Last Appeal for Rentboy 7

[Silas X.]

This is your last chance to help support those who have been charged in the aftermath of the Rentboy raid. We will be closing the fundraiser by the end of this Sunday (10/18) at midnight so they all can get the money before the month's end (and make that rent!!).

 

https://life.indiegogo.com/fundraisers/daddysreviews-clients-help-rentboy-staff

 

We have raised close to $10,000 - about $1400 for each of them. This is great, but we can push that. For those of you who have donated - thank you. The ones I have spoken to are extremely grateful.

 

Think about it: A $70 donation will buy each of them a decent New York meal. A $150 donation will buy each of them a fresh new shirt for their next prospective employment interview. A $1000 donation will buy each of them an escort for the night so they can get all this bullshit out of their mind!

 

Again, fundraiser ends by the end of the day on Sunday (10/18)

[seaboy4hire]

$70 for a meal? $150 for a dress shirt? I went out for dinner and spent just under $40 for two. I had a bowl of chicken ramen, the boyfriend had a pork belly with garlic shrimp ramen from Costa Rica and we each had a Mexican Coke. For dessert we went to Stans for gelato stuffed donuts and a few donuts for breakfast, that was about $22. Dinner and dessert was about $50. Nice dress shirts can be had for about $20 from places like Ross.

 

Hugs,

Greg

[seaboy4hire]

But I will post the link on my twitters

 

Hugs,

Greg

[Dave]

just want to be clear - should anyone miss the humor in Silas' post - the Rentboy7 are all really in need of funds right now. I can tell you that virtually none of them will be using any money they have right now, from any source - to buy a meal for $70, or anything else that might be considered a luxury.

 

from my recent emails with them:

"Thank you all, so much! You have no idea."

"This is very kind and timely."

"you guys are amazing for doing this!"

"Finances are incredibly tough. This was a lovely gesture—I'm touched by the love and support."

[mike carey]

A $70 donation will buy each of them a decent New York meal.

$70 for a meal?

Silas said that $70 would buy each of them a decent NY meal, so $10 each.

[Silas X.]

Thanks for clarifying Mike - I definitely didn't mean to suggest they will be using this money for fancy restaurants. Like Dave said this is a real situation, and we don't want what has happened to further damage the lives of those who have brought so much to the community

[Michael Wayne]

This is an interesting thread. A couple friends of mine over the last several years who were loyal advertisers on rentboy were busted in raids. I will not name them as I am sure they don't want that known but we escorts do talk to each other. One in particular was hit with a felony racketerring charge....not your usual prostitution misdemeanor. Turns out he was set up by his own lover!!!! Anyway bail was around 20,000 and this escort asked rentboy.com to help him out with the bail. They said no and were rude as hell. They denied he had even advertised with them. They said he knew the risks of what he did...........what I am saying is that rentboy NEVER had their boys' backs when the boys needed them. Daddy always has though which is why we love him! Daddy of course never had the resources to bail anyone out nor would anyone have asked him to do so but RENTBOY DID!!! That is the purpose of this response which I am sure will not be popular but it is the TRUTH. I will NOT be donating. I think the homeless in DC or NYC are a more worthy and deserving cause. I sent an email to rentboy one year ago this month (and I got a personal response). I voiced my concern that their "hookies" awards show was not discreet and that they were recklessly and needlessly endangering their site and our biz. Their very nice and polite reply was this: "Mikey we appreciate your business with us and we understand your opinion as you have been in the biz 20 years and you were a leading escort before rentboy was born......BUT..... your opinion is old school and outdated. We are a modern site and trust us that we know what we are doing." Well.....we all see how that worked out now don't we. I tried to help. Their multi tiered ad system and auctions for diamond ads was BULLSHIT and they treated their advertisers as peons and irrelevant. They were always nice to me but often my colleages were left in tears from dealing with them.

[BaronArtz]

A $150 donation will buy each of them a fresh new shirt for their next prospective employment interview.

