Interesting article about Rentboy

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http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2015/09/six-rentboys-on-hustling-after-rentboycom.html

[Diverdan]

Interesting article... thanks for posting.

[down_to_business]

I originally speculated that the effect on the industry would be huge and was even ridiculed by others here for it. After reading the article, I think I understated it, its more than likely monumental. I truly feel bad for all the working guys who are having a sudden and drastic change in their lifestyles because they have no good ways to attract new clients any more. It looks to be a very slow rebuilding process.

[BaronArtz]

Interesting article indeed - well written and presented. It really puts a human face on what happened. My conclusion: you got to have the flexibility to move on.

[RussJohnson]

That was really cool. It seems like in NYC the raid had a much bigger effect on business, since like Rusty I'm in Vegas and I haven't really noticed any change. It's sad that so many are losing their livelihood over this but it will bounce back one way or another.

[Irtwo]

Thanks for article link. Did anyone catch the quote from "Knight" in NYC?

 

"Once I was with a DA with a big wrestling fantasy."

 

"Knight" may be a poster on this board; I hope he comments on this. If one of his clients is a DA in NYC, that's says a lot!

[+ stevenkesslar]

"Knight" may be a poster on this board; I hope he comments on this. If one of his clients is a DA in NYC, that's says a lot!

 

Enough has already happened to convince me that the Rentboy bust, in a very small way, will lead to the further normalization of escorting in America, if not the decriminalization of it. If DHS really wants to expedite the process, they will start going after clients whose names they may discover, or could discover, in what they carried out of the Rentboy office. It's one thing to go after someone like Eliot Spitzer, who is a politician that can be labelled a hypocrite. It's quite another to go after a Who's Who of mainstream and respectable America. It will be the quickest way I could imagine to break down the prohibitionists' myths: that all escorts are victims, and all johns are predators.

[+ stevenkesslar]

Three other takeaways from the article:

 

1. For most escorts, it's not the end of the world. If I had to judge based on the escorts I know, it's not even a distraction. The escorts that are best known may actually be getting more clients, since right now the priority is on safe, known commodities. If the goal is prohibition, it won't work.

 

2. This is going to be a festering wound for a long time. To the degree that the outcome of this is that marginal escorts, meaning young men (or women) who made ends meet by escorting, are forced to live in cars, drop out of school, or go home to live with Mommy and Daddy, it's important that it be documented in magazines like this one, that are read by politicians, and that can be handed to politicians by groups like Amnesty International or the ACLU or Lambda Legal and will be taken as credible information about the impact of this policy.

 

3. If #1 and #2 are right, DHS did a real favor to Amnesty International and the groups planning to promote decriminalization. And the longer this plays out, and the more aggressive DHS gets, the clearer that will likely become, I suspect, assuming that DHS does not really have some huge surprise in store for us, like proving that Gay activists like Hawk were actually engineering a massive boy child trafficking ring. It makes perfect sense to me that a liberal paper like The Washington Post would have an immediate knee jerk reaction against "wholesale" decriminalization when a coalition came out for it. Then, to really mix metaphors, a few weeks later the Rentboy bust put the shoe on the other foot, and the New York Times' knee jerked the opposite way. The whole thing that makes decriminalization of prostitution so complex and controversial can be oversimplified in one phrase - protecting innocent women and children from becoming victims. By choosing to go after adult Gay men, many of whom have or are getting college educations, DHS managed to take the best argument the prohibitionists have off the plate, and pissed off a huge constituency of people.

 

Two videos to share, that you may not appreciate if you don't care for South Park, or Charlie Chaplin.

 

This video is in honor of our friends and protectors at the Department of Homeland Security:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1vKDM7wfiA

 

And this video is in honor of the rentboys who are in fact being hurt by this bust, and are finding it harder to pay the rent, or tuition, or whatever:

 

 

I'll go with Charlie, all humor aside: "You are men. You have the love of humanity in your hearts. You don't hate. Only the unloved hate. You....have the power to make this life free and beautiful. To make this life a wonderful adventure."

 

Let's not forget that Chaplin paid a price for his views. He was attacked as a Communist, and denied re-entry to the US in the 1950's. Ultimately, he was vindicated, and we now love and revere him as a genius.

 

Here's hoping Hillary wins. I just have a hard time believing that Bill Clinton's priority as First Lady is going to be going after male or female escorts for wanton sex. The longer this plays out, my guess is that the people with real "authoritah" are going to end up sympathizing with us.

 

.

[+ stevenkesslar]

Can't resist posting this as well.

 

 

A moving and well deserved tribute to a wonderful man.

 

And at the risk of sounding self-serving, every good rentboy I know has a little tramp inside him.

[RockyHardon]

wow...really good article.

[cany10011]

It was a nice series of interviews providing a glimpse of different reasons guys go into the world's oldest profession... interesting read. I've found my own hiring practices slimmed down to the few regular guys i see. I'm a little more hesitant in hiring new faces.

[+ Lance_Navarro]

As someone who has worked from the bottom up (literally and figuratively) I can say that the guys who have built a good name and a good reliable brand are still doing their thing, some even better than two months ago. Reviews, relationships, making good porn all can factor into someone's success with what we do. I can't tell you how much my phone was ringing off the hook the first week this all went down, "Killian what do I do?" was a repeating theme. Many people don't know this but I was hooked up to mentor a few young escorts here in NYC. Some are amazing now. They have their own places and support themselves it's really a beautiful thing. some of them not so much. You can lead a horse to water but if he isn't thirsty he won't drink. A lot of guys didn't take this seriously and relied on all the traffic Rentboy got as it dominated the market. I will agree that it's obviously a horrible thing guys are hurting a bit right now but this is the time to work on things while it's slower. Hit the gym harder, make a website , get in touch with past clients and ask for reviews. Don't sit home and wait for the phone to ring. Grab it by the balls and squeeze (hard if you're into that, cause I sure as hell am ::squirt:

Well said! I gotta say, my business has actually been really good for the last 6 weeks. I moved my advertising dollars to a couple other sites, revamped my websites and just continue staying in touch with my regulars, whom Im very blessed to have in my life. I do feel bad for the guys that are suffering, but you must be like water, flowing around the obstacles rather than letting them stop you. That's also great that you have mentored others and you're right, no matter how hot they are, if they can't run it like a business, and keep a good balance in their life, they will never be really successful. Love and light to all that are going through tough times, but keep following your heart and your passion and you will succeed.

[Rudynate]

Well said! I gotta say, my business has actually been really good for the last 6 weeks. I moved my advertising dollars to a couple other sites, revamped my websites and just continue staying in touch with my regulars, whom Im very blessed to have in my life. I do feel bad for the guys that are suffering, but you must be like water, flowing around the obstacles rather than letting them stop you. That's also great that you have mentored others and you're right, no matter how hot they are, if they can't run it like a business, and keep a good balance in their life, they will never be really successful. Love and light to all that are going through tough times, but keep following your heart and your passion and you will succeed.

 

 

This is exactly what I expected to happen. The market is re-configuring itself, at just about the pace I expected.