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INTERNATIONAL
Escaping
boys' town
Vancouver's male sex workers fig h t
to emerge from the street's shadows
BY STEVE SMYSIMUIK
on the escort.
STREET NEWS SERVICE
“This is something that’s rarely
ddicted and high on drugs, Idris
discussed,” he says. “Ithappens to a lot of
Hudson followed, the man offering to
guys. I would say in the male trade more
pay for sex up to his hotel room.
than the female trade, but it’s not reported.
Hudson depended on the money he earned
No man is ever going to walk into a police
hustling, so he had to take his chances with
station and say, ‘I was raped, I was willingly
customers. Unbeknownst to him, a group of
raped because I was picked up by'a bad
five or six other men were waiting for him in date.’” -
the hotel room. Hudson’s not sure of the
Hudson chalks this up to shame, which he
exact number, but he knows they beat him
feels is near universal in the male sex trade.
up. They raped him. They tortured him and
“To say that they’re overpowered by
kicked him out.
somebody, or raped, is not something that
Hudson didn’t have a home, or any
most males would dare to talk about,” he -
friends, for that matter. He wandered to his
says. “It takes a lot of people down really
temporary shelter—under a tree near the
quickly. You want to die after something like
Burrard Street Bridge — and waited for the
that.”
drugs to wear off. He êried a lot, too,
Because so little is .known about the malec
wondering how he .ever got to that point,
sex trade, people are often unaware of the
A lot has changed since that tragic day in
dangers faced by male sex trade workers.
September 2007. Hudson exited the sex \
McIntyre says that homophobia and
trade, clean and
ignorance are
Idris H udson says his 15 years in the sex trade
sober. When we
inextricably linked to
meet, he’s well
th is — p e o p le are
" I t h ap p en s to a lo t of
dressed and sips a
often stunned to learn
experienced physical violence in the home
guys, I would say in the
fruit smoothie at Big
that men work in the
while growing up. Over half had involvement
News Coffee on
sex trade at all. The
in child welfare services. Forty per cent are
male trade more than the
Granville Street. He
term “male prostitute” of Aboriginal heritage.
female trade, but it's not
speaks candidly
subverts the image of
“Under the Radar” also found that close >
reported. No man Is ever
about his 15 years in
alpha masculinity that
to threerjuarters of those that enter thé sex?
going to w alk into a police
the sex trade, which
society has endorsed
trade are younger than 18 (a much higher
came very closë to
percentagethan women), making Hudson’s ;
for so long and forces
station and say, ' I was
killing him.
people to reassess
case unfortunately typical.
raped, I was w illingly
“My life consisted
their notions of
*
Hudson left his home of Cranbrook at age
raped because 1 was
sexuality and gender
of nothing,” says the
15 because the small B.C. town wasn’t
picked up by a bad d a te /"
32-year-old. “I was | ,
accepting of young gay males. He,flëd with
roles r- something
just wandering
McIntyre says makes
— IDRIS HUDSON
only a backpack and went to Calgary, where
F O R M E R SEX W O R K E R
most people
around, existing ;..
he knew he could explore his sexuality
uncomfortable. Sex
without fear. Unable to get into the gay
barely.”
work already is an
Male sex trade
clubs, he would wait outside with kids in the
workers, face high rates of violence, usually
same situation.
uncomfortable issue for most, but when
Older menwould pay them for sex.
mixed with society’s homophobic
by customers conflicted'with their own
Hudson said it was a logical choice-he was
sexuality. Sue McIntyre’s seminal 2005
tendencies, not many will address it. This
homeless and broke. It seemed romantic
study of the male sex trade, “Under the
displaces the men even further.
Radar: The Sexual Exploitation bf Young *
too—his first trick was also the first guy he
ever kissed.
'
Men,” sheds light on the experiences of 157
Tragically Typical
“And it was easy cash,” he says. “For an
male sex workers across B.C., Alberta,
irresponsible teenager, it was amazing.”
Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Her study
There’s no singular reason why men
His boyish facial features, slim figure and
revealed that more than 80 percent had
enter the sex trade, but there certainly are
‘ olive skin quickly earned Hudson a steady
experienced some form of violence during
constants. According to McIntyre’s British
stream of male customers, who eventually
their time in the trade. Over 90 percent
Columbia findings, 95 per cent of male sex
became his only lasting relationships toward
identified their work as ^dangerous,”
workers in the province have a history of
the end of his 15 years in the trade.
something Hudson’s experience attests to.
running away. Close to 70 per cent had a
Because he hàd little education and
According to Hudson, violence often
history, prior to working the street, of being
“virtually no work ethic,.” the sex trade
occurs when customers are unsure of
sexually violated. ,
became his occupation. He couldn’t fathom
themselves or angry about cheàting on their
Nearly three-quarters have witnessed or
spouses. This aggression is then taken out
a
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very nearly killed him.
selling retail for minimum wage when he
would make $200 to $300 per customer,.and
he’d see maybe three, four or five customers
per night.
“Now that I’ve grown, I’ve realized at
what cost that comes,” he says.
Hustle to Survive
Hudson ended up in the Downtown
Eastside for about six months, addicted to
cocaine, booze and assorted party drugs
before he was assaulted. He says by that
point, he was on the verge of disappearing
into the back alleys when HUSTLE found
him. •
HUSTLE, the first peer support
organization in Canada designed specifically
to assist males in the sex trade, helped
Hudson exit the trade and get off drugs one
year later. He exited on his first try because
he was motivated, but at least half the men
McIntyre interviewed for “Under the Radar”
were in and out of the trade at/least once.
Hudson himself has known a lot of people
who never made it out — they disappear or
they die.
|
Matthew Taylor and Don, Presland, both
former sex workers, saw the need for more
support in the rriale sex trade, and together
See ESCAPING, page 10
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