 

Is this an attempt at humor, or are you just being cynical? A top of the line Brooks Brothers shirt costs about $90. There are many fine men's shirts available at Century 21 in a $3o-50 dollar price range.

 

I have said in other posts of this forum what I thought about this poorly designed and horribly executed 'campaign'. No need to repeat it here. I will say though, that your comment about shirt prices made me laugh. Thank you.

 

Other than that, I second with Mikey wrote above. I was generally aware of the disdainful, arrogant and aloof attitude of RB's management. Mikey's comments add a personal touch and perspective to that, which I appreciate.

 

It is probably a good thing for these people to spend some time in an Upstate NY jail. Plenty of fresh air, exercise and time to atone will be beneficial for them. I wish them well.

 

And finally, does Indiegogo know they are supporting prostitution and possibly a criminal enterprise? Somebody ought to alert the company to this and have the 'campaign' scratched before it is too late!

[mike carey]

Is this an attempt at humor, or are you just being cynical? A top of the line Brooks Brothers shirt costs about $90. There are many fine men's shirts available at Century 21 in a $3o-50 dollar price range.

Baron, as I said above, Silas' post said that $150 would buy each of them a shirt so that's a bit over $20 each. I'm sure you misread what he said, but the fact that the 'each of them' part as been repeatedly misrepresented as the whole amount being for each of the seven rather than divided between them implies that the effort to assist the Rentboy 7 is being deliberately denigrated.

[Scorpio]

Baron, as I said above, Silas' post said that $150 would buy each of them a shirt so that's a bit over $20 each. I'm sure you misread what he said, but the fact that the 'each of them' part as been repeatedly misrepresented as the whole amount being for each of the seven rather than divided between them implies that the effort to assist the Rentboy 7 is being deliberately denigrated.

 

Actually, I think you're the one the misinterpreted and Silas agreed with you after his attempt at humor fell flat. Because if you extend your same reasoning to his last example "1000 donation will buy each of them an escort for the night" that would be a $140 hourly or $140 overnight appointment...depending on how you define "night"...that ain't happening.

[BaronArtz]

Here is another sweet thought. In all fairness, I was reminded of this point thanks to a PM this morning from a fellow board member. The question you got to ask yourself, as clients, is this: how courteous and helpful was the RB staff to you after you responded/spent time and money/got ripped off by the various fake ads and scam artists on the RB site? Did they help you? Did you feel treated fairly? Were the profiles of obvious fakes and scam artists removed??? And now, after years of raking in millions of dollars while being disdainful to anybody who complained, after years of pi**ing on their clients and core constituents, they want a donation?

 

This is not only comical, it is absurd.

[LookingAround]

These people did not take a vow of poverty and were not missionaries. How many $million did the head guy make over the years? You'd have thought he would have squirreled away some money for a rainy day such as this. It wasn't that unthinkable that something like this could have happened.

 

As with the $1000 for an overnight, I read the post as $70 for a dinner per person, etc...that's how it read to me. I don't like the whole campaign idea; i have no idea what the money is to be used for.

[+ WhamIAm]

FFS, is it really necessary to piss all over someone else's good deed, even if you disagree with it? It doesn't harm you in any way. If you're not interested, bitter about RB, think they're criminals, whatever, just don't read the damn threads on the fundraising and vote with your wallet.

[+ stevenkesslar]

And finally, does Indiegogo know they are supporting prostitution and possibly a criminal enterprise? Somebody ought to alert the company to this and have the 'campaign' scratched before it is too late!

 

If you follow a mean-spirited but intelligent man along his path, it will lead you to some interesting discoveries, like this:

 

http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2015/08/04/lawmakers-tap-campaign-funds-to-pay-for-criminal-defense/

 

That helps answer your question, Baron. I know you were really trying to think of some new little bit of bile to throw at the Rentboy 7 and anybody who wants to help them. But it is interesting to note that even political campaign funds can legally be used to defend alleged criminals, which in this case happens to be New York lawmakers. Who'd a thunk?

