![]() Take, for instance, one escort advertisement, as explained by Homeland Security Special Agent Susan Ruiz, who filed the federal complaint against Rentboy:Ī profile for "Brandon," advertising services in Brooklyn, New York stated that he is "hairy handsome versatile & uninhibited." The profile noted that he was willing to have Brooklyn incalls and had a "sling and rimchair." Based on my investigation, I have learned that a sling, also known as a "sex sling," is a device that allows two people to have sex while one is suspended and a rimchair is a seat resembling a raised toilet seat designed so that the anus is accessible while someone is sitting on the seat. An escort who worked for the site wrote in Gawker, "Of course, they were facilitating prostitution, which in the United States is illegal." The site says it's not supposed to be used for sexual services, with a disclaimer: "This site may not be used for the advertising of sexual services or to engage in activities requiring the payment of money for sex or other illegal activities." And it says escort advertisements can't contain explicit offers for sexual conduct in exchange for money.īut that's kind of bullshit. It has operated since 1997, hosting thousands of paid advertisements from male escorts around the world - including the US - and attracts about 500,000 unique visitors each day, BuzzFeed's David Mack reported. Rentboy purports to be the largest gay male escort website. That's incensed advocates and sex workers, who argue that escorting shouldn't be illegal, and perhaps prostitution shouldn't be criminalized at all. But the hit on Rentboy reflects what many decriminalization advocates characterize as the worst example of criminalization: going after a relatively safe space - where there were no signs of trafficking or coerced prostitution - and risking pushing sex work out to the more dangerous streets. The raid has also raised broader questions about the criminalization of prostitution, which is illegal in most of the US - except in parts of Nevada. The Transgender Law Center, for instance, released a statement that claimed, "With this raid, the US federal government is not only jeopardizing countless people’s lives and only source of livelihood, but sending a clear and troubling message that the country is less invested in addressing systemic issues of racial, economic, and anti-LGBT injustice than in further criminalizing the individuals most marginalized by those systems." It's absolutely terrible.īut the federal government's decision has triggered some backlash in the LGBTQ community. Related I looked at the best evidence for banning prostitution.
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