District council members are refusing to go on the record about a city pressure group's proposal to legalize prostitution.

The Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance is launching an effort to legalize, regulate and tax prostitution in the District.

GLAA has been credited in the past with pushing city leaders to the vanguard on issues, including gay rights.

The group hopes legalizing prostitution would bring sex workers out of the shadows, making them, it argues, less susceptible to violent crime, disease and exploitation.

District residents appear split on the issue. While all acknowledged that efforts to eradicate prostitution haven't worked, not everyone thinks regulating and taxing it is the answer.

"I understand why people would think it would be easier to regulate ,but I just don't think legalizing prostitution is a good idea," said District resident Courtney Allen.

"It's very obvious, so I try to ignore it, but sometimes it's hard, especially when you see so many," said District resident Brieanna Jordan. "If it gets them off the streets then I think that is the best thing to do."

"I think it is just a very strange thing to legalize," added District resident Ava Goldson. "I don't think it is a good idea. I can't see a positive outcome in doing so."

"A lot of people would stop getting sick from going out on a fling, hiring a prostitute and getting God knows what STD from it," offered District resident Ronnie Millard.

GLAA is calling on D.C. council members to fill out a questionnaire on an array of issues, including the legalization of prostitution, before the fall election.  The group uses it to score politicians on issues it finds important.

ABC 7 News reporter Stephen Tschida couldn't get any council members to say one way or the other whether they would support legalizing prostitution, or prefer to keep the status quo.

On the Web:

GLAA's 2008 Agenda