 

Like I said, even the people who write these laws have feet made of clay.

 

Anyhoo, sorry for interrupting the Baron's bile with a bad attempt at humor. And sorry, Baron, I should have guessed your favorite genre was not comedy. Now back to your regularly scheduled program of BaronArtz and his "sweet" way of thinking.....................

 

http://d12vb6dvkz909q.cloudfront.net/uploads/galleries/4465/psycho-anthony-perkins-as-norman-bates.jpg

 

[+ stevenkesslar]

Here is another sweet thought.

 

Actually, before we get back to your genre, Baron, I did want to go somewhere else first, which is actually part sweet, part pornographic. Please allow me to wander around a little bit, and get into some actual sex (but not prostitution), because I promise you this will have a happy ending.

 

This is also going to be embarrassing to several people, especially me.

 

The first embarrassing thing is I'm cheap. I just donated another $70, bringing my total to $270. Presumably somebody with as loud a mouth as me could be donating more. But I'm hoping that the good-hearted clients who use this site who are writing about it and thinking about it will kick off a fresh fundraiser, run by clients, so I'll be giving more as this goes on. And, seriously, the average donation given to this fund is actually about $200, which is very generous for a first time campaign without established donors. Thank you all. We just need more donors.

 

By the way, thanks to BaronArtz and others, I think somewhere between a quarter and a third of that was raised since Dave's post. So thanks to all of you who reminded us what compassion and vision are, either by demonstrating it, like WilliamM or FreshFluff, or by attacking it, like BaronArtz. Either actually work to motivate giving, it turns out. We are a family, granted with a little bit of dysfunction. What family is perfect?

 

If such a client-based fund gets started, and as more shoes drop in this case, let's also remember that there is a pot of gold we should have in mind at the end of the Gay rainbow. We all know there is a Gay Mafia out there that is superrich, and got same sex marriage campaigns organized and funded state by state. Some of us know some of the people involved in the Gay Mafia, some of whom hire escorts. So in the long run the money is not really the issue, I don't think, and $200,000 is chump change. The issue is waiting to see where this goes, legally and politically, and doing what we have to do now to get to the long run. One nice thing about getting 5 plea bargains out of the way, if that happens, is that I suspect that rich Gay men would back up a Gay CEO supporting mature Gay sexual freedoms, if it comes down to whether he has to worry about how long it will take the government to crush his balls, and fuck escorting up for Gays for years to come. We'll see. If this goes to trial, count on the fact that many people in the media will wonder why the Obama Administration is targeting Gays.

 

Now here's the second embarassing admission. I happened to be sitting next to Daddy two nights ago and we were looking for something on his computer when we both first saw this thread.

 

Think about it: A $70 donation will buy each of them a decent New York meal. A $150 donation will buy each of them a fresh new shirt for their next prospective employment interview. A $1000 donation will buy each of them an escort for the night so they can get all this bullshit out of their mind!

 

Daddy looked at Silas's avatar and says something like, "My, is he cute!" Sorry for embarrassing you in public, Daddy, but I totally agree. He's not just cute. He's gorgeous. (Sorry, Silas. but I really am just a whore). And so I'm sitting next to Daddy and reading what Silas wrote and I'm thinking it's funny and clever, and it gets me thinking.

 

So JD and I go back to our hotel, and it's late, and he has to leave for an appointment, and so I get in bed, naked of course, and keep thinking. And I'm thinking about the $70 dinner, and the $1000 escort appointment. As I made clear already, I love the idea several clients have brought up, of "rewarding" big donations to defend Gay freedom with time with escorts. Partly because - duh! - it would work. That's of course why a few people rooting hard for failure and repression are doubling down on attacking it. And partly because it is an act of rebellion, giving money in a mildly subversive way to the cause of Gay freedom to do what we want consensually, including sexually, in private.

