The gay community, especially the sex-worker community, remains flabbergasted about yesterday’s federal raid of Rentboy.com.
We know that CEO Jeffrey Hurant and his employees are all out on bond today, and while trashy publications like the NY Daily News are dancing on the grave of the website, tons of people have come out in defense of sex work, railing against the ridiculous waste of time and government resources that this raid represented, and even The New York Times has taken up the debate.
Hurant was pressed by reporters coming out of court in Brooklyn on Tuesday, and he had this to say: “Twenty years we’ve been doing it [running Rentboy.com]. And I don’t think we do anything to promote prostitution. I think we do good things for good people and we bring good people together. And I hope that justice will be done in the end.”
Meanwhile, onetime escort turned porn star and porntrepreneur Michael Lucas had this to say on Facebook:
“Nobody is understanding the real story behind the downfall of RentBoy. Authorities have just unemployed thousands of young young men and screwed landlords on getting paid their rent. Families are ruined by all the escorts going back to their mothers’ basements because the party is over. That’s a walk of shame nobody wants to do… I think what is most sad is they robbed aging homosexuals from romantic love making that they were able to find on this social media platform. But let’s be realistic, darlings, the website may be over but the world’s oldest profession can never die. It will only come back stronger, more profitable and younger looking with the help of the worlds best plastic surgeons.”
Previously: [UPDATED] RENTBOY.COM RAIDED BY FEDS IN NEW YORK, WEBSITE SHUT DOWN
They should also raid those doing live sex shows.. right?
I don’t think Lucas was being serious…it seems to me like’s it more of a sarcastic response.
However, the “Mother’s basement…” like is priceless.
My comment probably won’t be approved and I accept that. But I have to say, Michael Lucas is a tad over the top here since thousands of escorts aren’t really being put out of work. They still have the option of advertising their services on Rentmen and Men4RentNow. Some of them already have profiles there. I get the severity of the problem and I’m not particularly happy about what happened to Rentboy either. But at the same time, I’m bothered by how they heavily promoted trash like Austin Wolf and continued allowing him to operate on their site despite the many times he violated the ToS and privacy of his clients by posting their personal information (and even their photos) on Twitter. That type of behavior could lead to a devastating outcome and they enabled it. While this may not be relevant to the raid, I hope it’s a wake up call for Rentboy to get their shit together and keep their men in check (assuming they come back one day).
Michael Lucas’ quote is bonkers, contradicts itself and just basically makes no sense. I agree that this bust is homophobic, unjust and foolish, and that prostitution needs to be decriminalized. But you can say this is “unemploying” people and say that it will go one regardless if the site is gone or not in the same breath. And how are the sex workers getting plastic surgery if their so broke they have to live with their parents? Wha?
It’s not fucking homophobic, red book was shut down a few months ago. It was shut down because this is illegal in the USA, not because some homophobic conspiracy theory. I honestly don’t care if someones a prostitute or pays for one, I don’t care or give a rats ass. But if you’re doing something that is illegal int his country you better believe sooner or later you’ll get caught.
The raid on Rentboy was not homophobic. Straight escort websites (MyRedBook and Escorts.com among others) have also been under attack in the past year. Many things in life are about money and this one probably also.
Mr. Lucas doesn’t do drama queen drama very well, even with a script, I guess. Or maybe it’s the same kind of catastrophizing that the hard Right are doing with gay marriage. We don’t do middle ground in America; everything’s got to be catastrophic outrage or it just doesn’t exist.
I definitely go with the homophobic argument, though. Has anybody in New York really gone after straight online escorting since Spitzer got busted?
He is 100% correct.