview of what you need to know.
To recap:
A legal brothel in Nevada is the only place a person can lawfully negotiate the exchange of intimate sexual services for money in the United States.
At the brothel, you and a lady of your choice can only talk specifics of activity and price in the room of that lady, at the ranch, on the day of your party together.
Pricing and Payment
All of our services—which take place in “parties” (play sessions)—are negotiated, and then split in half with the “house” (brothel), or significantly more if you use the “free” car service.
Pricing is not allowed to be published or discussed ahead of time; all budgets are welcome and different budgets will yield different parties. In general, basic experiences have basic price tags, and more luxurious ones have more luxurious ones. Planning ahead and saving up are encouraged; guests who budget and save up tend to value the experience the most. Guests who feel entitled and are looking for a bargain are…the worst.
Cash and credit card work; the billing shows up discreetly.
No Apple Pay, Venmo, Cashapp Square, Stripe (which canceled me from their system for having a podcast that was too sexy) etc—even though this business is legal in Nevada, standard payment processors have whorephobia built in, in part due to federal financial regulations, and the ones that will work in adult industries consider it “high risk” and charge higher processing fees (20% instead of the standard 3%).
Selecting Your Courtesan
There are different ways to meet ladies: appointments, lineups, requests, or let us approach you at the bar like speed dating (for details, see Legal Brothel Preparation: How to Have the Best Trip Ever).
Safer Sex Practices
We are tested weekly and are required by law to use barriers for safer-sex practices:
Condoms and barriers are required for safer sex—it’s the law.
Fluid exchange and anal are technically not permitted.
I have heard of exceptions being made for luxury parties to account for risk—but money can’t buy everything. Dental hygiene and anal expertise matter here.
Locations to Play
We are allowed to leave the premises (the lockdown rule that used to keep courtesans in Nye County in-house after testing was removed in 2020) — but we are not allowed to leave the premises with you.
Nor can we meet you anywhere outside Sheri’s.
Nor are we allowed to accept an invitation to a cool trip, event etc.
Gray area: Ladies who go to expo events like Xbiz, AVN or Exxxotica, or who have performances and shows. You are of course allowed to attend public events—as long as you behave like a normal person and audience member, which means respectful appreciation, tipping when appropriate, and keeping private details and relationships…private.
The whole point is: people work and visit Sheri’s because it’s a safe place to come together and…come together. So just be cool, and if you’re uncertain about a social boundary, ask the lady of your choice. In general, anything that resembles stalking or telling people we have a personal relationship or are getting married is in the avoid zone.
I always tell people that it’s just like meeting me as a photographer or writing consultant—the creative work can get personal, and the connection we create is real, I LOVE when creative clients recommend me to their friends, but none of my photography clients have ever assumed they’re going to be invited to holiday dinners at my family’s house just because we had an incredible shoot.
We pay room and board and move into and out of our rooms every week (for details, see A Week in My Life at Sheri’s Ranch)
4.
What Are You Allowed to Do at a Legal Brothel?
There will be a whole section with details of different parties available, so if you have a specific question let me know.
I like to offer and overview of my menu—which you can also find on my blog: https://www.lunarobbie.com/post/sample-menu
5.
Are Legal Brothels in Nevada Safe?
Are legal brothels safe to work at?
Yep—way safer and, for me, much more gratifying than my experiences “normal” dating. Why I feel safe:
Clarity. As Brené Brown says: clear is kind. We get clear on what we want to do together, and then we kindly co-create mutual pleasure. We agree on activities, I don’t have to wonder if you’re suddenly going to put a mouth or finger somewhere we didn’t discuss.
Safer sex practices are a given. I got tired of having my boundaries pushed on dates; after I had a “friend” secretly take off his condom (a practice known as stealthing) while he was behind me, even though we’d had a safer sex talk and had agreed on condom use.
Knowing I have a panic button and that everyone here is looking and listening to keep us safe. I’ve never had to use it, but I have had to yell at someone in a negotiation who was being rude on the extreme end, and by the time I was exiting that non-gentleman from my room, security was already coming down the hall.
Are legal brothels safe to visit?
Yes. The ranch takes security and privacy seriously.
The whole point is to offer guests a safe, comfortable, discreet place where they can have a blast connecting in a way where they are free to be their whole selves in a judgement-free zone.
Phones are not allowed in the bar and need to stay put away during parties unless filming or photographing a scene has been explicitly negotiated.
There is security on site, 24/7.
There is secure payment processing and discreet billing.
This is a legal place for you to get your needs met in the exact way you need them met.
The building is in the middle of nowhere, so you are highly, highly unlikely to run into anyone you would know here—I have literally never seen it happen. And I imagine if you did, like at a good sex party, you are bound to secrecy by the code of discreet conduct and respect of privacy that is build into these spaces.
Guests get the safety of professional expertise—barriers, toys, lube and soap will be used safely and effectively, so our personal hygiene is never at risk. We avoid fluid exchange, and courtesans are tested weekly to make sure we are all clear when it comes to STI’s.
It’s a safe emotional container. You understand that you don’t have to take care of us beyond the length of our agreement, and we leave each other better than we found each other. If you’re a couple, it’s a safe container to first explore adding a third who can hold space for you and facilitate—this is especially helpful if you’re figuring out if you even like the concept. If you have a partner and are in any kind of a Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, this is the place for you, and if you have a partner who is into knowing details about things they wouldn’t necessarily want to try with you, I’ve had friends hop on face times with spouses, and another friend met a bi guy couple where one was treating the other to his lady for his birthday. We are not official therapists, but like bartenders, hairdressers and cab drivers, we often find ourselves emotional alchemists that offer space for you to explore yourself with a friend and in deeper intimacy than an analyst’s couch or a virtual EMDR session offers.
Guests receive the experience you negotiated—as long as you do your part in fulfilling that bargain. I can heavily influence but cannot fully control all ejaculations. I can only trust that you will stick to your side of the agreement and respect my physical boundaries. But as long as we are all acting in good faith and bringing our spirit of play, you will receive what we agreed on—which is my favorite part of getting intimate in kinky ways.
Negotiation is the first step to building trust in any kind of intimate partnership. And trust creates the space for real, vulnerable, hot connection.
6.
Worst Parts:
Whorephobic culture and stigma.
Entitlement of some prospective clients.
Not having access to my own bath tub, kitchen or stovetop espresso maker.
The ins and outs of group living, and the unique situation of living where you work.
Missing my cat.
7.
Best Parts:
Clarity that helps me connect and collaborate with clients!
A safe environment conducive to maximum pleasure.
Interesting people and mutual curiosity.
I attract the BEST clients! They are like finding play friends I haven’t met yet.
I get to see the real parts of people because they feel permission to be vulnerable and real with me.
A gorgeous location with breathtaking desert and mountain views, wildlife, and so many excellent moonrises.
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