 

So I am in bed, thinking about it. And being cheap, I figure I don't really need the $1000 night with the escort, since I'm spending a few days with one of the best and sexiest escorts in the world, JD, for free. So I decide I'll go for the $70 dinner. Except in my sick Gay imagination, I decide that I want to donate $70 for a New York dinner with Silas. And during dinner, I want to talk with Silas about what the world would look like if Gay men didn't have to worry about being arrested or harrassed for their adventures with escorts, and escorts didn't have to worry about being turned into felons. And the one other condition I want is for both me and Silas to be naked during the whole dinner. I know it sounds perverted and all, even though it didn't make DHS's list of Top Gay Sex Crimes. But to me there is nothing sexier than being with a smart man who is beautiful on both the inside and outside, and having a passionate conversation about things you both care about, like freedom and justice. Naked.

 

So I'm laying naked in a bed in Las Vegas stroking myself, thinking about having a nice dinner in New York with Silas, while we are both naked. And I'm thinking about escorting. I'm thinking about a very close escort friend of mine, who I won't name. He was absolutely freaked out because right after the Rentboy bust, he gets a call from a young professional guy who says he is probably Gay and wants to hire my buddy in October during a trip. My escort buddy advertised on Rentboy, and is afraid and wondering: is this a federal agent setting up a bust? Fortunately, the appointment just happened, and it went great. It turns out it actually is a young professional man in his late 20's who actually is Gay, but had never acted on it, because he comes from a conservative family. It's a little surprising to me that in the world of 2015, with privacy in the bedroom and Grindr in public and legal same sex marriage, you'd still need escorts to support attractive, smart Gay men who just want to come out and feel comfortable in their own skin. But you do. (Of course, they didn't have sex. That would make it criminal prostitution).

 

So I'm thinking, all of this really makes sense, and it's kind of a turn on and an honor that I can be friends with good-hearted men who get paid to be sex healers, and I can organize with passionate and sexy guys who will fight for Gay freedom. Oh. And meanwhile I have a raging hard on.

 

Now, sorry guys, I am not going to tell you what Silas and I had for dessert during our imaginary $70 dinner. I may be a whore, but I don't want to sound like a dirty-minded prostitute, engaging in criminal acts. So let's just say this. It was rich and creamy and sweet, and it tasted absolutely delicious.

 

The $70 was well worth it, and I hope more of you consider similar donations for similar causes. We Gays love our happy endings. Well, maybe not BaronArtz so much. Although he did help us raise a few grand, which I'm happy about.

 

And thank you very much, Silas. Ask Daddy, who I just spent some really nice time with. I'm a broken down old prostitute. So it's always nice to run into a handsome young man with a sense of humor and a good heart, who is willing to fight for our community. And I hope you take this the right way, Silas. Dinner in New York can be kind of expensive, way more than $70 for two. So it worked out nicely for me that in addition to being handsome and sweet, you are also kind of a cheap date.

[BaronArtz]

Thank you for spending so much time writing this response. I take it as a compliment. Bottom line: people did indeed vote with their wallets. The campaign was a total FLOP.

[+ deej]

Thank you for spending so much time writing this response. I take it as a compliment. Bottom line: people did indeed vote with their wallets. The campaign was a total FLOP.

 

I'm not sure it was a total flop.

 

For the rest of recorded history (or as long as Daddy can keep this server going) you'll be on record as a grouch and a cheapskate.

 

Granted, the value of that bit of information is in the eyes of the beholder, but it's now on permanent display. Congrats!

[+ WilliamM]

I'm not sure it was a total flop.

 

. Bottom line: people did indeed vote with their wallets. The campaign was a total FLOP.

 

The campaign may not have reached the goal, but I would not call $10,000 plus a flop. I doubt that any of the RB7 will either. I seldom used RB, but have been a strong supporter of raising money from the beginning. But, I have done very little as compared to the people who organized, spoke out and contributed larger amounts than me. Finally, I am not going to attack you because you made a choice. I strongly disagree, but it's your right as a member of this forum.

