Toxicity is largely a social phenomenon based on the policing of certain bodies over others via class, race, gender, and sex. The police themselves are toxic, serving the whims of the city and upper-class residents--in this case, the notion of "safety" is toxic, as in order for some groups of people to feel "safe," others end up being put in great danger by the very forces that are allegedly supposed to be protecting everyone. Questions of citizenship arise from this visualization--who is seen as being a citizen worthy of care and protection? Prostitutes are conveyed as being criminals who do not deserve protection or care, are feminized by the pink sign, and are threatened for merely being physically in the presence of a particular space. In the process, toxic heteronormative hegemony is reinforced.
