Rentboy.com

By Tom Weise

When Tom Weise and Jeffrey Davids started Rentboy.com, in June, 1997 they had no idea it would become a household name and achieve the success it has realized over the past decade. Weise had his own own experiences with escorting and stripping at the Eros Theater in New York City when he and Davids brought together a dozen or so guys they knew from the streets and clubs.

With now more than 20 million satisfied clients and thousands of escorts worldwide, Rentboy.com is the largest male escort site on the Internet.

Regarding Rentboy's accomplishments, Weise says, "I am proud to say that as a political activist I was able to continue my work with all my heart in a country that is deeply rooted in prudery and has never legalized prostitution, unlike more liberal nations like Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands. With Rentboy.com I was also giving male prostitutes a safer life and lobby to work."

The popular conception of rentboys, sometimes more derogatorily called hookers or hustlers, is of a grubby youth in a shabby bar, club or on the street. Many "worked" out of sex clubs or places like New York's Gaiety and the Eros Theater, some of which are long gone due to harsh city administrations.

Rentboy.com assisted hundreds of escorts from around the United States to realize their potential and they now manage their own businesses away from the hustle of the street and bars.

Much has happened in Rentoby's first decade, which Weise calls "an amazing time, meeting hundreds and thousands of interesting people in an industry that became part of my life." They survived several major police raids against escorts early in their history and they were sued by Hustler magazine's Larry Flynt for using the word "hustler" in conjunction with the first "Hustlerball," later rechristened "Hustlaball."

And it was a Rentboy, Mike Jones, who outed the Rev. Ted Haggard, former president of the National Association of Evangelicals and leader of the New Life Church this year.

Today, Rentboy has 10 employees and maintains offices in New York city, Los Angeles (headed by Brandon Baker) and Madrid (Spain, not New Mexico).

To celebrate its 10th anniversary, Rentboy launched an 18-city tour in May, which runs through September, 2007. Just Us Boys is one of its sponsors. The tour, which features porn star headliners Barrett Long, Trevor Knight and Jordan Michaels, has already been to Portland and Seattle.

Future cities include:
West Hollywood (June 9) at Micky's
Pittsburgh (June 14) Pride
Atlanta (July 3) at Jungle
Fort Lauderdale (July 13) at Boardwalk Bar
Denver (July 19) at JR's
Cleveland (July 26) at Bounce
Columbus (July 27) at Axis
Detroit (July 28) at Menjo's
Los Angeles (Aug. 11) Gay Erotic Expo
New Orleans (Sept. 1) Southern Decadence
Dallas (Sept. 15) at Escandalo
New Hope (Sept. 20) at The Raven
Philadelphia (Sept. 21) at Pure
Washington, DC (Sept. 22) at Green Lantern

The tour will finish at the Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco, on Sept. 28.


Sidebar:

10 Years of Rentboy.com

-Produced/hosted/sponsored more than 250 events around the world

-Created Hustlaball in 1998, hosting the first event April 21 at legendary hustler bar Stella's in New York City, followed by 16 more in NYC, LA, San Francisco, Las Vegas, London and Berlin

-Joined the largest Gay Pride Parade (NYC) in the world with one of the largest contingents every year for 10 years

-Was featured in over 50 international magazines

-Has won 12 awards (including 6 Cybersocket Web Awards) for Best Escort Site, Best Content, Best Graphic Design, Best Adult Website

-Hosted 1st International Escort Awards (October 2006) at Roxy in NYC

-Created RentUniversity with HookOnline to help escorts with health care, legal issues, finances, future planning and other serious life issues

-Brought to life an escort support group in New York City and Los Angeles

-Over 50,000 Escorts + Bodyworkers worldwide in more than 250 locations.

-With more than 20 million visitors in 10 years and 50,000 hits every day,
Rentboy.com is the largest free male escort site on the Internet!

Tom Wiese (photo courtesy of Rentboy.com), Barrett Long (photo courtesy of Fabscout.com) and Jordan Michaels (photo courtesy of Falcon Studios)

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