[+ stevenkesslar]

Thank you for spending so much time writing this response. I take it as a compliment. Bottom line: people did indeed vote with their wallets. The campaign was a total FLOP.

 

I love you, Baron. You are truly the gift that keeps on giving.

 

Let's now step back from rhetoric and do some hard analysis. I've run various Major Donor and fundraising campaigns, using various methods: from direct mail to one on one meetings with targeted donors, etc. One of my best friends ran Senate campaigns that involved really big giving goals, in the millions of dollars, and I've had lots of discussions with him and others about these kinds of things. So let's look objectively at how this one did, so far.

 

Recall that in Dave's post Miami Looker criticized this because we only got 1 % of potential givers to give:

 

Less than 1% of your target market is buying your product. What do you do? Ask the other more than 99% of your target market why they're not buying your product and then adjust your strategy?Hell no! You continually insult them and totally dismiss their concerns.

 

And yet:

 

https://philanthropy.com/article/The-Big-Boom-in-Online-Giving/150689

 

Here's an excerpt about how it worked for one established group, the Environmental Defense Fund:

 

"So far, 1 to 2 percent of the people pinpointed have decided to make a gift, and they donate an average of $50. But Mr. Parry thinks they can be encouraged to give up to $500 a year."

 

So actually, Miami, a campaign from a group that is not established - basically 7 escorts with limited time and limited experience- that got 1 % to give, with an average donation of $200, is pretty good. I'm not sure whether 1 % is even the correct base. (That would be about 5000 potential donors, of which about 50 gave). I think something like 50,000+ unique people look at this website every month, but most of them don't look at the forum, which is where this effort has been focused. I'd be surprised if 5000 people from this site actually read about this effort multiple times - like 7+ times, which is arguably what it takes to get them to give.

 

As far as insults and scare tactics go, I assume you've all gotten letters from the DNC or RNC about Nancy Pelosi or Mitch McConnell and their weird habit of eating innocent children, beheading Christians, castrating poodles, or any other number of horrible sounding scary things that are designed to get people into an emotional state where they want to give? Especially with direct mail and online, scare tactics and insults work. Please, please, please, Baron, would you stick around, and go back to the drawing board and get some friends involved and come up with a whole bunch of really mean things to say, so we can keep this going? You were critical to our success.

 

The two biggest criticisms I have of this effort from Day One are this:

 

1. If the goal is to get clients to give, it should be run by clients. Period.

 

2. The best fundraising is done by targeting individuals and asking them one on one, in person. The best people to ask them are people they know, using targeted and personal approaches. This campaign was done in a scattershot way. I said it before, and I'll say it again. You are a godsend, Dave, for getting this going. If it continues, I hope whoever does so will actually look at this as sort of being like a traditional Major Donor campaign. Some of the asking could be done (I think) in person, or on the phone, or at least through private emails.

 

I have no regrets that we did something that was imperfect and that so far has worked well. I think it is particularly important that we started fundraising and keep fundraising because it's simply too early to know whether this will go to a trial, or end in plea bargains and capitulation. And it is certainly too early to know whether DHS or other law enforcement already is working on the next list of targets. This may be a very long haul. If it goes to a trial, or individual escorts are arrested, or johns like most of you are arrested, or other websites are targeted and attacked, I think this campaign will just keep growing in urgency and intensity. I suspect members of the Gay Mafia already have Rentboy on their radar, for various reasons, one of which is that they may have hired off Rentboy. And at some point they will act, depending on how this goes. Maybe that's all wishful thinking, but it's completely consistent with how lots of things in the LGBTQ community have worked in the past. It's always hardest to get the ball rolling. Thank you, Dave, Silas, Danny, Adam, and Master Avery, for getting the hardest part done.

