| URL | http://www.rentboy.com |
|---|---|
| Slogan | the World's Largest Gay Escort and Massage Site |
| Launched | January 18, 1996[1] |
Rentboy.com is a commercial social networking site which connects male sex workers and masseurs with potential clients. Its offices are based in Manhattan and CEO Jeff Davids and company director Sean Van Sant act as a public face for the company.
Rentboy.com also is the major organizing entity behind the International Escort Awards and a traveling cabaret called "Hustlaball."
Formerly, Rentboy.com published a manifesto on their website intended for sex workers and clients. This statement promoted a philosophy of "safer sex because the vast majority of sex-workers will not engage in unsafe sex", and says, "While this job may not be for everyone, it has its rightful place among honorable careers."[2]
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Jeff Davids founded Rentboy.com in 1997 making it the first male escorting website, and today it still is the largest website with this focus.[3] Since then Davids has acted as CEO with Sean Van Sant as company director. The company is based in Manhattan.[4] Van Sant describes Rentboy.com as follows:
Rentboy.com is not an escort agency. We are an ad listing service for male escorts, where men place their own ads and work for themselves, so that clients can contact them directly. Our mission is to create a non-judgmental space where anyone curious about exploring male-male companionship can hire a man by the hour.[5]
As of June 2009[update], rentboy.com employed 10 people in three offices and hosted 40,000 escort profiles.[6] In 2009, 1.4 million unique clients visited the website.[7]
The International Escort Awards, also known as the Hookies, were founded by rentboy.com's Jeff Davids and Sean Van Sant.[8] The first ceremony was held at the Roxy in New York City in October 2006.[9] Along with others, rentboy.com is still a major sponsor of this award.[10]
Hustlaball is a sex cabaret and dance party organized in part by rentboy.com[11] as a party to destigmatize and honor sex workers.[7] Since 2007, Rentboy.com has hosted Hustlaball three times yearly with a Las Vegas show in January, a London show in May, and a Berlin show in October.[12] Part of the proceeds from this event go to charities such as the Lambeth Hate Crime Initiative, the Terrence Higgins Trust, and the Gay Men's Health Crisis.[13][14]
The majority of the most popular or famous gay male pornographic actors have performed at a Hustlaball event.[15]
Founder Davids said of Hustlaball, "This is a chance for sex workers to be open and proud of what they do."[16]
Rentboy.com has sponsored its own float every year since 1998 in the New York City Gay Pride March.[12]
In 2005 Rentboy.com was a sponsor of a NYC-based non-profit organization called HOOK which developed a harm reduction program called "Rent U" for men in the sex industry.[18] The program has since been dissolved and integrated into other similar non-profit groups.[19]
In May 2010, various media sources reported that George Rekers, a self-described anti-gay activist, recently hired a male escort through rentboy.com. In response, rentboy.com issued a press release saying "We remain open-minded and devoted to privacy for the people who use our site, but... If you're a famous heterosexual homophobe and you appear in public with a rentboy with your pants down, you're just asking for trouble."[5]
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