 

I have to say one other thing, that is repetitive. FreshFluff, I think you are brilliant. Miami Looker is 1000 % right, that successful fundraising should listen to the target market and adjust strategy. A number of fresh and good ideas have already emerged, and I personally think yours is the best. At the core of this whole conflict are three things: prostitutes, johns, and money used to buy sex. That's looking at it from the perspective of the law and law enforcement, since it is the "prostitute" and "money for sex" part that makes it illegal and criminal. I think your idea turns our biggest weakness into our biggest strength. What "john" won't pay money to get together with an escort? What escort doesn't want to see sites like RentMen and Men4RentNow continue and operate free of the threat that it will be targeted and shut down tomorrow, and their credit card information will be seized by Big Brother? And if a "john" or "escort" or both get together and decide to make a donation to a fund to defend our freedoms, is that "prostitution," or democracy in action? I'm not a lawyer, but my guess is the latter. I for one will gladly "buy" a naked dinner with Silas, or "donate" a naked dinner with any donor out there, if it helps win this fight for what I view as completely legitimate and legal Gay freedoms.

 

I hope this is the beginning. I spent about 4 years as a volunteer going door to door or on phone banks or other things, wearing clothes, organizing or fundraising for same sex marriage. I have no problem spending the next 4 years working as a volunteer on this. Sometimes I felt like I was banging my head against the wall. If I got to do this naked, and use other parts of my body banging against other things, I think it would actually be a hell of a lot more fun.

 

As long as it's not prostitution, of course. That is criminal, and not something I would ever support.

 

 

 

 

[BaronArtz]

I'm not sure it was a total flop.

 

For the rest of recorded history (or as long as Daddy can keep this server going) you'll be on record as a grouch and a cheapskate.

 

Granted, the value of that bit of information is in the eyes of the beholder, but it's now on permanent display. Congrats!

 

You are very welcome. Thanks! I take it as a compliment.

[BaronArtz]

The campaign may not have reached the goal, but I would not call $10,000 plus a flop. I doubt that any of the RB7 will either. I seldom used RB, but have been a strong supporter of raising money from the beginning. But, I have done very little as compared to the people who organized, spoke out and contributed larger amounts than me. Finally, I am not going to attack you because you made a choice. I strongly disagree, but it's your right as a member of this forum.

 

10K out of a 200K goal is 5% of the goal. Sorry, that IS a flop. In the end, wallets do speak louder than words. Learn to live with it.

[MiamiLooker]

I seldom used RB, but have been a strong supporter of raising money from the beginning. But, I have done very little as compared to the people who organized, spoke out and contributed larger amounts than me.

This is obviously a cause you’ve taken to heart. Have you asked your family, friends and neighbors to contribute? If so, what has been their response? If you haven’t asked them, why not (there’s still time to do so)? Or is the fund restricted to accept only client contributions?

[+ WilliamM]

This is obviously a cause you’ve taken to heart. Have you asked your family, friends and neighbors to contribute? If so, what has been their response? If you haven’t asked them, why not (there’s still time to do so)? Or is the fund restricted to accept only client contributions?

 

I have never asked family, friends and neighbors to contribute to anything unless I could match their contributions.

 

I suspect that you do not have much fundraising experience because getting family, friends and neighbors involved is more complicated than you seem to think.

 

Yes, everyone in my life knows that I hire escort. My goal is always to be as honest as possible in the forum: not everyone agreed with my decision.

[mike carey]

I would not ask friends or colleagues to contribute unless I had had a discussion with them about attitudes to escorting, and that is not something that is likely to happen! That said, by no means is the cause restricted to escort clients.

[Silas X.]

In regards to the fundraiser, I really do want to thank everyone who has donated. I've been working with those charged to finalize ways to distribute the money and they are incredibly grateful for what has been raised. When you're blacklisted in the labor market, anything helps

 

there is nothing sexier than being with a smart man who is beautiful on both the inside and outside, and having a passionate conversation about things you both care about, like freedom and justice. Naked.

 

Hahaha Steve you had me cracking up reading that. Name a time and place!